1

During his short 47 years, Max Jiménez devoted his time to traveling the world

and developing his skills as a sculptor, poet, essayist, print-maker, sketch-artist and

painter. Even though Jiménez is considered a colleague of the 1930’s Costa Rican

vanguard called the Nueva Sensibilidad (New Sensibility) his work stands apart from his

compatriots.1. His radical artistic and intellectual discoveries abroad were ignored by

many in his homeland who were content with less controversial traditions. Jimenez’s

work is a union of the intellectual and artistic cross currents that dominated the European

art scene during the first half of the twentieth century. However, his work consistently

maintained a unique perspective of a person raised in a completely different world and

atmosphere known to the burgeoning industrialized world. Although his work was

internationally recognized while he was alive, his prestige outside of Costa Rica has

diminished over time. Recently Jiménez’s work has been revived as two important

retrospectives were mounted in Cuba and Costa Rica, resulting in the publication of

catalogues and books that contain his work. This paper will underscore Jimenez’s ability

to assimilate the current of modern thought in respect to his European contemporaries

and imbue these ideals with his own sense of self and country. Now, almost sixty years

later there is both new and renewed appreciation of his contribution to Costa Rican, Latin

American and modern art in general.

New trends in European art appeared belatedly in Latin America; innovation in art

and culture was, and still is, even slower to arrive in Costa Rica. The Fine Arts Academy

which taught Renaissance and neo-classical artistic traditions was not established until

1897 in Costa Rica; almost a full 100 years after similar academies were established in

Mexico, Cuba, Peru and other Latin American nations. Jiménez’s contemporaries

Max Jimenez: Costa Rican Modernist Julie Parella Anderies

December, 2005

Many Thanks to Professor Maria Enriqueta Guardia for sharing images and research resources

2

leading the Vanguard during the 30’s decade were experimenting with the transitory

effects of light and color, brush stroke, paint application, and common day subject

matter.2 These impressionist techniques had evolved in Europe at least thirty years earlier

and had already been transcended by the ground-breaking cubist movement. Therefore it

is not surprising that Jiménez would have to acquire his modern ideas abroad as he

traveled to such places as Havana, New York City, Paris, Madrid, Santiago de Chile and

Buenos Aires where an audience that appreciated his forward-thinking thoughts and

sentiments already existed. Ironically, almost sixty years after his death Jiménez now is

cherished in Costa Rica for his expressive sculpture, poetry, paintings and foreword

thinking essays, but is scarcely recognized throughout the rest of the world.3 This begs

the question as to what can be determined as quintessential Costa Rican art and literature.

If the work of Max Jiménez is assumed as such, then it could be said that Costa Rican art

and culture has drawn heavily from sources outside of itself. Yet, the work of Jiménez is

filled with an originality derived from being raised in the rural, non-contentious

atmosphere and landscape of this tiny Central American nation. A study of the artistic

endeavors of Jiménez will place him within a circle of significant artists who were

responsible for the evolution of modern art in Latin America. His work reflects the

synthesis and clashing of political, social and economic ideals that were a result of a

struggle for independence and the paradoxical dependency on foreign intervention in

Latin America during the 20th century. This duality in thought and process permeates

both the social and political ambience throughout Latin American and is aptly addressed

in the work of Max Jiménez.

3

As Costa Rica becomes a highly regarded tourist destination in the 21st century,

the country is struggling to identify its indigenous cultural and artistic roots. Other than

the brightly colored oxcarts from Sarchi that only date back to the end of the 19th century,

cultural and artistic traditions are hard to come by in a country that promoted European

culture as a way of endorsing itself as something other than a small provincial backwater

of Latin America. As Costa Rican politics and economics achieve recognition on a

global scale, the importance of the work of such artists as Max Jiménez will soon

transcend obscurity and become recognized for their remarkable ability to capture a

poignant period in time through the eyes of a very cosmopolitan Costa Rican. Max

Jiménez will stand tall among other accomplished modern Latin America artists;

furthermore, his primordial idealism, a concept that intrigued modern European artists,

came from an inner understanding of having lived such an existence, rather than observed

it.

The Vanguard modernist art movement arrived in Latin America on the shoulders

of the intellectuals, artists and writers who had flocked to Europe to experience the

energy and creative gestation taking place in Europe during the first few decades of the

20th century. Upon their return to Latin America, these voyeuristic travelers introduced

ground-breaking concepts and continued to develop them in a very personal,

idiosyncratic and innovative way. The biggest difference between European and Latin

American modernist art was that the Latin American artists bonded with revolutionary

politics4 and their work reflected their emotional search for a national identity. What set

Costa Rican artists apart from the rest of Latin America was their lack of interest in

identifying themselves apart and independent from Europe. Therefore, during a period

4

when economic and political equality were foremost on many Latin Americans minds,

resulting in tumultuous attempts at social revolution throughout the 20th century, Costa

Ricans were complacent, well adjusted and boasted a democratic government and

abolishment of military forces. Costa Rica, known as the “Switzerland” of Latin

America, carved out a unique niche amidst the political and economic commotion of the

surrounding region. Likewise, Costa Rican art lacks the emotion, intensity and volition

that is felt in artistic endeavors throughout the rest of Latin America.

The artistry and writings of Max Jiménez proposes that although geographically

and economically isolated from Western society, the affects of war and class struggle

reverberated even in such a seemingly pastoral and remote place as Costa Rica. There

were a few Costa Rican artists who also had searched outside of the country for solutions

to their artistic expression prior to Jiménez. Enrique Echandi was one of the first. He

studied art in Germany and returned to Costa Rica in 1892 and was known to have

greater skill and more luminous coloration than the Spaniard Tomás Povedano de Arcos

who was hired to lead the first Fine Arts Academy in Costa Rica established in 1897.

However, it wasn’t until early in the 20th century that Ezequiel Jiménez Rojas celebrated

and idealized Costa Rican people and landscapes in his paintings. This sublime style had

its roots in the early 19th century European traditions seen in the work of Delacroix and

Turner and borrowed from the awe-inspiring work of late 19th century North American

artists such as Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt and Mexican artist José María Velasco. An

awareness and pride in national resources and heritage were very late in coming to Costa

Rica. This delayed cultural awakening was occurring in Costa Rica at the same time that

the intellectual and creative world was turned on its head by the advent of Cubism. Costa

5

Rican culture did not have the familiarity, nor, foundation to absorb the ensuing

philosophical and artistic repercussions that innovation had in Europe and Latin America

at the time of its advent, however Max Jiménez was.

