Mariano Rodriguez

MARIANO RODRÍGUEZ (Havana, Cuba, 1912-1990).
Untitled, series "Men and plants watch", ca. 1963.
Oil on canvas.
Inventory: P.91.153 (National Museum of Fine Arts of Cuba).
Exhibitions:
- "Oleos y dibujos del 63", Galería La Habana, Cuba, September 20 - October 13, 1963.
October 1963.
- "Mariano. Selected works", National Museum, Havana, July 1991,
reproduced in color on page 58 of the catalog.
Bibliography: Catalogue raisonné, "Mariano, Painting, drawing and ceramics
1950-1966, Volume II", under the direction of José Veigas Zamora, Vanguardia Cabana, 2008, editions
Vanguardia Cabana, 2008, reproduced in color under No. 63.09, p. 300.
The buyer will receive a certificate of authenticity from Dolores and Alejandro Rodriguez, with the number 698
Rodriguez, with the number 698, dated March 31, 2007.
Measurements: 99.5 x 79 cm.

This painting is a paradigmatic work within his period of transition between expressionist figuration and symbolic abstraction. In it, Mariano Rodríguez condenses with economy of means and plastic force an intense vision of the human being in communion, or in mutual vigilance, with the natural world. It is a canvas of powerful chromatic lyricism and marked symbolic charge, in which the human figure emerges with an enigmatic and resolute presence, despite its extreme formal synthesis.

The represented man appears delineated with few synthetic strokes. His frontal posture transmits an attitude of spectral presence, of vigilance, in consonance with the title of the series. He is a sentinel, a latent conscience.

A 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. Already in the 40's, 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.