Santiago Martínez Delgado
Encyclopedia
Santiago Martínez Delgado (1906–1954) was a Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

n painter, sculptor, art historian and writer. He established a reputation as a prominent muralist during the 1940s and is also known for his watercolors, oil paintings, illustrations and woodcarvings.

Martínez attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Ruth VanSickle Ford
Ruth VanSickle Ford
Ruth VanSickle Ford was an American painter, art teacher, and owner of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.Born to Anna Miller, a German immigrant, and Charles P. VanSickle, of Dutch heritage, Ruth was an only child and grew up on the west side of Aurora, Illinois. She attended Mary A. Todd Grade...

. In 1933, he was awarded the Logan Medal of the arts
Logan Medal of the arts
The Logan Medal of the Arts was an arts prize initiated in 1907 and associated with the Art Institute of Chicago. From 1917 through 1940, 270 awards were given....

 for his mural at the "Century of Progress
Century of Progress
A Century of Progress International Exposition was the name of a World's Fair held in Chicago from 1933 to 1934 to celebrate the city's centennial. The theme of the fair was technological innovation...

" International Exhibition in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

. During these years in Chicago, he produced various illustrations for Esquire Magazine and participated in the Federal Art Project
Federal Art Project
The Federal Art Project was the visual arts arm of the Great Depression-era New Deal Works Progress Administration Federal One program in the United States. It operated from August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943. Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists created...

. Martínez was a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

 at Taliesin
Taliesin (studio)
Taliesin , near Spring Green, Wisconsin, was the summer home of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright began the building in 1911 after leaving his first wife, Catherine Tobin, and his Oak Park, Illinois, home and studio in 1909. The impetus behind Wright's departure was his affair with...

, where he began to experiment with the Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 style.

In Colombia, Martínez was awarded the gold medal in the 1940 Salón de Artistas Colombianos and was again awarded the top prize in 1941. In 1947, Martinez Delgado painted the mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...

 at the Salón Elíptico in the Colombian Congress Building, considered one of the greatest murals of the 20th century. Martínez was then awarded La Orden De Boyaca (Colombia's highest government honor). Martinez was at the top of the Latin-American fine-arts scene when he died at the age of 47.

Genealogy

Martinez's ancestry profoundly influenced his art choices and books. Born into an aristocratic family in Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

, his father was the Conservative party leader Luis Martinez and his mother Mercedes Delgado Mallarino. It was a difficult childhood due to his father's expulsion from Colombia as a result of an indictment for his involvement in an earlier Coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

.

Early years

Martinez began studying art by age 11 under the instruction of Colombian Master Roberto Pizano and following Andrés de Santa Maria
Andrés de Santa Maria
Andrés de Santa Maria was the most internationally known Colombian painter of his time and the pioneer of impressionism in Colombia. His work in solitary as a vanguardist painter, frames the beginnings of modern art in Colombia. Santa Maria search of new artistic expressions generated rejection...

 at the Bogotá Fine Arts Academy.
In 1925, he moved to Cartagena
Cartagena, Colombia
Cartagena de Indias , is a large Caribbean beach resort city on the northern coast of Colombia in the Caribbean Coast Region and capital of Bolívar Department...

, where, at the age of 18, he directed and illustrated some sections for the newspaper "La Patria" under the pseudonym of "Sanmardel".

Chicago and Taliesin

Soon after, in 1926, Martínez traveled to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, where he studied and worked for over five years at the Fine Arts Institute of Chicago under the tutoring of Ruth VanSickle Ford. In Chicago, Martínez befriended and worked alongside Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper
Edward Hopper was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching...

, Isamu Noguchi
Isamu Noguchi
was a prominent Japanese American artist and landscape architect whose artistic career spanned six decades, from the 1920s onward. Known for his sculpture and public works, Noguchi also designed stage sets for various Martha Graham productions, and several mass-produced lamps and furniture pieces,...

, Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....

and Edgar Kaufmann, Jr.
Edgar Kaufmann, jr.
Edgar Kaufmann, Jr. was an American architect, lecturer, and author.-Early years:He was the son of Edgar J. Kaufmann, a wealthy Pittsburgh businessman and philanthropist who owned Kaufmann's department store. Edgar Jr. attended the School for Arts and Crafts at the Austrian Museum of Applied Art...

, among others.
From 1932 to 1935, Martinez spent time on and off as a fellow at Taliesin
Taliesin (studio)
Taliesin , near Spring Green, Wisconsin, was the summer home of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright began the building in 1911 after leaving his first wife, Catherine Tobin, and his Oak Park, Illinois, home and studio in 1909. The impetus behind Wright's departure was his affair with...