Jiménez landed in London in 1919, to study business in preparation to take over

the family import and shipping business, but, much to his father’s dismay was quickly

swept up with the artistic, intellectual, spiritual and literary experimentation that was

rampant throughout the continent and abandoned his studies. It was here where his

artistic journey began, enrolling in drawing classes and soon moving across the channel

to Paris. He stayed in Paris from 1922-25 and considered this period to be the best of his

life. In Paris he matriculated in the Ransom Academy, but found the regimen too

restrictive and decided to pursue drawing, sculpture and poetry on his own. Being in Paris

during the twenties meant he was exposed to a myriad of intellectual and artistic ideas

which are realized in his art and writings. He lived in the same building as the Peruvian

poet César Vallejo who encouraged him to write and with whom he maintained a lasting

friendship.5 He was introduced to sculpture by José de Creft a contemporary of Picasso

who taught him how to design his work in plaster and later translate them into bronze and

wood. His sculptural work pays homage to Constantine Brancusi using volume, mass

and simple lines to elucidate human sentimentality (Figures 1 & 2). He modeled fourteen

pieces and debuted as an artist with his sculpture and drawings in 1924 at the Percier

Gallery in Paris. His years in Europe may have estranged him from his father, but his

chosen métier and the Bohemian lifestyle in Paris changed his life and helped shape the

modern literary and artistic movement in Costa Rica.

6

Max was a prolific critical writer and there is substantial documentation of his

political and philosophical ideals. After returning to Costa Rica in 1925 he moved away

from sculpture and began writing verse and essays. His writings regularly appeared in a

periodical called Repertorio Americano that was founded and published by his good

friend and modernist thinker Joaquin Garcia Monge, who often wrote about Max’s

artistic and literary endeavors. Monge was part of what was known as the Olympus

Generation, a group espousing liberal politics that surged at the beginning of the 20th

century led by young people who were fighting for total renovation of the social and

cultural scope of the country.6 Monge was somewhat of a spiritual guide for the new

generation and encouraged them to find their own voices through their roots as Latin

Americans which included looking to their pre-Columbian ancestry.7

Although never a political activist, Jiménez was not shy about his ideals and often

expressed his sentiment for the populist movement and anti-imperialist sentiment

promulgated by the revolutionary Peruvian political movement APRA.8 He often

published in the Diario de Costa Rica where in 1933 he made an important political

statement that translated said “I want to be like Quixote, to sincerely and frankly speak

the truth about the situation in Costa Rica, without reservation or fear of criticism.” Even

though he was against the bourgeoisie Max’s idealism and politics were somewhat

ambiguous having benefited from the fruits of his father’s capitalist business ventures

which enabled him to pursue his art and writing. In his prologue of his poetry book

called Revenar he justifies and explains his political position saying left and right are

equal. In the Diario of Costa Rica, Oct. 6, 1931 he came out against communism and

Marxist ideology, Stalinism and sectarianism. His affinity for Trotsky was often

7

expressed in his articles written on literature and revolution that appeared in European

journals from 1923-1933. He related these ideals to the role of the artist in the modern

world and their relationship with the revolutionary process. He wrote a considerable

amount about his philosophy on art as well as other topics. In his essay Art and the

Proletariat he addressed socialistic ideals within artistic creation which was what he

remained interested in throughout his career.9

Jiménez experimented with all the media that intrigued him and thoroughly

enjoyed the symbiotic relationship that existed between his poetry and print making. He

wrote and illustrated five books of poetry : Gleba (Paris), 1929; Sonaja (Madrid) 1930;

Quijongo (Madrid) 1930; Poesia (San Jose) 1936; Revenar (Santiago, Chile) 1936; El

dormador de los pulgas (1936) (Figure 3) ; and three novels: Unos fantoches (1928); El

Jaul (1937) and Candelillas (Posthumous edition 1965.) He illustrated all of his books

with his drawings and wood block prints that he made himself (Figure 4). His poetry was

personal, intuitive, sentimental and passionate.10 While in Europe he had been exposed

to a myriad of spiritual movements and freely incorporated those ideas into his own

philosophical context. He revealed his affinity with mysticism, yet he was autonomous

from any particular school of thought or religious beliefs. His poetry like his art reveals

his passion for the power of femininity and the oppositional forces of love and death. He

affirms the ideas that the poet/artist serves as an icon for the world, rising above social

structures or any established order. Yet even with this empowerment, Jiménez dwelled

on pain, desolation and impotence. Never before in Costa Rican literature had someone

focused his work on such dark and obscure corners of the mind, not surprisingly, then,

8

the audience in his native country found it difficult to relate to such personal, yet open,

anguish.

Jiménez’s wood block print making and drawings were the perfect release for his

pent up emotion and complemented the anxiety ridden poetry that filled the pages. The

most important stage of his printmaking is between 1934 and 1938 when he produced El

Domador de Pulgas which exhibits 20 xylographs (Figure 5); and Revenar a book

dedicated to his beloved deaf sister Inés for which he created an original wood block

alphabet to head each of the 42 poems (Figure 6 & 7). His expressive prints and

drawings established his empathy for his Costa Rican forbearers, much like the early 20th

century German expressionists such as Emil Nolde (Figure 8 & 9) who sought a

resurgence of German traditions to recapture the national spirit. Like the Expressionists

he wanted to break with convention, lash out against the establishment and speak to the

humble folk and the adversity of their life.11 Jimenez’s own words describe his

perspective in shaping his imagery in his book called El domador de pulgas (The

Dominator of the Fleas):

“The soul of a flea artist is like the calmness of a blind mans hand: the objects discovered through the sense of the hand, are like the realized work of art, which continues to confirm existence.”12

The lines of his prints and drawings are a tactile guide to understanding his subject

matter and his empathy for the common man. He highlights people’s imperfections, the

curves, bumps, and folds of skin and renders them completely human. However, this

type of work can make a person feel ill at ease; yet, Jiménez manipulated the genre to

reveal certain optimism, demonstrating his own contradictory nature, caught between a

world of hope and despair.

9

Towards the end of the 30’s, around the time the Second World War was

beginning to escalate, Max began to paint in earnest. He had shows in New York, Paris

Havana and San José and drew the attention of international critics.13 His chosen subject

matter aptly displayed his own personal pain and suffering which was masked by the

angst of this time period. Physical presence overwhelms the picture plane where man

and nature passionately and often erotically amalgamate with the environment.

Maternidad (figure10), shown in a 1945 exhibit in San Jose takes on the familiar theme

introduced by Picasso in his weeping women series and in his most famous of all

paintings, Guernica, which Jiménez most likely saw in New York City (figure 11). A

favored theme in Spanish art is the depiction of pain and suffering as experienced by the

Virgin Mary and her epic loss (figure 12). This loss is epitomized through both religious

and secular imagery of weeping woman and was translated with great intensity

throughout Latin American religious art work and folktale. This painting seems to mix

the moral lessons of three very popular Costa Rican folktales, La Segua, La Llorona and

Tulevieja to articulate Jiménez’s distress about a world at war from his tangled

perspective.14 Like Guernica the landscape is bleak, almost dreamlike. The mother is

carrying a dead child, her body language shows the agony of loss. Her face and body are

distorted, she wears the ravages of war, stripped of life, compassion and understanding.

