Mariano Rodriguez

MARIANO RODRIGUEZ (Havana, Cuba, 1912-1990).
"Bust of woman with vase", ca. 1943.
Ink on paper.
Provenance: Estate Mariano Rodríguez, Havana, Cuba.
Bibliography: Catalogue raisonné, "Mariano, Painting and Drawing 1935 - 1949, Volume I", under the direction of José Veigas Zamora, Vanguardia Cabana editions, 2008, reproduced in color with the number 43.43, p. 138.
Measurements: 34.7 x 42.3 cm.

Self-taught painter, Mariano Rodriguez began at a very early age in the art world. In 1930 he began his artistic career and, in 1936, he traveled to Mexico, where he became impregnated with his first artistic influences. Rodriguez then began to use colors reminiscent of the tropical environment: green, earth and ocher colors with which he defined figures with strong features, seeming to extend beyond the two-dimensional limit of the painting. In the 1940s, he began an expressionist period, inspired mainly by Picasso and Matisse. It was at that time, from 1941, that he began his series of "roosters". He also dedicated other series around peasants, women, landscapes and still life. Later, he showed another turn in his artistic career, using darker colors and moving away from figuration. Between 1962 and 1963, he told through his paintings, the contemporary history of Cuba, particularly the Revolution. His themes are varied, but his work shows a predilection for the feminine universe, with a strong sexual connotation. Mariano Rodríguez died in 1990 in Havana.