- Type of work: Large format easel painting
- Technique: Oil on canvas
- Approximate dimensions: 210 x 198 cm
- Subject: Landscape
- Title: Teide
- Author: Manuel Martín González (1905-1988)
- Chronology or Year: 1955
- Historical-artistic analysis:
Style: Landscape painting, based on the observation and direct contact with nature, retained by means of sketches, later on in the studio, within the plainarist tradition, but looking for the natural expression and the identification with the environment.
Description: This is a wide panoramic view of the landscape of Las Cañadas with Teide in the background, where the rocky masses and vegetation characteristic of the foreground area lead to the geographical monumentality of the majestic volcano that stands, isolated in space, dominating the scene. For the construction of the painting he has based it on a series of diagonal lines, which follow one after the other, crossing each other – distributing the vegetation and marking the rocky slopes – and converge in the great triangle of the Teide in the background, cut out of the sky, flanked by horizontally distributed clouds. The color, given in short and loose brushstrokes, is the one that configures and graduates the depth of the space. From the combination of luminous yellows, ochres and greens with darker touches in the foreground to the browns and greens of the rocky masses, to gradually lighten the palette towards the background, where the gray and bluish tones fix the distance and capture the atmosphere and blue haze so characteristic of the landscape of La Cañadas at certain times of the day.
Date of reception: In 1955 it became part of the Casino’s patrimony and was officially commissioned to the artist by this institution after the success obtained by the set of Teide and Los Azulejos made in 1948 for the “Bar Atlántico”, built on the first floor of the building.
Observations: This table also appears under the title Las Cañadas del Teide in the monograph by Dra. Carmen Fraga González on the painter in the year 200 According to his biographer, for the realization of this painting the artist moved to Las Cañadas for a week, used a cave to sleep in and took eight sketches in direct contact with nature.
About the author: A native of Guía de Isora, Tenerife, he began his training at the drawing academy of sculptor Germán Compañ in La Laguna, continuing it with Teodomiro Robayna in Santa Cruz. His period of work in the lithography of Angel Romero allowed him to learn the techniques of engraving and printing, experience that he would exploit as an advertising artist for his livelihood during his stay in Cuba (1923 – 1932), where he also participated in the exhibitions of the Canary Association with good critical acclaim. On his return to Tenerife, he settled in Guía de Isora and began to paint the southern landscape of Las Cañadas, works that he presented at the Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture of Canarian Artists at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in 1932. His move to Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1942 allowed him to approach the capital’s cultural circles and participate in the Exhibition of Tenerife artists held in Madrid, sponsored by the Directorate General of Fine Arts and the Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, where his paintings were exhibited. Chirche Village was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. His greatest artistic achievements were in the decade of 1946-1956 with the official commissions for the Hotel Mencey, the General Captaincy, the canvas for the Casino and the two landscapes of the Basilica of Candelaria (1959). In 1963 he became president of the Painting Section of the Círculo de Bellas Artes and in 1971 he was named corresponding member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences of San Juan de Puerto Rico, continuing with his artistic work and participation in exhibitions until a few months before his death in September 1988.
Bibliography:
Archive of the Casino de Tenerife
Carmen Nieves CRESPO DE LAS CASAS: The Canarian landscape painter Martín González. Aula de Cultura del Cabildo Insular de Tenerife, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1980.
María del Carmen FRAGA GONZÁLEZ: Manuel Martín González. Library of Canarian Artists, Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports, Government of the Canary Islands, 2000.