Like many of the modernist intellectuals Jiménez manifested an internal ethic

and fought for his aesthetic ideals as they related to his own being. He was greatly

inspired by the black culture and spirited atmosphere he experienced in Havana. Most of

his oil paintings displayed emblematic elements that combined his personal spirituality

with belief systems he experienced in both Cuba and Costa Rica. Flowers, altars and

10

windows are recurring themes that allude to the existence of two worlds, one that is

within oneself and the other outside of oneself. Although this iconography is persistently

modified the steady presence of these symbols addresses their permanence and

importance to Jiménez. This type of double entendre is prevalent throughout Latin

American art. Something is, but isn’t at the same time. Just as the women in Mirando las

Comparsas (Figure 13), look as if they are ladies of the household enjoying the passing

parade, it is discernible that they are ladies of the night looking out to survey their

prospects for the evening.

Jiménez was impressed by the work of Modigliani and even bought one of his

works while living in Europe. His work Ni Cristo, Ni Chango (figure 14) shows his

influence of pure line and personal stylization. Like Modigliani, (figure 15) Jiménez used

stylized features such as elongated necks and heavy lidded eyes which exposed the

fundamental emotion of the person. Both the title and the symbolism in this painting

divulge his fascination with the black culture of Cuba, their passion, way of life and the

religious blend of African and European belief systems.15 Jiménez, was attuned to the

benefits of a pluralistic belief system as he personally vacillated between that which was

innate and that which was exposed.

Jiménez’s paintings were created at a time when the duality of his own existence

seemed to press hard upon his demeanor. This ability to engage in issues from various

perspectives, a somewhat circular thought process, is very Latin American. Unfortunately

he not only tried to work it out on his canvasses, but with the bottle as well, which led to

a deterioration of his health and well being and eventually his death in Buenos Aires in

1947. His oversized, misshapen, figures engulf the surface of a surrealistic picture plane

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suggesting his own struggle between his mind and his environment. Although often

living and working outside of Costa Rica, his stark otherworldly backdrops suggest the

ocean, mountains and sky of his native country. In Cactus en el Desierto (figure 16), the

mountain range in the background are those of the Isla Negritos in the Punta Arenas area

on the West coast and reminiscent of Matisse’s well known work called Le Luxe II

(figure 17). It could also be discerned that Jiménez forecast and was disheartened about

the consequences of harnessing the natural resources of the biologically diverse

geography that makes Costa Rica a special place.

Many other influences can be seen in Jiménez’s paintings as he was surrounded

by the discourse and discoveries of Europeans, Latin and North Americans not only

during his intensive early years in Paris, but through his inexhaustible travels. Wherever

he went he visited museums, galleries and attended private salons. He rubbed elbows

with the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriela Mistral, David

Siqueiros and Amelia Pelaez. His address book was divided by countries and was full of

names of people of equal stature to the above mentioned list from each place.16 One

passing acquaintance was Brazilian artists Tarsila do Amaral whose anthropophagic

phase is equated by many people to Jiménez’s work. Although no direct connection can

be made between the two artists, this particular phase of her work did inspire her husband

to write a manifesto on the subject which may have been read by Jiménez.17 Even though

Jiménez and Amaral were in Paris at the same time in 1922, her art which is

characterized by exaggerated anatomical features, set in surrealistic yet familiar

landscapes, did not transpire until 1928 when she was back in Brazil and Jiménez in

Costa Rica. She too was concerned with tying her work into a national identity and

12

seemingly the two artists arrived at similar methods to display their opinion without ever

having seen what the other was doing (figures 18& 19).18

Other easily identifiable influences on Jiménez include Picasso and his lustful

distortion and disfiguration of his subject’s features, in essence stripping them of their

pretensions and revealing their inner emotional essence. Jiménez’s simplicity of line,

bulbous figures and fully occupied picture plane are even more directly relatable to Henri

Matisse, whose Blue Nude could be the inspiration for Jiménez’s Reclining Woman

(Figures 20 & 21). Like Picasso and Matisse and many artists before him, he was

fascinated by the feminine figure which was the main subject matter of most of his work

and revealed his own particular temperament and feelings towards women and life in

general. His Reclining Woman is yet another take on an age old theme that was

modernized by Manet’s Olympia which ridiculed how women had been subjected over

the centuries to the male gaze. Jiménez has aptly given his reclining nude a distinctly

Latin American flair, demonstrating the duality of indifference and despair towards the

role in life that has been foist upon her. Not dissimilar to the political and social attitudes

that prevailed towards foreign intervention in Latin America during the 20th century.

Max was a liberated artist, writing and making art that suited his own sensibilities;

his fortunate financial situation freed him from the onus of having to sell his art to make a

living. Yet he was conflicted about his own lifestyle, rejecting the philosophical yet not

the material trappings of the bourgeoisie. His artistic endeavors focused on humble

people and the adversity of their lives and aptly expressed his sentiment that human

suffering was both for the rich and poor in his classic poem called Dolor.19

Por la tarde que muere For the death of the afternoon Y no ha de regresar, Never to return,

13

Por la mujer que pasa For the woman who passes Y no hemos de ver más; whom will never be seen again; Por el árbol sin hojas, For the tree without leaves, Por la flor ya marchita: For the withered flower: Dolor. Pain. Por los días ya pasados, For days past, Por los amores sepultados; For buried loves; Dolor, dolor. Pain, pain. Y a veces sin motivo At times without motive Sentir en lo profundo Deeply felt Un profundo…dolor. A deep...pain.20

Without ever being overtly political he relayed the sense that money and social position

are ineffective in the search for happiness. Many Costa Ricans did not understand his

work, perhaps because he went below the surface and unveiled a perspective that wasn’t

amenable to the dream that Costa Ricans had constructed of a small contented European

nation within Latin America. Yet acceptance of his work was not what he was striving

for. He was cognizant that his work would record his personal reflections of the time

period and open doors for future generations. Jiménez realized his and his countries

shortcomings and his creative efforts developed from a personal point of view that

revealed a desolate, complicated and sad existence. Writing and painting allowed him to

express and release his feelings as well as immortalize those sentiments to create

opportunity for others who would understand the consequences of his toil and strive for

truth and change. He distanced himself from a hypocritical world and created a body of

work that broke the barriers of his time, and related his history to the rest of Latin

America and the world in order to reach a more universal understanding of life.

