- Type of work: Easel painting
- Technique: Oil on canvas
- Approximate dimensions: 66 x 87 cm
- Subject: Landscape
- Title: Landscape of La Oliva, Fuerteventura.
- Author: Manuel Martín González (1905-1988)
- Chronology or Year: 1957
- Historical-artistic analysis:
Style: Landscape painting based on the direct contemplation of nature, seeking natural expression, within a regionalism that identifies the artist with his environment.
Description: It is the representation of an arid and desolate landscape, where human presence is only reflected in the humble, half-ruined stone constructions located in the background, perfectly blended with the desert scree that precedes them and extends towards the mountainous masses that close the composition in the background. Only two scrawny palm trees survive in the solitary scene built with a restricted range of shades, where ochers, yellows and siennas dominate the composition while grays and blues mark the distance and outline the mountains outlined in a veiled blue sky.
Date received: March 1957, donated by the artist on the occasion of his solo exhibition at the Casino de Tenerife held between March 16 and 28 of that year.
Observations: Together with this work he exhibited in the Casino 25 paintings of landscapes of Tenerife, Gran Canaria, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Gomera and Hierro. The inauguration of the exhibition was attended by the highest ranking authorities of the island: the captain general of the Canary Islands, the bishop of the Diocese of Invariable Don Domingo Pérez Cáceres and the civil governor of the province, among others. The artist wrote to the President and Board of Directors expressing his satisfaction and gratitude for the brilliant reception organized on the occasion of his exhibition.
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 by Canarian Artists at the Fine Arts Circle 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 painting Aldea de Chirche was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art. His greatest artistic achievements were reached in the decade of 1946-1956 with the official commissions for the Hotel Mencey, those of 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. Minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of April 4 and 17, 1957.
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.
