$38,130
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-Na
Auctioneer:
Skinner
Date:
2015-01-23