“This justice complies with the passionate position of this extraordinary artist, free and independent from associations, solitary before his artistic labor, holding onto an Olympic position, a bit aristocratic, but never too far from the suffering of

14

Latin American and the discovery of its most important roots….without any affiliations or benevolence to any institution….he still knew how to be quietly generous, for without the right hand, the left hand would not have been able to create.”21 (Alfonso Chase)

1 Maria Enriqueta Guardia (Former professor of Art History at the University of Costa Rica, author of many books and articles on Costa Rican art including Max Jimenez Huete, related to the Jimenez family through marriage and responsible for cataloging the most extensive database of Costa Rican art images in the world.), discussions on 12/03/04, 12/08/04 in her home in San José. Guardia placed Jiménez within this group led by his good friend and fellow artist Teodorico Quirós. Jiménez is not mentioned by some Costa Rican art history books during this time period, most likely because his style is different from other Costa Rican artists, his work is modern, influenced by various European movements such as the German expressionists and surrealist school and the style of the New Sensibility group is influenced by impressionist painters. 2 José Miguel Rojas González, Arte Costarricense: Un Siglo, Editorial Costa Rica, (San Jose, 2003), 46. 3 The Museo de Arte Costarricense mounted a retrospective show of Max Jiménez’s work in 1999 and called him one of the great masters of the 20th century. Since his death in 1947 only three other exhibits have occurred of his work, two in Costa Rica in 1967 and 1974 and one in Havana in 2002. 4 Ana Mercedes González Kreysa, La propuesta plástica de Max Jiménez in Max Jiménez. Aproximaciones críticas, ed. Álvaro Quesada Soto (Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, 1999), 55. 5 Alfonso Chase, Max Jiménez Ministerio de Cultura, Juventud y Deportes (San Jose 1973), 11. 6 Ibid., Kreysa. 7 Ibid. Kreysa, 57. 8 Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana, was a reformist political party founded in Peru in 1924 and led by, Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, who felt that Latin America had to carry out a revolution of its own and not copy communist slogans or other kinds of imported theories. He argued that Latin America needed its own individual solutions being that its people and history were different from that of the European industrial societies that had created the capitalist and Marxist ideologies. 9 Ibid., Chase, 42. 10 Carlos Francisco Monge, Max Jiménez y el vertigo del presente, in Max Jiménez. Aproximaciones críticas, ed. Álvaro Quesada Soto (Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, 1999), 15. 11 Ibid., Chase, 16. 12 Max Jiménez, capital of the chapter The Flea Artist. Translation by author. 13 Max Jiménez Archives, Museo Costariccense, San José, Costa Rica. A published catalogue of an exhibit in Havana in 1943 at the Nuevo Instituto de Cultura contains essays by Jorge Mañach Gilberto Conzalez y Contreras. David Alfaro Siqueiros, Jose Gomez Sicre,, Juan Bosch, Heriberto Portell Vila, Ramon Guirao, and a prologue by Jiménez. Also accessed from this archive were various newspaper critiques from his 1939 Paris show at the M.M. Bernheim-Jeune Gallery and his New York shows in 1940 at the Georgette Passedoit Gallery, and 1942 show at the Sborowski Gallery. 14 http://www.infocostarica.com/culture/legends.html, "La Segua" was a beautiful woman during colonial times in the capital city of Cartago. She was in love with a Spanish officer who broke her heart and caused her a terrible curse- to be transformed into a she-monster who haunts men that are riding alone in deserted paths. "La Segua" is a beautiful apparition of a woman, of porcelain-white skin, large black eyes and long, black hair. She asks the unsuspecting traveler, who is often drunk, for a ride on his horse, saying

15

that she needs to see her ill mother. The rider lifts her up unto the saddle and pretty soon, he turns around to see the gorgeous woman turn into a hideous creature with the face of a horse's skull, burning red eyes, and large and menacing teeth!!! "La Llorona" is the tale of a pretty girl called Maria, lived in a small town by the Reventazon River. She fell in love with a good man but he had to go off in an expedition into the mountains, promising to marry her when he returned. Another man called Ximeno, who had come through the mule road from Panama, met Maria and fell in love with her. In a cold and rainy night, Maria's family decided to let Ximeno stay in their home, since he didn't have another place to go. That night, Maria gave in to Ximeno's caresses, and became pregnant. When she gave birth, she went crazy, and screaming "va a venir" (he's going to come- her fiance) she ran to the river and threw the baby in the torrent. People wandering near rivers sometimes hear the shrieks and lamentations of the unfortunate woman, who wants her baby back. Finally the "Tulevieja." is creature who wears an old "tule" or hat and is short and skinny; some say that it has the body of a chicken and large breasts that hang down. The "Tulevieja" was once a thirteen year-old girl who became pregnant, thus getting kicked out of her job and causing the anger of her parents. When she gave birth, she refused to breast-feed the baby, thus killing him. She was sent to Puntarenas by her parents (province by the coast), where she got sick and died only two weeks later. Because of the injustice that she committed, she's doomed to wander around houses, looking for children that she can breast-feed.” 15 This system of religious duality developed as a way to allow the black people in Cuba to continue to practice their original belief system based upon Orisha worship within the context of a repressive European scheme. 16 Max Jiménez Archival Material, Office of Maria Enriqueta Guardia. Guardia has a copy of one of Jiménez’s original address book that contains hundreds of names of his contacts throughout the world. According to Guardia there was another book that has been lost. 17 Olívio Tavares de Araújo, Tarsila do Amaral, Embassy of Brasil, London , UK, http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=215&offset=5. 18 Ibid, Guardia meeting. This is a common extraction, but Guardia, in her extensive research has not found any link between the two artists to prove any direct correlation in evolution of style. After more research and comparison between images I agree with Guardia’s assessment. Amaral transcended the anthropomorphic stage and developed into a style that took its cue from Fernand Leger industrialized society. Although inspired by many of the same artistic and societal influences Amaral and Jiménez have different styles. 19 Ibid., Chase, 21. 20 Translation by author. 21 Ibid., Chase, 53.

Bibliography

Barrionuevo Chen-Apuy, Floria A. and María Enriqueta Guardia Y. Teodorico Quirós. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 1998.

