During the Colombian Civil War called, the Thousand Days War, the Academy was closed and Santa Maria made a long trip to Europe. In Paris, he took part in the French salon with his painting "los dragoniantes de la guardian inglesa", which received a congratulation letter from the jurors. At the end of the Thousand Days War, he came back to Colombia, where in 1904, he was appointed director of the Academy of Arts, a position he held for the rest of the years he lived in his native country (until 1911). He was invited by the president of the republic, general Rafael Reyes, to perform an exhibition with the writers Sanín Cano, Hinestroza Daza and Max Grillo. In 1906 he painted the triptych of the National Capital, in this represented Simon Bolivar directing the liberation campaign.