Page 353 - Arte e Historia
P. 353
Art and History
at the Banco popular dominicano visual arts collection
Hausdorf, José Gausachs, Manolo Pascual, José Vela Za- charcoal, water-colour/paper, n.s, 17x20 cm., Nine captures
netti, Celeste Woss y Gil, Gilberto Hernández Ortega, determine the loose composition of same number of
Yoryi Morel. gentlemen gathered on a hearing. The charcoal defines
the faces and the watercolour underline and dissolve at
George Hausdorf. (Breslau, 1894/Nueva York, 1959) once the physiognomy of the half bodies featured at dif-
ferent scales. It is well-known the artist’s ability to carry
He is an artist of a Jewish origin, already a veteran when out group portraits in private meetings. The nine faces
he arrived as refugee; becoming the pioneer in founding are proof of his outlining skills.
a private artistic academy in Santo Domingo, in 1939.
This very same year had his first individual exhibition José Gausachs. (Sarriá, Barcelona, 1889/Santo Domin-
and became one of the founder professors of the Fine
Arts National School (ENBA). For almost 10 years he go, 1959). He is «the most experienced and educated painter
lived in the country, traveling through it different re- arrived to Dominican Republic among the political exiles that
gions, understanding the vernacular customs, growing as took part on the Spanish civil war,» as María Ugarte wrote.
a drawer, engraving expert, painter and influential mas- He left behind his experience as a Master at Barcelona’s
ter. He had several individual exhibitions, was a relevant Fine Arts, his individual exhibitions, his name listed on
name on various collectives and was awarded several priz- Encyclopaedias and masterpieces hanging on various Eu-
es on Biennials. Among the Banco Popular Dominicano’s ropean museums collections. Also, his Parisian atelier in
art treasures, 4 of his art pieces can be found. Montparnasse, where he hobnobs with Modigliani, Pica-
sso, Chirico, Apolinaire and Bretón, among others. His
«Seascape,» oil/canvas, 8x60 cm., 1940. Nearly square first artistic record in Dominican Republic date back to
shaped, the composition features a coastal landscape with 1941, starting point of a new pictorial militancy with an
a high coconut grove and foliages on a symmetry that influential teaching activity at the Fine Arts Nacional
establishes a three bands cutting off the sea waves. The School since its opening in 1942.
horizon appears extremely blue as a borderline between
the sea water and a wide open sky with moving clouds of «Composition,» n.s., charcoal/pencil and water-colour/
a tonal range that includes a luminous yellow. «Workers paper, 59x39 cm.The artist’s relationship with the Pari-
at the Harbour,» oil/canvas, 59x89.5 cm., 1940. On an asym- sian ismos and his instinct of do not become attached
metric, rectangular or oblong composition, four men ap- to them, allows him to create unique pieces with the
proach from the coastline where a solitary canoe lies. On technique and one or various means. His composition
one side, a group of buildings crowned by the foliage, is straightforward and avant-garde, so are the configur-
underlined by a port trail. On the opposite side, the sea ing transparent elements as the red fabric, the bull-
mix up with a wild open sky and a flock of seagulls. It is a head and a cartoonish human body. The pictorial re-
landscape in which the light reigns, whitish on the space sources are praiseworthy on the mixture and, although
and over the yellowish sandy soil. «The pedlar woman,» en- the piece may be categorized as a drawing, the fact of
graving/paper, 15x13 cm., no date. On an aged yellowish pa- been produced on paper, allows it to be a painting as
per a scene is captured, in which, a woman is portrayed well. «Composition 2,» n.s., charcoal, crayon and pencil/pa-
from the back standing next to a donkey. It is the creole per, 32x25 cm., The artist’s creative imagination allowed
vignette of a pedlar woman in the middle of the street. him to conceive a composition alien to a possible lin-
The backdrop is formed by traditional houses. The paint- guistic description; although some Dada and Surrealis-
ing is boxed by an edge and the artist’s signature. «Faces,» tic signs are still visible, specially on the accomplished
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