___. Max Jiménez. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica,

1999. Chase, Alfonso. Max Jiménez. San Jose, Costa Rica: Ministerio de Cultura Juventud y

Deportes, 1973. ___. Max Jiménez. San Jose, Costa Rica: Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia,

2000. Echevarría, Evelio. Indice General del Repertorio Americano. San Jose, Costa Rica:

Editorial Universidad Estatal a Distancia, 1981. Fernández Tercero and Vernor Gallardo. Guía de la Plástica Costarricense III. San

José, Costa Rica; Artdirecto, Imprelibros, S.A., 2000. Jiménez, Max. Toda la Poesia: Poesia 1929-1936. San José, Costa Rica: Editorial

Universidad Nacional, 2000. Museo de Arte Costarricense. Max Jiménez: Un Artista del Siglo. September-

December 1999. Ochoa, Eugenia Zavaleta. Las Exposiciones de Artes Plásticas en Costa Rica (1928-

1937). Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 2004. Rojas González, José Miguel. Arte Costarricense: Un Siglo. San José, Costa Rica:

Editorial Costa Rica, 2003. Ross, Yazmín and Luciano Capella. Passion for the Caribbean. San José, Costa

Rica: Grupo Santillana, S.A., 2003. Soto, Álvaro Quesada. Max Jiménez. Aproximaciones críticas. San José, Costa Rica:

Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, 1999.

1

During his short 47 years, Max Jiménez devoted his time to traveling the world

and developing his skills as a sculptor, poet, essayist, print-maker, sketch-artist and

painter. Even though Jiménez is considered a colleague of the 1930’s Costa Rican

vanguard called the Nueva Sensibilidad (New Sensibility) his work stands apart from his

compatriots.1. His radical artistic and intellectual discoveries abroad were ignored by

many in his homeland who were content with less controversial traditions. Jimenez’s

work is a union of the intellectual and artistic cross currents that dominated the European

art scene during the first half of the twentieth century. However, his work consistently

maintained a unique perspective of a person raised in a completely different world and

atmosphere known to the burgeoning industrialized world. Although his work was

internationally recognized while he was alive, his prestige outside of Costa Rica has

diminished over time. Recently Jiménez’s work has been revived as two important

retrospectives were mounted in Cuba and Costa Rica, resulting in the publication of

catalogues and books that contain his work. This paper will underscore Jimenez’s ability

to assimilate the current of modern thought in respect to his European contemporaries

and imbue these ideals with his own sense of self and country. Now, almost sixty years

later there is both new and renewed appreciation of his contribution to Costa Rican, Latin

American and modern art in general.

New trends in European art appeared belatedly in Latin America; innovation in art

and culture was, and still is, even slower to arrive in Costa Rica. The Fine Arts Academy

which taught Renaissance and neo-classical artistic traditions was not established until

1897 in Costa Rica; almost a full 100 years after similar academies were established in

Mexico, Cuba, Peru and other Latin American nations. Jiménez’s contemporaries

2

leading the Vanguard during the 30’s decade were experimenting with the transitory

effects of light and color, brush stroke, paint application, and common day subject

matter.2 These impressionist techniques had evolved in Europe at least thirty years earlier

and had already been transcended by the ground-breaking cubist movement. Therefore it

is not surprising that Jiménez would have to acquire his modern ideas abroad as he

traveled to such places as Havana, New York City, Paris, Madrid, Santiago de Chile and

Buenos Aires where an audience that appreciated his forward-thinking thoughts and

sentiments already existed. Ironically, almost sixty years after his death Jiménez now is

cherished in Costa Rica for his expressive sculpture, poetry, paintings and foreword

thinking essays, but is scarcely recognized throughout the rest of the world.3 This begs

the question as to what can be determined as quintessential Costa Rican art and literature.

If the work of Max Jiménez is assumed as such, then it could be said that Costa Rican art

and culture has drawn heavily from sources outside of itself. Yet, the work of Jiménez is

filled with an originality derived from being raised in the rural, non-contentious

atmosphere and landscape of this tiny Central American nation. A study of the artistic

endeavors of Jiménez will place him within a circle of significant artists who were

responsible for the evolution of modern art in Latin America. His work reflects the

synthesis and clashing of political, social and economic ideals that were a result of a

struggle for independence and the paradoxical dependency on foreign intervention in

Latin America during the 20th century. This duality in thought and process permeates

both the social and political ambience throughout Latin American and is aptly addressed

in the work of Max Jiménez.

3

As Costa Rica becomes a highly regarded tourist destination in the 21st century,

the country is struggling to identify its indigenous cultural and artistic roots. Other than

the brightly colored oxcarts from Sarchi that only date back to the end of the 19th century,

cultural and artistic traditions are hard to come by in a country that promoted European

culture as a way of endorsing itself as something other than a small provincial backwater

of Latin America. As Costa Rican politics and economics achieve recognition on a

global scale, the importance of the work of such artists as Max Jiménez will soon

transcend obscurity and become recognized for their remarkable ability to capture a

poignant period in time through the eyes of a very cosmopolitan Costa Rican. Max

Jiménez will stand tall among other accomplished modern Latin America artists;

furthermore, his primordial idealism, a concept that intrigued modern European artists,

came from an inner understanding of having lived such an existence, rather than observed

it.

The Vanguard modernist art movement arrived in Latin America on the shoulders

of the intellectuals, artists and writers who had flocked to Europe to experience the

energy and creative gestation taking place in Europe during the first few decades of the

20th century. Upon their return to Latin America, these voyeuristic travelers introduced

ground-breaking concepts and continued to develop them in a very personal,

idiosyncratic and innovative way. The biggest difference between European and Latin

American modernist art was that the Latin American artists bonded with revolutionary

politics4 and their work reflected their emotional search for a national identity. What set

Costa Rican artists apart from the rest of Latin America was their lack of interest in

identifying themselves apart and independent from Europe. Therefore, during a period

4

when economic and political equality were foremost on many Latin Americans minds,

resulting in tumultuous attempts at social revolution throughout the 20th century, Costa

Ricans were complacent, well adjusted and boasted a democratic government and

abolishment of military forces. Costa Rica, known as the “Switzerland” of Latin

America, carved out a unique niche amidst the political and economic commotion of the

surrounding region. Likewise, Costa Rican art lacks the emotion, intensity and volition

that is felt in artistic endeavors throughout the rest of Latin America.

The artistry and writings of Max Jiménez proposes that although geographically

and economically isolated from Western society, the affects of war and class struggle

reverberated even in such a seemingly pastoral and remote place as Costa Rica. There

were a few Costa Rican artists who also had searched outside of the country for solutions

to their artistic expression prior to Jiménez. Enrique Echandi was one of the first. He

studied art in Germany and returned to Costa Rica in 1892 and was known to have

greater skill and more luminous coloration than the Spaniard Tomás Povedano de Arcos

who was hired to lead the first Fine Arts Academy in Costa Rica established in 1897.

