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Danilo De los Santos
was the first woman with an strong pictorial personality 1940 DECADE: NATIVES
and a very influential exercise as a long time educator. SIGNS/FOREIGNERS REFLECTIONS
Her name shines among the greatest Dominican artists.
Since 1939, different waves of European fugitives es-
«Woman Portrait,» 1936. Catalogued under the title caping war and political persecution from the Spaniard
«Woman Portrait,» the author doesn’t focus on her mod- general Francisco Franco and the German fuhrer Adolfo
el’s face. Instead, from the facial features or the bulky hair- Hitler; disembarked on the country.
style and its blond bangs, proposes a composition nearly
dividing the painting into two invisible rectangles. The Educators, writers, foundry workers, journalists, in-
chiaroscuro background exalts the female half-length body, dustrial experts, theatre-workers and visual artists were
exposed in three corporeal zones: head, neck and thorax, taken in with their families as refugees by the Dominican
in which an extended chest spot reveals a smooth, great State and well-known citizens with a benefactor mind-
tonality skin, as luminous as her wardrobe, consisting just set. Around 1939-1940 arrived in Dominican Republic,
in a wide, falling double collar. It is indeed, a portrait of a among many others, the drawer and sculptor Manolo
lyric psychological appeal, a barely allowing the perception Pascual; the painters George Hausdorf, José Gausachs,
of its handling of symmetry and the opposed. José Vela Zanetti and the infant Antonio Prats-Ventós,
who will be artistically educated in Dominican land.
Abelardo Piñeyro. (1862-1957). A self-educated artist
The presence of Spaniard and German Jewish people
and a pharmacist, well-known on his hometown, Santo will socially broaden the various local activities spectrum.
Domingo. His first showing was as part of a 1898 group Native signs blend with the refugees reflections, specially
exhibition, presenting a bust portrait. In 1934 takes part in arts and cultural criticism fields. At that time was also
on the Cultural Association Amantes de la Luz, from San- relevant the presence of Rafael Diaz Niese, a Dominican
tiago de los Caballeros achieving an Honorary Mention. aesthetic craftsman and a polyglot well informed about
His background as a pharmacist allowed him to produce the modern avant-garde European trends.
the colours he will use on his diverse themes paintings,
specially for still lives, landscapes and portraits. Often, In 1939, several immigrant artists have their individ-
he was seen carrying his artistic equipments and paint on ual showings at the capital city. Then, in 1940, a collective
the street sideways and parks. At the opening of the first exhibition at Fine Arts, portraits pieces of 10 European
Modern Art Hall at the National Museum, during the artists and 6 Dominicans. This was the first time a collec-
1930 decade, one of his masterpieces was included. He tive discourse of such a character was brought together
is also part of the main national exhibitions from 1940- to the public attention, including drawings, sculptures
1945. In 1943 he shows a retrospective exhibition at the and paintings. That allowed to see the diverse ways of
Fine Arts National Gallery, as he was considered already looking at reality among the foreigners artistic views and
the dean of all the dominican painters, due to his long the local artists grabber look. The expressive signs of the
and productive history as well as his longevity. natives, versus the reflections expressed by the foreigners,
allows to see the different technical and thematic ways of
«Still life,» oil/cardboard, 31x51 cm., no date. On a doing. In the other hand, the discovering of the quotid-
rectangular table, a great pineapple and seven mangoes ian insularity, both in landscape and racial, pertains to
are shown orderly. The illumination on the table and both groups.
the fruits, creates an interesting contrast with the grey-
ish background. The art pieces owned by the Grupo Popular, dated
from 1940’s decade show coincidences, divergences and
personal perspectives of the following artists: George
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