Manuel Torres Martinez

MANUEL TORRES MARTÍNEZ (Pontevedra, 1901 - 1995).
"La Guapa", 1981.
Ink on paper.
Signed in the lower corner.
Measurements: 29 x 20 cm; 47 x 37 cm (frame).
Manuel Torres was a Galician teacher and painter. His artistic career is characterized by his work as a caricaturist during the Civil War, and by the development of a drawing of an intimate and critical character. In the 1920s he echoed the work of Castelao, from whom he received a great influence. He left Galicia to train as an artist thanks to various grants from the Diputación de Pontevedra, which allowed him to travel to Madrid for the first time, in 1927, and also to Paris, where he lived from 1931 to 1933. In Madrid he created close ties with the artists of the Generation of 1927, although the influence of the wars and European realism is evident in his work. In his work on canvas Manuel Torres was characterized by the use of rough texture, the appearance of granite, whose ultimate goal was to highlight a type of expressionist chromaticism and earthy ranges predominantly in which notes of color could be appreciated. The use of a dark line that silhouettes the figures is a characteristic of his drawing, as well as the severe structure of the compositions. Throughout his career he received great recognition, not only locally but also nationally, being awarded the Castelao Medal in 1990. In 1989 he donated 77 of his works to the City Council of Marin and the municipal corporation corresponded to the donation giving his name to the municipal museum and naming him in 1992 favorite son of Marin. Yesterday he was buried in the municipal cemetery of this town.