However, it wasn’t until early in the 20th century that Ezequiel Jiménez Rojas celebrated

and idealized Costa Rican people and landscapes in his paintings. This sublime style had

its roots in the early 19th century European traditions seen in the work of Delacroix and

Turner and borrowed from the awe-inspiring work of late 19th century North American

artists such as Thomas Cole, Albert Bierstadt and Mexican artist José María Velasco. An

awareness and pride in national resources and heritage were very late in coming to Costa

Rica. This delayed cultural awakening was occurring in Costa Rica at the same time that

the intellectual and creative world was turned on its head by the advent of Cubism. Costa

5

Rican culture did not have the familiarity, nor, foundation to absorb the ensuing

philosophical and artistic repercussions that innovation had in Europe and Latin America

at the time of its advent, however Max Jiménez was.

Jiménez landed in London in 1919, to study business in preparation to take over

the family import and shipping business, but, much to his father’s dismay was quickly

swept up with the artistic, intellectual, spiritual and literary experimentation that was

rampant throughout the continent and abandoned his studies. It was here where his

artistic journey began, enrolling in drawing classes and soon moving across the channel

to Paris. He stayed in Paris from 1922-25 and considered this period to be the best of his

life. In Paris he matriculated in the Ransom Academy, but found the regimen too

restrictive and decided to pursue drawing, sculpture and poetry on his own. Being in Paris

during the twenties meant he was exposed to a myriad of intellectual and artistic ideas

which are realized in his art and writings. He lived in the same building as the Peruvian

poet César Vallejo who encouraged him to write and with whom he maintained a lasting

friendship.5 He was introduced to sculpture by José de Creft a contemporary of Picasso

who taught him how to design his work in plaster and later translate them into bronze and

wood. His sculptural work pays homage to Constantine Brancusi using volume, mass

and simple lines to elucidate human sentimentality (Figures 1 & 2). He modeled fourteen

pieces and debuted as an artist with his sculpture and drawings in 1924 at the Percier

Gallery in Paris. His years in Europe may have estranged him from his father, but his

chosen métier and the Bohemian lifestyle in Paris changed his life and helped shape the

modern literary and artistic movement in Costa Rica.

6

Max was a prolific critical writer and there is substantial documentation of his

political and philosophical ideals. After returning to Costa Rica in 1925 he moved away

from sculpture and began writing verse and essays. His writings regularly appeared in a

periodical called Repertorio Americano that was founded and published by his good

friend and modernist thinker Joaquin Garcia Monge, who often wrote about Max’s

artistic and literary endeavors. Monge was part of what was known as the Olympus

Generation, a group espousing liberal politics that surged at the beginning of the 20th

century led by young people who were fighting for total renovation of the social and

cultural scope of the country.6 Monge was somewhat of a spiritual guide for the new

generation and encouraged them to find their own voices through their roots as Latin

Americans which included looking to their pre-Columbian ancestry.7

Although never a political activist, Jiménez was not shy about his ideals and often

expressed his sentiment for the populist movement and anti-imperialist sentiment

promulgated by the revolutionary Peruvian political movement APRA.8 He often

published in the Diario de Costa Rica where in 1933 he made an important political

statement that translated said “I want to be like Quixote, to sincerely and frankly speak

the truth about the situation in Costa Rica, without reservation or fear of criticism.” Even

though he was against the bourgeoisie Max’s idealism and politics were somewhat

ambiguous having benefited from the fruits of his father’s capitalist business ventures

which enabled him to pursue his art and writing. In his prologue of his poetry book

called Revenar he justifies and explains his political position saying left and right are

equal. In the Diario of Costa Rica, Oct. 6, 1931 he came out against communism and

Marxist ideology, Stalinism and sectarianism. His affinity for Trotsky was often

7

expressed in his articles written on literature and revolution that appeared in European

journals from 1923-1933. He related these ideals to the role of the artist in the modern

world and their relationship with the revolutionary process. He wrote a considerable

amount about his philosophy on art as well as other topics. In his essay Art and the

Proletariat he addressed socialistic ideals within artistic creation which was what he

remained interested in throughout his career.9

Jiménez experimented with all the media that intrigued him and thoroughly

enjoyed the symbiotic relationship that existed between his poetry and print making. He

wrote and illustrated five books of poetry : Gleba (Paris), 1929; Sonaja (Madrid) 1930;

Quijongo (Madrid) 1930; Poesia (San Jose) 1936; Revenar (Santiago, Chile) 1936; El

dormador de los pulgas (1936) (Figure 3) ; and three novels: Unos fantoches (1928); El

Jaul (1937) and Candelillas (Posthumous edition 1965.) He illustrated all of his books

with his drawings and wood block prints that he made himself (Figure 4). His poetry was

personal, intuitive, sentimental and passionate.10 While in Europe he had been exposed

to a myriad of spiritual movements and freely incorporated those ideas into his own

philosophical context. He revealed his affinity with mysticism, yet he was autonomous

from any particular school of thought or religious beliefs. His poetry like his art reveals

his passion for the power of femininity and the oppositional forces of love and death. He

affirms the ideas that the poet/artist serves as an icon for the world, rising above social

structures or any established order. Yet even with this empowerment, Jiménez dwelled

on pain, desolation and impotence. Never before in Costa Rican literature had someone

focused his work on such dark and obscure corners of the mind, not surprisingly, then,

8

the audience in his native country found it difficult to relate to such personal, yet open,

anguish.

Jiménez’s wood block print making and drawings were the perfect release for his

pent up emotion and complemented the anxiety ridden poetry that filled the pages. The

most important stage of his printmaking is between 1934 and 1938 when he produced El

Domador de Pulgas which exhibits 20 xylographs (Figure 5); and Revenar a book

dedicated to his beloved deaf sister Inés for which he created an original wood block

alphabet to head each of the 42 poems (Figure 6 & 7). His expressive prints and

drawings established his empathy for his Costa Rican forbearers, much like the early 20th

century German expressionists such as Emil Nolde (Figure 8 & 9) who sought a

resurgence of German traditions to recapture the national spirit. Like the Expressionists

he wanted to break with convention, lash out against the establishment and speak to the

humble folk and the adversity of their life.11 Jimenez’s own words describe his

perspective in shaping his imagery in his book called El domador de pulgas (The

Dominator of the Fleas):

“The soul of a flea artist is like the calmness of a blind mans hand: the objects discovered through the sense of the hand, are like the realized work of art, which continues to confirm existence.”12

The lines of his prints and drawings are a tactile guide to understanding his subject

matter and his empathy for the common man. He highlights people’s imperfections, the

curves, bumps, and folds of skin and renders them completely human. However, this

type of work can make a person feel ill at ease; yet, Jiménez manipulated the genre to

reveal certain optimism, demonstrating his own contradictory nature, caught between a

world of hope and despair.

9

Towards the end of the 30’s, around the time the Second World War was

beginning to escalate, Max began to paint in earnest. He had shows in New York, Paris

Havana and San José and drew the attention of international critics.13 His chosen subject

matter aptly displayed his own personal pain and suffering which was masked by the

angst of this time period. Physical presence overwhelms the picture plane where man

and nature passionately and often erotically amalgamate with the environment.

