Lot Essay
BORN IN TENERIFFE IN THE CANARY ISLANDS, OSCAR DOMINGUEZ SPENT HIS YOUTH ON THE ISLANDS, SURROUNDED BY HIS FAMILY'S VINEYARDS AND FRUIT TREE PLANTATIONS. HIS IMAGINATION WAS STRUCK BY THE BLACK SAND BEACHES AND THE VOLCANIC MOUNTAINS. PAINTING LANDSCAPES WAS ONE OF THE ONLY ACTIVITIES THAT WOULD CALM HIS OTHERWISE TURBULENT AND EXTRAVAGANT TEMPERAMENT.
IN 1927 HE WAS SENT TO PARIS TO WORK FOR HIS FAMILY'S BUSINESS. AGED 21, HE JOINED A LOCAL ART ACADEMY, JUST AS THE SURREALISM MOVEMENT WAS BLOOMING. HE LIVED THE LIFE OF A DANDY AND DISCOVERED THE PARISIAN NIGHTSCENE ESPECIALLY IN MONTPARNASSE. IN 1933 HE MET ANDRé BRETON, THE HEAD OF THE SURREALIST MOVEMENT IN PARIS, AND PAUL ELUARD, ONE OF ITS POET MEMBERS, WHO BECAME HIS CLOSE FRIEND AND WROTE EXTENSIVELY ON HIS PAINTING.
BRETON RECOGNIZED DOMINGUEZ OFFICIALLY AS A SURREALIST MEMBER IN 1934 AND HIS PAINTINGS WERE EXHIBITED IN THE MAJOR SURREALIST EXHIBITIONS OF COPENHAGEN, IN 1935, AND LONDON, IN 1936. FROM 1934 ONWARDS HE ALSO CREATED IMPORTANT SURREALIST OBJECTS, SOME OF WHICH WERE EXHIBITED AT THE ART FANTASTIQUE, DADA ET SURREALISME EXHIBITION THAT TOOK PLACE AT THE NEW YORK MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN 1936. HIS OTHER MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO SURREALISM WAS HIS INVENTION OF THE TRANSFER TECHNIQUE (DéCALCOMANIES), BASED ON THE MONOTYPE TECHNIQUE. HIS TRANSFERS WERE EITHER DéCALCOMANIES SANS OBJET WHENEVER HE WOULD ACCEPT THE GRATUITOUS AND SURPRISING EFFECT OF THE RESULTING ABSTRACT PATTERN (TACHAGES) OR, DéCALCOMANIES DU DéSIR WHENEVER HE WOULD DIRECT THE RESULT TOWARDS A DREAM-LIKE IMAGE OF AN UNKNOWN ANIMAL, A CASTLE OR ONE OF HIS 'COSMIC LANDSCAPES'. IN THIS, MAX ERNST FOLLOWED IN DOMINGUEZ'S FOOTSTEPS AND CARRIED ON VERY SUCCESSFULLY WITH THE TECHNIQUE.
THE PRESENT WORK IS AN EXCITING RE-DISCOVERY. PAINTED IN 1935, DOMINGUEZ GAVE THIS PAINTING TO A CLOSE FRIEND AND SURREALIST POET AND IT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN IN PUBLIC SINCE. IT IS EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT AS VERY FEW SURREAL OIL LANDSCAPES ARE KNOWN FROM THOSE EARLY YEARS. ITS IMAGERY IS A TRIBUTE TO DOMINGUEZ'S UNBRIDLED IMAGINATION. ONE COULD SEE IN IT ECHOES OF THE VEGETATION AND VOLCANIC LANDSCAPES AND GROTTOS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS. IT IS A PIVOTAL WORK, EXECUTED BETWEEN HIS "SURREALIST PERIOD" OF 1934-35 (ONE CAN SEE DALI'S INFLUENCE HERE WITH ECHOES OF HIS "FORMES MOLLES") AND HIS ENSUING "COSMIC PERIOD" WITH ITS ELEMENTS OF TRANSFORMATION OR TRANSMUTATION. SOLID MASSES OF ROCK TRANSFORM THEMSELVES INTO SURPRISING SHAPES SUGGESTING DREAM-LIKE ANIMALS AND HUMAN FORM EVOLVES INTO ORGANIC SHAPES. EVEN THE ELEMENTS OF DOMINGUEZ'S FUTURE ICONOGRAPHY SUCH AS THE BULL, THE LION OR THE ROSE ARE ALREADY PRESENT HERE, ALL INTERWOVEN INTO THIS FORMIDABLE LANDSCAPE OF THE MIND.
THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS WORK HAS BEEN KINDLY CONFIRMED BY ANNA VASQUEZ DE PARGA, MADRID.
IN 1927 HE WAS SENT TO PARIS TO WORK FOR HIS FAMILY'S BUSINESS. AGED 21, HE JOINED A LOCAL ART ACADEMY, JUST AS THE SURREALISM MOVEMENT WAS BLOOMING. HE LIVED THE LIFE OF A DANDY AND DISCOVERED THE PARISIAN NIGHTSCENE ESPECIALLY IN MONTPARNASSE. IN 1933 HE MET ANDRé BRETON, THE HEAD OF THE SURREALIST MOVEMENT IN PARIS, AND PAUL ELUARD, ONE OF ITS POET MEMBERS, WHO BECAME HIS CLOSE FRIEND AND WROTE EXTENSIVELY ON HIS PAINTING.
BRETON RECOGNIZED DOMINGUEZ OFFICIALLY AS A SURREALIST MEMBER IN 1934 AND HIS PAINTINGS WERE EXHIBITED IN THE MAJOR SURREALIST EXHIBITIONS OF COPENHAGEN, IN 1935, AND LONDON, IN 1936. FROM 1934 ONWARDS HE ALSO CREATED IMPORTANT SURREALIST OBJECTS, SOME OF WHICH WERE EXHIBITED AT THE ART FANTASTIQUE, DADA ET SURREALISME EXHIBITION THAT TOOK PLACE AT THE NEW YORK MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN 1936. HIS OTHER MAJOR CONTRIBUTION TO SURREALISM WAS HIS INVENTION OF THE TRANSFER TECHNIQUE (DéCALCOMANIES), BASED ON THE MONOTYPE TECHNIQUE. HIS TRANSFERS WERE EITHER DéCALCOMANIES SANS OBJET WHENEVER HE WOULD ACCEPT THE GRATUITOUS AND SURPRISING EFFECT OF THE RESULTING ABSTRACT PATTERN (TACHAGES) OR, DéCALCOMANIES DU DéSIR WHENEVER HE WOULD DIRECT THE RESULT TOWARDS A DREAM-LIKE IMAGE OF AN UNKNOWN ANIMAL, A CASTLE OR ONE OF HIS 'COSMIC LANDSCAPES'. IN THIS, MAX ERNST FOLLOWED IN DOMINGUEZ'S FOOTSTEPS AND CARRIED ON VERY SUCCESSFULLY WITH THE TECHNIQUE.
THE PRESENT WORK IS AN EXCITING RE-DISCOVERY. PAINTED IN 1935, DOMINGUEZ GAVE THIS PAINTING TO A CLOSE FRIEND AND SURREALIST POET AND IT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN IN PUBLIC SINCE. IT IS EVEN MORE SIGNIFICANT AS VERY FEW SURREAL OIL LANDSCAPES ARE KNOWN FROM THOSE EARLY YEARS. ITS IMAGERY IS A TRIBUTE TO DOMINGUEZ'S UNBRIDLED IMAGINATION. ONE COULD SEE IN IT ECHOES OF THE VEGETATION AND VOLCANIC LANDSCAPES AND GROTTOS OF THE CANARY ISLANDS. IT IS A PIVOTAL WORK, EXECUTED BETWEEN HIS "SURREALIST PERIOD" OF 1934-35 (ONE CAN SEE DALI'S INFLUENCE HERE WITH ECHOES OF HIS "FORMES MOLLES") AND HIS ENSUING "COSMIC PERIOD" WITH ITS ELEMENTS OF TRANSFORMATION OR TRANSMUTATION. SOLID MASSES OF ROCK TRANSFORM THEMSELVES INTO SURPRISING SHAPES SUGGESTING DREAM-LIKE ANIMALS AND HUMAN FORM EVOLVES INTO ORGANIC SHAPES. EVEN THE ELEMENTS OF DOMINGUEZ'S FUTURE ICONOGRAPHY SUCH AS THE BULL, THE LION OR THE ROSE ARE ALREADY PRESENT HERE, ALL INTERWOVEN INTO THIS FORMIDABLE LANDSCAPE OF THE MIND.
THE AUTHENTICITY OF THIS WORK HAS BEEN KINDLY CONFIRMED BY ANNA VASQUEZ DE PARGA, MADRID.