Brief Biography- José María Velasco, or to be precise, José María Tranquilino Francisco de Jesús Velasco Gómez Obregón, was born in Temascalcingo village, Mexico, in 1840. When he was nine, the family went to Mexico City, where his father died of cholera within three months. José worked at a clothing store and studied at the Lancasteriano School of Santa Catarina Martir, where he developed an interest in art.
In 1855, his mature painting and academic studies began at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Carlos; he later became a professor. Some of his mentors were Juan Urruchi, Filipe Sojo and Miguel Mata. In addition, his master, Eugenio Landesio, from Italy, encouraged him to paint natural landscape scenes.
Velasco was the first major landscape artist in Mexico. His Valley of Mexico series is notably the most famous of Mexican landscapes, painted in the European style. He received many international awards and exhibited in Paris, Philadelphia, and Chicago. He retired but still worked in Villa de Guadalupe Hidalgo, now a district of Mexico City.