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Lot Essay
We are grateful to María Ramos Martínez Bolster, Margarita Nieto and Louis Stern for their assistance in confirming the authenticity of this work.
Given the strong graphics, provocative implied narrative and deep emotion of Ramos's depiction of his remembered Mexico, it is easy to understand Hollywood's embrace of this late work. He was an outsider with a great story whose extraordinary technical ability and passion for his work made him, as all artists are, the ultimate insider. Ramos's simplified forms bathed in resplendent color rivaled Gauguin in their luscious representation of the feeling of life itself. Yet each composition adhered to a rigorous unity of form. The work has strong decorative quality, but with no wasted space and every line rich with meaning. In essence, Ramos had taken the Mexico of his youth, informed by his vision of its indigenous heritage, and filtered it through his response to the here and now. In Los Angeles, a blossoming urban metropolis, "a city without a past," Ramos mined his rich history to create canvases of striking modernity.
Alfredo Ramos Martínez & Modernismo, The Alfredo Ramos Martínez Research Project, 2009, Los Angeles, p. 51
Given the strong graphics, provocative implied narrative and deep emotion of Ramos's depiction of his remembered Mexico, it is easy to understand Hollywood's embrace of this late work. He was an outsider with a great story whose extraordinary technical ability and passion for his work made him, as all artists are, the ultimate insider. Ramos's simplified forms bathed in resplendent color rivaled Gauguin in their luscious representation of the feeling of life itself. Yet each composition adhered to a rigorous unity of form. The work has strong decorative quality, but with no wasted space and every line rich with meaning. In essence, Ramos had taken the Mexico of his youth, informed by his vision of its indigenous heritage, and filtered it through his response to the here and now. In Los Angeles, a blossoming urban metropolis, "a city without a past," Ramos mined his rich history to create canvases of striking modernity.
Alfredo Ramos Martínez & Modernismo, The Alfredo Ramos Martínez Research Project, 2009, Los Angeles, p. 51