, where he was inspired and influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

. Wright commissioned Martinez to make stained glass windows, wood carvings and some pictorial works. Wright was quoted: "Young Santiago's brush lines are elegant and his attitude gracious."
In 1929, Martínez was awarded first prize for the "Best advertisement illustration" by the US Federation of Commercial Artists. Shortly after, he won the Logan Medal for the Arts for his mural: "Colombian evolution" at the 1933 Chicago International World Fair and exposition. At the fair, Martínez also assisted with the Murals at the General Motors Exhibit, as Diego Rivera's commission was cancelled due to the Lenin controversy in New York.

Back in Colombia

Martínez returned to Colombia in 1934 with an innovative line pioneering in the picturial Art Deco style.
In 1936, Martínez founded the Art school and decoration at the Universidad Javeriana Femenina.
From 1937 to 1940, he directed and illustrated the magazine "Revista Vida", which became the main outlet for cultural media at the time. It featured interviews of world-renowned artists like Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...

 and writers like his longtime friend Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral
Gabriela Mistral was the pseudonym of Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945...

. He also made various illustrations for the America, Anarkos, Cromos and PAN Magazines.

Madonna dilemma

Martinez, who was an avid historian and protector of the Colombian artistic heritage, discovered a painting by Raphael
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino , better known simply as Raphael, was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form and ease of composition and for its visual achievement of the Neoplatonic ideal of human grandeur...

 de Urbino. This discovery started a debate among Colombian scholars that is now referred to as "The dilemma of (La Madonna de Bogotá
La Madonna de Bogota (Raphael)
The Madonna of Bogota is a painting of the Madonna and Child, redisovered in Bogotá, Colombia in 1938, that has been attributed to Raphael.-Rediscovery:...

) . Martinez Delgado managed to prove the provenance of the piece along with its authenticity with the use of X rays and detailed forensic work. In 1939, he took the painting to New York City during the 1939 World's Fair, where experts from the Metropolitan Museum, the Chicago Art Institute and the Louvre
Louvre
The Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...

 examined the painting. Among the experts were: Daniel Catton, Rich A. Sweet, Ruber H. Clark, Leo A. Marzolo
Leo A. Marzolo
Leo A. Marzolo had a long-time career as a restorer of paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago and was also a painter.He studied at the Chicago Gallery Association and the Palette and Chisel Academy...

, Adolfo Venturiy and Wilhelm Valentiner
Wilhelm Valentiner
Wilhelm Reinhold Valentiner was a German art historian and critic and museum official. He was born at Karlsruhe , and studied at Heidelberg under Henry Thode, and in Holland with De Groot and with Bredius, whose assistant he was at the Gallery of The Hague...

. They all concurred with Master Martinez and confirmed its authenticity. The painting was included in the artist's catalog as the "Madonna of Bogotá.

Golden years

In 1940, Martínez participated in the first Salón de Artistas Colombianos, where he won the Gold Medal for the oil on canvas "El que volvió"; the subsequent year, he won first prize for the oil on canvas "Interludio". (Today at the Colombian National Museum
Colombian National Museum
The National Museum of Colombia is the National Museum of Colombia housing collections on its history, art, culture. Located in Bogotá downtown, is the biggest and oldest museum in Colombia. The National Museum of Colombia is a dependancy of the Colombian Ministry of Culture.The National Museum is...

).
In 1943, Martínez made his first major mural in Colombia at the school Presentación of Chapinero.
In 1945, started work on the Cúcuta Cathedral stations, as well as the murals and carvings at the city's government building.
That year, Martínez also illustrated the biography of Sucre realized by Carlos Arturo Caparroso (Editorial Horizontes, Bogotá), and was designated as a Member of the Historic Academy of Bogotá.
In 1947, Martinez was commissioned by the Honorable Alberto Lleras Camargo
Alberto Lleras Camargo
Alberto Lleras Camargo was an important Colombian diplomat and political figure.He was a member of the Liberal Party of Colombia; he served as congressman , Minister of Education, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Foreign Affairs, during the governments of Alfonso López Pumarejo and Eduardo...

, then-director of the OEA, and the Honorable Laureano Gómez
Laureano Gómez
Laureano Eleuterio Gómez Castro was President of Colombia from 1950 to 1953, and long time leader of the Colombian Conservative Party.-Pre-election:...

