VERSIÓN INGLESA ENGLISH VERSION - Fundación César Manrique

1939-1992: Context
of César Manrique’s work
María Dolores Jiménez-Blanco
To speak of the historical context of César Manrique’s oeuvre is to invoke Spanish art of the
second half of the twentieth century, to review events between two clearly symbolic dates in the
history of Spanish culture. On one extreme, 1939, the year of the bitter end of the civil war and the
beginning of autarchy, also marks the starting point of César Manrique’s artistic career. The other,
1992, the year of the World Exhibition in Seville and the Barcelona Olympic Games, hailed as the
culmination of the internationalisation of Spanish cultural and social reality, coincided with he artist’s
sudden death. But the context of César Manrique’s oeuvre is somewhat more complicated because in
his work, as in his life, there are three parallel, inseparable and overlapping references: the Canary
Island, Spanish and international domains, with one or another playing the preponderant role
depending on the year, the circumstances and the artist’s plastic needs.
Post-war years
César Manrique decided to be a painter at one of the most difficult moments in contemporary
Spanish history: the year 1939. The end of the civil war, with the victory of the Franco band, was also
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