Hortensia Alexandre was born in Santiago, Chile in 1892 and passed away in the same city in 1957. She was a student of Pedro Subercaseaux and Fernando Alvarez of Sotomayor. Her early work "The Gitanilla" was well received and enabled a scholarship to Paris where she spent studying fine art as an independent student. She was an active associate of the National Company of Fine Arts in Chile, from 1921 until her death.