Maternidad (figure10), shown in a 1945 exhibit in San Jose takes on the familiar theme

introduced by Picasso in his weeping women series and in his most famous of all

paintings, Guernica, which Jiménez most likely saw in New York City (figure 11). A

favored theme in Spanish art is the depiction of pain and suffering as experienced by the

Virgin Mary and her epic loss (figure 12). This loss is epitomized through both religious

and secular imagery of weeping woman and was translated with great intensity

throughout Latin American religious art work and folktale. This painting seems to mix

the moral lessons of three very popular Costa Rican folktales, La Segua, La Llorona and

Tulevieja to articulate Jiménez’s distress about a world at war from his tangled

perspective.14 Like Guernica the landscape is bleak, almost dreamlike. The mother is

carrying a dead child, her body language shows the agony of loss. Her face and body are

distorted, she wears the ravages of war, stripped of life, compassion and understanding.

Like many of the modernist intellectuals Jiménez manifested an internal ethic

and fought for his aesthetic ideals as they related to his own being. He was greatly

inspired by the black culture and spirited atmosphere he experienced in Havana. Most of

his oil paintings displayed emblematic elements that combined his personal spirituality

with belief systems he experienced in both Cuba and Costa Rica. Flowers, altars and

10

windows are recurring themes that allude to the existence of two worlds, one that is

within oneself and the other outside of oneself. Although this iconography is persistently

modified the steady presence of these symbols addresses their permanence and

importance to Jiménez. This type of double entendre is prevalent throughout Latin

American art. Something is, but isn’t at the same time. Just as the women in Mirando las

Comparsas (Figure 13), look as if they are ladies of the household enjoying the passing

parade, it is discernible that they are ladies of the night looking out to survey their

prospects for the evening.

Jiménez was impressed by the work of Modigliani and even bought one of his

works while living in Europe. His work Ni Cristo, Ni Chango (figure 14) shows his

influence of pure line and personal stylization. Like Modigliani, (figure 15) Jiménez used

stylized features such as elongated necks and heavy lidded eyes which exposed the

fundamental emotion of the person. Both the title and the symbolism in this painting

divulge his fascination with the black culture of Cuba, their passion, way of life and the

religious blend of African and European belief systems.15 Jiménez, was attuned to the

benefits of a pluralistic belief system as he personally vacillated between that which was

innate and that which was exposed.

Jiménez’s paintings were created at a time when the duality of his own existence

seemed to press hard upon his demeanor. This ability to engage in issues from various

perspectives, a somewhat circular thought process, is very Latin American. Unfortunately

he not only tried to work it out on his canvasses, but with the bottle as well, which led to

a deterioration of his health and well being and eventually his death in Buenos Aires in

1947. His oversized, misshapen, figures engulf the surface of a surrealistic picture plane

11

suggesting his own struggle between his mind and his environment. Although often

living and working outside of Costa Rica, his stark otherworldly backdrops suggest the

ocean, mountains and sky of his native country. In Cactus en el Desierto (figure 16), the

mountain range in the background are those of the Isla Negritos in the Punta Arenas area

on the West coast and reminiscent of Matisse’s well known work called Le Luxe II

(figure 17). It could also be discerned that Jiménez forecast and was disheartened about

the consequences of harnessing the natural resources of the biologically diverse

geography that makes Costa Rica a special place.

Many other influences can be seen in Jiménez’s paintings as he was surrounded

by the discourse and discoveries of Europeans, Latin and North Americans not only

during his intensive early years in Paris, but through his inexhaustible travels. Wherever

he went he visited museums, galleries and attended private salons. He rubbed elbows

with the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriela Mistral, David

Siqueiros and Amelia Pelaez. His address book was divided by countries and was full of

names of people of equal stature to the above mentioned list from each place.16 One

passing acquaintance was Brazilian artists Tarsila do Amaral whose anthropophagic

phase is equated by many people to Jiménez’s work. Although no direct connection can

be made between the two artists, this particular phase of her work did inspire her husband

to write a manifesto on the subject which may have been read by Jiménez.17 Even though

Jiménez and Amaral were in Paris at the same time in 1922, her art which is

characterized by exaggerated anatomical features, set in surrealistic yet familiar

landscapes, did not transpire until 1928 when she was back in Brazil and Jiménez in

Costa Rica. She too was concerned with tying her work into a national identity and

12

seemingly the two artists arrived at similar methods to display their opinion without ever

having seen what the other was doing (figures 18& 19).18

Other easily identifiable influences on Jiménez include Picasso and his lustful

distortion and disfiguration of his subject’s features, in essence stripping them of their

pretensions and revealing their inner emotional essence. Jiménez’s simplicity of line,

bulbous figures and fully occupied picture plane are even more directly relatable to Henri

Matisse, whose Blue Nude could be the inspiration for Jiménez’s Reclining Woman

(Figures 20 & 21). Like Picasso and Matisse and many artists before him, he was

fascinated by the feminine figure which was the main subject matter of most of his work

and revealed his own particular temperament and feelings towards women and life in

general. His Reclining Woman is yet another take on an age old theme that was

modernized by Manet’s Olympia which ridiculed how women had been subjected over

the centuries to the male gaze. Jiménez has aptly given his reclining nude a distinctly

Latin American flair, demonstrating the duality of indifference and despair towards the

role in life that has been foist upon her. Not dissimilar to the political and social attitudes

that prevailed towards foreign intervention in Latin America during the 20th century.

Max was a liberated artist, writing and making art that suited his own sensibilities;

his fortunate financial situation freed him from the onus of having to sell his art to make a

living. Yet he was conflicted about his own lifestyle, rejecting the philosophical yet not

the material trappings of the bourgeoisie. His artistic endeavors focused on humble

people and the adversity of their lives and aptly expressed his sentiment that human

suffering was both for the rich and poor in his classic poem called Dolor.19

Por la tarde que muere For the death of the afternoon Y no ha de regresar, Never to return,

13

Por la mujer que pasa For the woman who passes Y no hemos de ver más; whom will never be seen again; Por el árbol sin hojas, For the tree without leaves, Por la flor ya marchita: For the withered flower: Dolor. Pain. Por los días ya pasados, For days past, Por los amores sepultados; For buried loves; Dolor, dolor. Pain, pain. Y a veces sin motivo At times without motive Sentir en lo profundo Deeply felt Un profundo…dolor. A deep...pain.20

Without ever being overtly political he relayed the sense that money and social position

are ineffective in the search for happiness. Many Costa Ricans did not understand his

work, perhaps because he went below the surface and unveiled a perspective that wasn’t

amenable to the dream that Costa Ricans had constructed of a small contented European

nation within Latin America. Yet acceptance of his work was not what he was striving

for. He was cognizant that his work would record his personal reflections of the time

period and open doors for future generations. Jiménez realized his and his countries

shortcomings and his creative efforts developed from a personal point of view that

revealed a desolate, complicated and sad existence. Writing and painting allowed him to

express and release his feelings as well as immortalize those sentiments to create

opportunity for others who would understand the consequences of his toil and strive for

truth and change. He distanced himself from a hypocritical world and created a body of

work that broke the barriers of his time, and related his history to the rest of Latin

America and the world in order to reach a more universal understanding of life.

