Oscar Dominguez

Charo y Pat, Madrid (acquired in 1993)

Executed on cream wove paper, laid down on canvas. There is no visible varnish on the surface of the work. Cracking has developed throughout the surface, suggesting that it was perhaps rolled or folded previously. Prior attempts to retouch this cracking have occurred in certain areas and are visible under UV light. The work may have been exposed to moisture, this is particularly evident in the left side of the work. Overall this work is in fairly good condition.
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Of majestic scale and portraying the mythical figure of Eolo (Aeolus), the god of the winds, Domínguez successfully captures the grandeur and magnificence of Classical art in his own artistic language. Eolo figured in the greatest tales of classical history, the Iliad, Odyssey and Aeneid, where he was born as a human and became an immortal god upon the wishes of Zeus. Eolo was the guardian of the winds of the Eolian islands, living in Lipari and well regarded as counsel of the gods and tamer of the gales. When Zeus decided to relegate all the powerful winds in amphorae in order to tame their unruly spirits, as he believed they could be harmful if left unbridled, his wife Era commanded him to hide them in a grotto on the Tirrenean sea, leaving Eolo full custody of the other winds. Upon the moment of his death, Zeus recognized Eolo's vital importance and thus rendered him an immortal ruler of the winds.

Throughout his life Domínguez underwent many transformations in his artistic process, from his early Surrealist canvases, through his experiments with decalcomania, to the stark linearity of his later works. In the present work he hints, through the choice of such a classical myth, to his life in Tenerife on the Canary Islands in Spain. He spent his youth painting on the island, recording a landscape which would have a strong impact on his entire oeuvre. The island of Tenerife lent itself to endless tales of mythology, from travelers of ancient times such as those featured in Plinius’ Natural History. For Domínguez, this place would be crucial for the consecration and celebration of Surrealism in Spain; indeed it was the location of the exhibition Arte Surrealista of 1935 which was attended by André Breton amongst others. Of the island, the Spanish playwright and poet Pedro Garcia Cabrera commented: "as you know, André Breton, Benjamin Peret and Jacqueline (Breton) came to visit the island. Tenerife extraordinarily surprised them and they baptized the island as ‘l’Isle Surréaliste’ [the Surreal Island]… they realized that the images sprung from the fantasy where here a reality" (quoted in Pedro Garcia Cabrera, El Hombre en function del paisaje, 1981, p. 46, translated from the French).