, the Inter-American Conference organizer, to create the mural for the elliptic chamber of the National Congress Building
Congress of Colombia
The Congress of the Republic of Colombia is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature.The Congress of Colombia consists of the 102-seat Senate , and the 166-seat Chamber of Representatives ...

.http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804410,00.html?iid=chix-sphere
He finished the fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...

 in time for the Inter American conference. General George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...

 of the US called the piece a wonder of contemporary art, and was relieved that the capitol was spared from the fires during the Bogotazo
Bogotazo
El Bogotazo refers to the massive riots that followed the assassination in Bogotá, Colombia of Liberal leader and presidential candidate Jorge Eliécer Gaitán on April 9, 1948 during the government of President Mariano Ospina Pérez...

. Martinez was given the Cruz de Boyacá award by President Mariano Ospina Pérez
Mariano Ospina Pérez
Luis Mariano Ospina Pérez was a Colombian engineer and political figure, member of the Colombian Conservative Party. He served as President of Colombia between 1946 and 1950.- Biographic data :...


Martinez also became the premier historian on Simón Bolívar
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios Ponte y Yeiter, commonly known as Simón Bolívar was a Venezuelan military and political leader...

 and his army during the 1940s and 1950s. His limited edition Iconography on Bolivar is considered the most accurate work on the image and resalable of Simón Bolívar.

Early death

In 1948, Martínez founded a commercial art studio. In the following years, he made various well-recognized brand logos, illustrations, history books, and over 30 majestic murals in addition to many of his best known paintings.
During this period, he wrote and directed the dramatization of radio scripts, such as "El Virrey Solis", that broke all the ratings records for that year. Martínez also made plays, including "Estampas místicas de la tierra del Señor", "Juan Manuel el Gavilán" (unedited) and "El derecho de nacer".
In 1953, he was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...

, to paint an oil on canvas of 8 x 4  meters (the largest Oil on Canvas in South America) for the Bank of New York in Bogotá, but he died before finishing it. It was placed on the bank, where it remains today as the largest oil on canvas in Colombia. Rockefeller, in a speech during the presentation of the painting to the public, called Martinez Delgado "the greatest Latin American artist of the decade". (Today the building is the Interior Ministry Building and City Bank donated the painting to the Colombian Government.)
Master Martinez died on January 12, in the hacienda "El Molino", of a stroke.
On August 3 of the same year, the National Museum, with the collaboration of the Education Ministry, organized an exposition in his honor.

Listing of selected works

Martinez produced over 100 paintings in his career, in addition to murals, produced illustrations for books, lithographs, a great number of drawings, dozens of sculptures, and various other projects, including a large number of books and published articles before passing at the age of 47. The list below has some of his most significant works.

Murals

  • A century of Colombian evolution – 1933 3rd Pavilion Chicago World Fair - Chicago.
  • Columns GE pavilion – 1933 General Electric Pavilion Chicago World Fair - Chicago.
  • Bolivar and Santander in the Cucuta Congress – Elliptic Room of the National Congress - Bogotá.
  • Fresco at the roof of the San Carlos Palace – Old presidential home, current foreign ministry - Bogotá.
  • Fresco of Bavaria Building - Hall of the lobby old Bavaria Building - Bogotá.
  • Building Caja Colombiana de Ahorros - Banco Santander - Bogotá.
  • Cid Campeador – Cid Theater - Bogotá.
  • El hombre - Theater Colombia - Bogotá.
  • Room Hotel Granada (Missing)- Bogotá.
  • Windmills of Quixote – Walls of café El Molino - Bogotá.
  • Rooms Club Campestre - Club Campestre de Medellín - Medellín.
  • El Trabajador - Banco Comercial Antioqueño - Medellín.
  • Sin Titulo - Banco de Colombia - Medellín.
  • Los Proceres - Banco de Colombia - Cúcuta
  • Episodes of Santander's Life – National Palace of Cúcuta - Cúcuta.
  • Madono of el Molino - Hacienda el Molino - Madrid, Colombia

Sculpture

  • Rock face at the front of the National Palace in Cúcuta - Cucuta
  • The Carving Collection made at Taliesin - Private Collection - USA
  • The head of John the Baptist - National Museum - Bogotá
  • Carvings at the Polytechnic School - Bogotá

Paintings/various media

  • Bolívar (Charcoal) - Private Collection
  • Mío Cristo del Monte - Private Collection
  • The stories of Grim - Private Collection
  • An Afternoon at the Hacienda - Private Collection
  • Conchita Cintrón - Private Collection
  • Head of Girl - Private Collection
  • Illustrations for Vida - over 300 - ?
  • Door Church of San Francisco - ?

