Centenary of César Manrique

Due to the conditions where he had to grow up, in an isolated and provincial environment, Manrique was a totally self-taught artist. To this we must add its difficulty with the studies, but at the same time its great facility for the plastic arts and drawing. Even as a child he discovered artists like Matisse, Picasso or Braque.

Those faces, together with the long seasons in Caleta de Famara, where nature really overwhelms, marked Manrique for posterity, creating an aesthetic universe always linked to nature and abstraction that was reflected in his work and life.

In 1945 César Manrique architect left the island to visit the Spanish capital, where he obtained a scholarship at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts. It was also in Madrid where he met who would be his wife.

During this time his visual and artistic imaginary was diversified, going from observing in his works only sea elements and referring to nature, clearly inspired by Lanzarote, he made another kind of expression, where he demonstrated his apprehension by reality and where the inheritance of Matisse and Picasso are revealed. In 1955 and 1960 he was selected for the Venice biennial, which was a key point for the acceptance of his work and receiving commissions from different institutions, such as Banco Guipuzcoano, Cine Princesa, the Fénix hotel or the Barajas Airport itself.

In 1965, after the death of his wife and with the intention of renewing himself, Manrique moved to New York and began to discover a whole new world.

He changed from the tranquillity that reigned in Madrid at the time to the social life and emerging artists of New York. There he was hired exclusively by the Catherine Viviano Gallery, a prestigious gallery that exhibited him individually on three occasions.

In 1968 he finishes his adventure in New York. After she returns to Lanzarote, source of real inspiration and where he was due, as well confessed in newspapers and writings. Since 1965, Lanzarote was restructuring its economic model, which was turning towards opening the island to tourism, a turn that scared Manrique.

Therefore, its involvement with the aesthetics of the island was total, implementing a model of intervention in the territory, based on dialogue and the preservation of nature in its essence, supported by the island council and a group of local enthusiasts.