Mario Carreño (Cuban, 1913-1999) Tropical Splendor

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American & European Paintings & Sculpture

By Bonhams Skinner

Jan 23, 2015 - Jan 24, 2015

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• Lot Description
  Mario Carreño (Cuban, 1913-1999)
  
  Tropical Splendor
  Signed and dated "carreño -50" l.l., titled and numbered "#1163/..." on a partial
  label affixed to the stretcher.
  Oil on canvas, 24 x 34 in. (61.0 x 86.2 cm), framed.
  Condition: Small puncture l.l., faint stretcher bar marks, surface grime, minor abrasions.
  
  N.B. Mario Carreño was born in Havana to a family of ten children. A precocious child, in 1922 as a nine year old, he won a drawing competition sponsored by the newspaper El Mundo. He gained entrance to Cuba's San Alejandro Academy at the age of twelve. Six years later, in the face of volatile politics in Cuba, he left for Madrid, where he met Pablo Neruda and his intellectual circle. Neruda would be a life-long friend and lasting influence on the artist.
  
  At the time of the Spanish Civil War, Carreño went to Mexico, where he worked with the great muralists of the period, including Diego Rivera, David Siqueiros and José Orozco. This group provided inspiration and led Carreño to explore subject matter from his Latin American roots.
  
  From 1937 to 1939 Carreño was in Paris studying at the Académie Julian. He rubbed shoulders with the avant-garde painters of the period, including Picasso, and gained recognition for his work. To escape World War II, Carreño relocated to New York, where he taught at the New School for Social Research and showed with Perls Gallery. During this decade he turned toward more abstract painting, influenced by Mondrian, Pollock and Moholy-Nagy. He experimented with geometric forms, though he never abandoned the figurative tradition entirely. Over the years his style varied between figurative, cubist abstraction, and surrealism, as he combined the influence of international art movements with personal and Latin American themes.
  
  He returned frequently to Cuba in the 1950s, but politics again intervened. As a modern artist, he was considered a counter-revolutionary, his name was expunged from Cuban art programs, and his works were removed from public spaces. At the invitation of Pablo Neruda, Carreño had made a visit to Chile in 1948. He fell in love with Chile and chose to live there permanently, becoming a cultural leader in his adopted land. With colleagues he founded the Universidad Catolica's School of Arts, taught, and created public art works. He became a citizen of Chile in 1969. He did return to Cuba in 1993, when the National Museum organized a retrospective exhibit of his work, and again in 1994 to sign prints for the Rene Portocarrero Graphic Workshop in Havana.
  
  Estimate $30,000-50,000
  
  
  The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Condition requests can be obtained via email (lot inquiry button) or by telephone to the appropriate gallery location (Boston/617.350.5400 or Marlborough/508.970.3000). Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Skinner Inc. shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.
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