- Type of work: Painting on paper
- Technique: Watercolor on paper
- Approximate dimensions: 45 x 56 cm
- Subject: Landscape
- Title: Caserio del Norte de Tenerife
- Author: Francisco Bonnin Guerín (1874-1963)
- Chronology or Year: 1933
- Historical-artistic analysis:
Style: Landscape painting made in direct contact with nature within the regionalist current of the time, but under the influence of Bruno Brandt’s expressionism (stage that occupies the first years of the 1930s).
Description: It is the vision of a corner of the northern part of the island where, in a composition based on diagonal crosses, the landscape of orchards and terraces dotted with some houses descends gently towards the coast, continuing into the sea in the background. With a sober palette, dominated by ochers with some greens, the broad, loose stain covers the surface and builds the image based more on color than on drawing, peering into an open nature that extends and overflows the limits of the frame. With the emotion that he always had in the contemplation of the landscape, it seems to detach itself from the localist character of the watercolors of the previous period.
Date of receipt: After 1933
Remarks: Francisco Bonnín’s connection to the Casino de Tenerife dates back to the early 1900s, since before 1907 he had already decorated the ceiling of the ballroom of the headquarters, a task he carried out in later years in other rooms, in addition to being part of the Board of Directors from that year as 1st member and in 1908 as 2nd member and later in the twenties, which is why he is represented with six works in the art collection of this institution, acquired over the years.
About the author: Francisco Bonnín Guerín (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1874- Puerto de la Cruz, 1963) began his training with Ubaldo Bordanova as a student at the Municipal Academy of Drawing, being Verdugo Bartlett (1860-1895) the one who introduced him to the watercolor technique. He studied the military career in Segovia, entering in 1897, and since then he has alternated his military career with painting. In his first stage (around 1915) his watercolors are of small format, with great meticulousness in the rendering of details. In 1923 he went to Girona as a commander and came into contact with the Agrupación de Acuarelistas de Cataluña. On his return to Tenerife, he promoted the creation of the Círculo de Bellas Artes, where he established a drawing and painting academy in 1928. In 1927 and 1928 he held two exhibitions in the Circle with which he introduced the Agrupación de Acuarelistas de Cataluña in the Canary Islands, sowing the seed of the Agrupación de Acuarelelistas Tinerfeños, created in 1944. Between 1931-35 he developed his expressionist stage under the influence of Bruno Brandt, stripping himself of the excessive draftsmanship and giving the stain and color a greater freedom. The decade 1936-46 is the decade of diffusion and greater recognition of his work. With a luminous and colorful painting he became known in Switzerland, England and in many cities of the Peninsula, receiving the National Watercolor Prize in 1942. He increased his prestige by exhibiting in Madrid at the Palace of Santa Cruz, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1945 and 1946, and was named academician of Fine Arts of San Fernando in 1947, year in which the Agrupación de Acuarelistas Canarios was born under his presidency.
Bibliography:
Archive of the Casino de Tenerife. Documentation relating to the Board’s charges during 1907 and 1908.
Carmen GONZÁLEZ COSSÍO: Francisco Bonnín. Viceconsejería de Cultura y Deportes del Gobierno de Canarias, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1993.
Valeriano WEYLER: The small history of a great casino (The one in Santa Cruz de Tenerife). Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1964.
Agustín GUIMERÁ RAVINA, Alberto DARIAS PRÍNCIPE: El Casino de Tenerife 1840 – 1990, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1992.