Oil on Canvas

  • Interludio - Museo Nacional - Bogotá
  • El que volvio - Private Collection
  • Retrato de José María Cordovez Moure - Acadeima de Historia - Bogotá
  • Gold Diggers - Private Collection
  • Don Quixote de la Mancha - Private Collection
  • The rice of Jesus in the Cross - Cucuta Cathedral - Cucuta
  • Jesus meets with the Virgin Mery - Cucuta Cathedral - Cucuta

  • Jesus and Pilates - Cucuta Cathedral - Cucuta
  • Agony of Jesus - Cucuta Cathedral - Cucuta
  • Jesus carrying the Cross - Cucuta Cathedral - Cucuta
  • Natural resources of Colombia - Interior Ministry Building - Bogotá

Watercolors

  • Luisita Kling Fernández - Private Collection
  • Amanecida - Private Collection
  • Castle of San Felipe of Barajas
    Castillo San Felipe de Barajas
    The Castillo San Felipe de Barajas is a fortress in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. The castle is located on the Hill of San Lázaro in a strategic location, dominating approaches to the city by land or sea. It was built by the Spanish during the colonial era...

     - Private Collection
  • Afternoon in La Mancha - Private Collection
  • El Picador - Private Collection
  • Potranca - Private Collection
  • María Cecilia Aparicio Concha - Private Collection
  • Interior - Private Collection
  • Notes of Cartagena - Gun Club - Bogotá
  • Walls of Cartagena - Gun Club Bogotá
  • Quixote - Private Collection
  • Sancho Panza - Private Collection
  • Sketch for the fresco of the Salón Elíptico - Private Collection
  • Flight of the Ducks - Private Collection
  • Head of Quixote - Private Collection
  • Thinking Girl - Private Collection
  • Hunting Trophy - Private Collection

  • Sad Girl - Private Collection
  • Head of Jesus - Private Collection
  • Marina - Private Collection
  • Procession - Private Collection
  • Construction - Private Collection
  • Mariscal Suere - Private Collection
  • Home of Virrey Sámano - Private Collection
  • Callejas of Santafé - Private Collection
  • Cultural dresses of Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Brasil - Private Collection
  • Antonio José de Sucre, Mariscal de Ayacucho - Private Collection
  • Bullfighters - Private Collection
  • Sketch of the Fresco Molino Chapel in Cajicá - Private Collection
  • The Te Flower - Private Collection

List of books by Martinez

  • Title: Ensayo iconográfico del gran mariscal de Ayacucho

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial:Bogotá : Ediciones de Santiago Martínez Delgado
Year: 1945
  • Title: In memoriam Belisario Caicedo González

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial: Cali : Carvajal
year: 19--
  • Title: A. J. de Sucre

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial: Bogotá : Tip. Prag
Year: 1945
  • Title: A propósito de don Gregorio Vásquez de Arce y Ceballos

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial: Bogotá Vida
Year: 1941
  • Title: El arte y la ciencia

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial:Bogotá Vida
Year: 1942
  • Title: Bolívar

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial: Santiago Martinez Edicion numerada 100
Year: 1944
  • Title:Carlos Polanco : discípulo de Zurbarán

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial:Bogotá Vida
Year:1939
  • Title:La casa colombiana : decoración de interiores

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial:Bogotá Sabado
Year: 1944
  • Title:El crimen de Berruecos

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial:Bogotá Vida
Year: 1942
  • Title:El tigre

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial:Bogotá Vida
year:1936
  • Title: Una reseña iconográfica del ejército y de las armas libertadoras

Author: Santiago Martinez Delgado
Editorial: Bogotá Tipografía Praga
year: 1944

See also

  • Art Deco
    Art Deco
    Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

  • Frank Lloyd Wright
    Frank Lloyd Wright
    Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...

  • Gabriela Mistral
    Gabriela Mistral
    Gabriela Mistral was the pseudonym of Lucila de María del Perpetuo Socorro Godoy Alcayaga, a Chilean poet, educator, diplomat, and feminist who was the first Latin American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, in 1945...

  • Congress of Colombia
    Congress of Colombia
    The Congress of the Republic of Colombia is the name given to Colombia's bicameral national legislature.The Congress of Colombia consists of the 102-seat Senate , and the 166-seat Chamber of Representatives ...

  • Colombian Art

External links

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