Mariano Rodríguez
Havana, 1912-1990
Mariano Rodríguez was one of the figures who emerged with uncommon force in the late 1930s. A member of the so-called second generation of modern painters, he was one of the artists who brought to Cuba the aesthetics of Mexican mural painting—evident in his works Retrato de Zora (Portrait of Zora, 1937), Autorretrato (Self-Portrait, 1938), and Unidad (Unity, 1938), among others.
The 1940s were a time of change in Rodríguez’s art. In this period, he shook off all Mexican influences and incorporated new colors and shapes into his paintings—closer to Picasso at his most neoclassicist, and to Matisse and Cézanne. The human figure loses its weightiness and becomes more nuanced; earth tones are displaced by warmer hues. This new cycle starts with works such as La paloma de la paz (The Dove of Peace, 1940) and Mujer con pajarera (Woman with Birdcage, 1940). In considering that moment, it is important to highlight the poetic and intellectual influence of Cuban poet José Lezama Lima on Rodríguez’s art. Mariano was a fervent collaborator in Lezama’s publishing projects, such as the magazines Espuela de Plata and Orígenes.
Along with other artists of his generation, such as René Portocarrero, Rodríguez’s poetic intuition took him on a quest to capture urban spaces that reflected the essence of Cuban identity but at the same time had a cosmopolitan feel. He focused on the landscape, and tried to rediscover his surroundings with new eyes. An exuberance of color is one of the fundamental traits of the paintings done in 1944. And it is precisely through this chromatic richness—achieved by applying many layers of paint, resulting in glorious shades—that Rodríguez’s art reached its greatest definition.
In 1947, Rodríguez started exploring aspects of Afro-Cuban culture that had been previously disregarded. Artists of his generation had passionately tried to rescue the white Cuban traditions of Spanish origin, and his venturing into this other aspect of Cuban culture—which they had left unexplored—carried the undeniable attraction of defiance. Initially, Rodríguez was drawn to the ritual Afro-Cuban music and dances known as bembé. However, while Portocarrero interpreted these traditions in expressive, cheerful hues, Mariano emphasized instead black and gray shades in an impressive series of ink drawings, frequently using diluted tints to underline nuances and create atmospheres that transcend mere anecdote to take root in the evocative—contributing his own interpretation of the lively dynamics of Cuban cultural syncretism.
In Bacanal con perro negro (Bacchanalia with Black Dog), from the “Bacchanalias” series, the artist built the image in tight, compact lines, creating an atmosphere in which what is told and what is suggested are tightly interwoven. With such works, Rodríguez left behind the luminous coloration of his art of the early 1940s to develop a series of paintings dominated by enigmas and esoteric allusions hidden in the shadows. Bacchanalia with Black Dog achieves the expressive power of high art, and at the same time consolidates a new perception of an often overlooked reality, the reality of an important area of Cuban popular culture.
—Roberto Cobas Amate
