Csar Manrique: his life and work

Csar Manrique, born on the 24th of April 1919, in Puerto Naos in Arrecife (Lanzarote). He was raised in a family with little financial burden, and spent plenty of his younger days in a house his father had built in Caleta de Famara, right by the ocean. This house, and its surroundings, were of great importance to Manrique, shaping much of his though. Regarding the property, he had this to say: \”That image has been engraved in my soul as something of extraordinary beauty that I will never forget in all of my life.\”

An important moment in Manrique\’s life was his joining the army, voluntarily, on the side of Franco in the Spanish Civil War. His time in the military was so traumatic that he refused to talk about it. When he returned home in 1939, after the war had finished, he apparently took his military uniform to the roof, and after standing on it, covered it in petrol and set it ablaze.

In 1945 Manrique travelled to Madrid where he won a scholarship for Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, graduating as an art professor and painter. He then moved to New York, following the advice of his cousin, and did very well as an artist there. He won some prestigious grants that meant he could rent his own studio to produce his work.

Though he was successful in New York, Manrique hated the place. He claimed that being in New York was like being a rat in a cage. He yearned for his home, his friends, and to be closer to nature. He, therefore, moved back to Lanzarote, wanting to change it for the better.

And in many respects he succeeded. He contributed to the island in many ways, including urban development projects, architectural design, and, of course, his painting. In fact, it is hard to imagine what Lanzarote would be like today if he had not come back and exerted his influence. He died, tragically, in 1992, at the age of 73, in a car accident.

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