拍品專文
This lot is sold with a certificate of authenticity signed by Ida Gonzalez de Carreño, dated 'Stgo Chile 1996'.
In a pivotal trip to Mexico City in 1936, Mario Carreño turned all of his attention to painting, leaving behind his years as an illustrator. He also abandoned his exploration of Cubism and Art-Deco, to begin developing one of the most rigorous versions of Neoclassicism in twentieth-century art. Carreño's cold and precise Neoclassicism reached a peak between 1938 and 1940, when he was living in Paris and New York. Upon his return to Havana in 1941, Carreño's style was strongly impacted by his reencounter with the Cuban climate, colors, vegetation, people, fauna, and architecture, not to mention the art of his contemporaries such as Wifredo Lam and René Portocarrero. Following was a period (ca. 1941-44) of tremendous artistic activity for Carreño, in which he successfully experimented with diverse artistic languages.
In one series of paintings, dating from 1943 and consisting mostly of nudes set in tropical landscapes, he achieved an impressive synthessis between Classicism and Impressionism. A prime example of this fusion is Mujer con Mariposas, a robust and carefree nude playing in a balcony with two butterflies against a background of luxurious vegetation. The combination of a classical nude composition with impressionist colors makes it a powerful image of restrained sensuality. Taking from and freely mixing European artistic models, most notably late Renoir and Picasso, Carreño created his own vision of a tropical Arcadia. The tropics and, to the extent that the painting was inspired by his reencounter with his native land, Cuba itself is presented as a timeless, rural, warm and relaxed site, populated by a race of monumental and enraptured women. The only reference to civilization, besides the drapery on the figure's waist, is the balustrade with the iron-gate design. This was an often used motif in 1940s Cuban painting referring to the colonial architecture of the island as a sign of lo cubano.
Juan A. Martinez, Ph.D.
Miami, 1996
In a pivotal trip to Mexico City in 1936, Mario Carreño turned all of his attention to painting, leaving behind his years as an illustrator. He also abandoned his exploration of Cubism and Art-Deco, to begin developing one of the most rigorous versions of Neoclassicism in twentieth-century art. Carreño's cold and precise Neoclassicism reached a peak between 1938 and 1940, when he was living in Paris and New York. Upon his return to Havana in 1941, Carreño's style was strongly impacted by his reencounter with the Cuban climate, colors, vegetation, people, fauna, and architecture, not to mention the art of his contemporaries such as Wifredo Lam and René Portocarrero. Following was a period (ca. 1941-44) of tremendous artistic activity for Carreño, in which he successfully experimented with diverse artistic languages.
In one series of paintings, dating from 1943 and consisting mostly of nudes set in tropical landscapes, he achieved an impressive synthessis between Classicism and Impressionism. A prime example of this fusion is Mujer con Mariposas, a robust and carefree nude playing in a balcony with two butterflies against a background of luxurious vegetation. The combination of a classical nude composition with impressionist colors makes it a powerful image of restrained sensuality. Taking from and freely mixing European artistic models, most notably late Renoir and Picasso, Carreño created his own vision of a tropical Arcadia. The tropics and, to the extent that the painting was inspired by his reencounter with his native land, Cuba itself is presented as a timeless, rural, warm and relaxed site, populated by a race of monumental and enraptured women. The only reference to civilization, besides the drapery on the figure's waist, is the balustrade with the iron-gate design. This was an often used motif in 1940s Cuban painting referring to the colonial architecture of the island as a sign of lo cubano.
Juan A. Martinez, Ph.D.
Miami, 1996