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Lot Essay
Martín Ramírez (1895-1963), known for his mesmerizing, dynamic line drawings, uses simple materials and sophisticated, self-assured marks to transform brown paper into a captivating portrait of a large stag and two dogs in a landscape. The present work’s composition is dominated by the central stag. Its face is in profile and its one visible eye stares out at the viewer, forcing engagement. His huge antlers take up space, but are fragile and airy in their thinness. As the viewer continues to study the stag and the eye travels downwards, a rather brutal scene emerges below. The stag, seemingly unaware, steps on a struggling spotted dog, while his companion bucks in the opposite direction. The impossible scale of the stag is emphasized by the little animals and creates a sense of grandeur to the central figure. The foreground is defined by layers of lyrical lines that create space and depth beneath the animals.
Ramírez drew what he knew, from animals and horsemen in his native Mexico to railroads and cars that marked his early experiences in the United States. Born in Jalisco, Mexico, he spent five years as a sharecropper and journeyman laborer before purchasing a small piece of land near his hometown. He had difficulty repaying the loans for this purchase, so he left for the United States in search of temporary work on August 24, 1925. In January 1931, Ramírez was picked up by the San Joaquin County, California police and sent to the Stockton State Hospital with a diagnosis of manic depression. Transferred to the DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California in 1948, he remained institutionalized until his death on February 17, 1963. After the artist’s arrival at DeWitt, psychologist Dr. Tarmo Pasto noticed Ramírez’s drawings and provided a steady supply of paper and pencils, preserved his work and arranged exhibitions.
Ramírez’s work has been the subject of major exhibitions at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, the Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City, the American Folk Art Museum in New York, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. In 2015, the United States Postal Service launched a postage stamp featuring Ramírez’s drawings; one of the works selected features a stag in a proscenium.
Untitled has been granted clear title by the Estate of Martín Ramírez. This work's estate number is MR 378.
Ramírez drew what he knew, from animals and horsemen in his native Mexico to railroads and cars that marked his early experiences in the United States. Born in Jalisco, Mexico, he spent five years as a sharecropper and journeyman laborer before purchasing a small piece of land near his hometown. He had difficulty repaying the loans for this purchase, so he left for the United States in search of temporary work on August 24, 1925. In January 1931, Ramírez was picked up by the San Joaquin County, California police and sent to the Stockton State Hospital with a diagnosis of manic depression. Transferred to the DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California in 1948, he remained institutionalized until his death on February 17, 1963. After the artist’s arrival at DeWitt, psychologist Dr. Tarmo Pasto noticed Ramírez’s drawings and provided a steady supply of paper and pencils, preserved his work and arranged exhibitions.
Ramírez’s work has been the subject of major exhibitions at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia, the Centro Cultural de Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City, the American Folk Art Museum in New York, and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. In 2015, the United States Postal Service launched a postage stamp featuring Ramírez’s drawings; one of the works selected features a stag in a proscenium.
Untitled has been granted clear title by the Estate of Martín Ramírez. This work's estate number is MR 378.