He took part in the salons of 1888, 1889 and 1890. In this early period, Santa Maria painted a variety of works with a refined liking for realism in the style of Courbet in works as: "The shooters" (1885), "The reading" (1886) and "Salomón F. Koppel" (1889). These paintings also show Santa Maria's clear command of the rules of the academy. In 1891, he exhibited his painting: "The tea party", at the Artistic union of Paris. "The tea party" is one of the best works of his early period that concludes when he left Europe to go back to Colombia.