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Lot Essay
Mariano Rodrguez or simply Mariano, as he is known, is one of the salient figures in Cuban painting, a major player of the so-called 1938 or 1940 generation. He was one of the pioneers of expressionism in Cuban painting and one whose style and subject matter kept a dynamic evolution from the late 1930s through the 1980s. The recent exhibition of his work in Havana, entitled Mariano, una energa voluptuosa (April-June 1998), and its accompanying catalogue, presented a compelling testimony to his contribution to Cuban and Latin American modernist art.
As most second generation modernist artists in Cuba, Mariano barely set foot in Havana's Academy of San Alejandro (founded in 1818) and traveled to Mexico, rather than Paris, during his formative years. He returned to Havana in 1937 beginning the first phase of his mature style, known as the "Mexican period," which ended around 1941. During this time, Mariano concentrated on large single or double figure compositions painted in earth tones, of which La Hebra of 1939 is a significant example. Borrowing from Picasso's neo-classicism and the indigenism of the Mexican muralist movement, Mariano developed his own personal language and subject matter. The concentration on a central motif, the strong plastic quality of the figures, and the predominance of earth tonalities are distinguishing features of Marianos' style at that time. These formal characteristics gave his art, and that of his generation, a sense of strength and monumentality new to Cuban painting. In regards to subject matter, La Hebra is an early example of Mariano's life long interest in the representation of the female figure. His strong and assertive female figures are different from most representation of women in a domestic context. Also different in this case is the representation of a female figure from the lower classes shown energetically at work. Cuban painters, with the exception of Arstides Fernndez, have traditionally represented women from the middle and upper classes and have shown them at leisure. Mariano's early paintings are very much a part of the socially oriented art of the 1930s and its association of the nation with the poorest and most marginalized sectors of society.
Juan A. Martinez, Ph.D.
Miami 1998
As most second generation modernist artists in Cuba, Mariano barely set foot in Havana's Academy of San Alejandro (founded in 1818) and traveled to Mexico, rather than Paris, during his formative years. He returned to Havana in 1937 beginning the first phase of his mature style, known as the "Mexican period," which ended around 1941. During this time, Mariano concentrated on large single or double figure compositions painted in earth tones, of which La Hebra of 1939 is a significant example. Borrowing from Picasso's neo-classicism and the indigenism of the Mexican muralist movement, Mariano developed his own personal language and subject matter. The concentration on a central motif, the strong plastic quality of the figures, and the predominance of earth tonalities are distinguishing features of Marianos' style at that time. These formal characteristics gave his art, and that of his generation, a sense of strength and monumentality new to Cuban painting. In regards to subject matter, La Hebra is an early example of Mariano's life long interest in the representation of the female figure. His strong and assertive female figures are different from most representation of women in a domestic context. Also different in this case is the representation of a female figure from the lower classes shown energetically at work. Cuban painters, with the exception of Arstides Fernndez, have traditionally represented women from the middle and upper classes and have shown them at leisure. Mariano's early paintings are very much a part of the socially oriented art of the 1930s and its association of the nation with the poorest and most marginalized sectors of society.
Juan A. Martinez, Ph.D.
Miami 1998