“This justice complies with the passionate position of this extraordinary artist, free and independent from associations, solitary before his artistic labor, holding onto an Olympic position, a bit aristocratic, but never too far from the suffering of

14

Latin American and the discovery of its most important roots….without any affiliations or benevolence to any institution….he still knew how to be quietly generous, for without the right hand, the left hand would not have been able to create.”21 (Alfonso Chase)

1 Maria Enriqueta Guardia (Former professor of Art History at the University of Costa Rica, author of many books and articles on Costa Rican art including Max Jimenez Huete, related to the Jimenez family through marriage and responsible for cataloging the most extensive database of Costa Rican art images in the world.), discussions on 12/03/04, 12/08/04 in her home in San José. Guardia placed Jiménez within this group led by his good friend and fellow artist Teodorico Quirós. Jiménez is not mentioned by some Costa Rican art history books during this time period, most likely because his style is different from other Costa Rican artists, his work is modern, influenced by various European movements such as the German expressionists and surrealist school and the style of the New Sensibility group is influenced by impressionist painters. 2 José Miguel Rojas González, Arte Costarricense: Un Siglo, Editorial Costa Rica, (San Jose, 2003), 46. 3 The Museo de Arte Costarricense mounted a retrospective show of Max Jiménez’s work in 1999 and called him one of the great masters of the 20th century. Since his death in 1947 only three other exhibits have occurred of his work, two in Costa Rica in 1967 and 1974 and one in Havana in 2002. 4 Ana Mercedes González Kreysa, La propuesta plástica de Max Jiménez in Max Jiménez. Aproximaciones críticas, ed. Álvaro Quesada Soto (Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, 1999), 55. 5 Alfonso Chase, Max Jiménez Ministerio de Cultura, Juventud y Deportes (San Jose 1973), 11. 6 Ibid., Kreysa. 7 Ibid. Kreysa, 57. 8 Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana, was a reformist political party founded in Peru in 1924 and led by, Victor Raúl Haya de la Torre, who felt that Latin America had to carry out a revolution of its own and not copy communist slogans or other kinds of imported theories. He argued that Latin America needed its own individual solutions being that its people and history were different from that of the European industrial societies that had created the capitalist and Marxist ideologies. 9 Ibid., Chase, 42. 10 Carlos Francisco Monge, Max Jiménez y el vertigo del presente, in Max Jiménez. Aproximaciones críticas, ed. Álvaro Quesada Soto (Editorial de la Universidad de Costa Rica, San Jose, 1999), 15. 11 Ibid., Chase, 16. 12 Max Jiménez, capital of the chapter The Flea Artist. Translation by author. 13 Max Jiménez Archives, Museo Costariccense, San José, Costa Rica. A published catalogue of an exhibit in Havana in 1943 at the Nuevo Instituto de Cultura contains essays by Jorge Mañach Gilberto Conzalez y Contreras. David Alfaro Siqueiros, Jose Gomez Sicre,, Juan Bosch, Heriberto Portell Vila, Ramon Guirao, and a prologue by Jiménez. Also accessed from this archive were various newspaper critiques from his 1939 Paris show at the M.M. Bernheim-Jeune Gallery and his New York shows in 1940 at the Georgette Passedoit Gallery, and 1942 show at the Sborowski Gallery. 14 http://www.infocostarica.com/culture/legends.html, "La Segua" was a beautiful woman during colonial times in the capital city of Cartago. She was in love with a Spanish officer who broke her heart and caused her a terrible curse- to be transformed into a she-monster who haunts men that are riding alone in deserted paths. "La Segua" is a beautiful apparition of a woman, of porcelain-white skin, large black eyes and long, black hair. She asks the unsuspecting traveler, who is often drunk, for a ride on his horse, saying

15

that she needs to see her ill mother. The rider lifts her up unto the saddle and pretty soon, he turns around to see the gorgeous woman turn into a hideous creature with the face of a horse's skull, burning red eyes, and large and menacing teeth!!! "La Llorona" is the tale of a pretty girl called Maria, lived in a small town by the Reventazon River. She fell in love with a good man but he had to go off in an expedition into the mountains, promising to marry her when he returned. Another man called Ximeno, who had come through the mule road from Panama, met Maria and fell in love with her. In a cold and rainy night, Maria's family decided to let Ximeno stay in their home, since he didn't have another place to go. That night, Maria gave in to Ximeno's caresses, and became pregnant. When she gave birth, she went crazy, and screaming "va a venir" (he's going to come- her fiance) she ran to the river and threw the baby in the torrent. People wandering near rivers sometimes hear the shrieks and lamentations of the unfortunate woman, who wants her baby back. Finally the "Tulevieja." is creature who wears an old "tule" or hat and is short and skinny; some say that it has the body of a chicken and large breasts that hang down. The "Tulevieja" was once a thirteen year-old girl who became pregnant, thus getting kicked out of her job and causing the anger of her parents. When she gave birth, she refused to breast-feed the baby, thus killing him. She was sent to Puntarenas by her parents (province by the coast), where she got sick and died only two weeks later. Because of the injustice that she committed, she's doomed to wander around houses, looking for children that she can breast-feed.” 15 This system of religious duality developed as a way to allow the black people in Cuba to continue to practice their original belief system based upon Orisha worship within the context of a repressive European scheme. 16 Max Jiménez Archival Material, Office of Maria Enriqueta Guardia. Guardia has a copy of one of Jiménez’s original address book that contains hundreds of names of his contacts throughout the world. According to Guardia there was another book that has been lost. 17 Olívio Tavares de Araújo, Tarsila do Amaral, Embassy of Brasil, London , UK, http://www.brazil.org.uk/page.php?cid=215&offset=5. 18 Ibid, Guardia meeting. This is a common extraction, but Guardia, in her extensive research has not found any link between the two artists to prove any direct correlation in evolution of style. After more research and comparison between images I agree with Guardia’s assessment. Amaral transcended the anthropomorphic stage and developed into a style that took its cue from Fernand Leger industrialized society. Although inspired by many of the same artistic and societal influences Amaral and Jiménez have different styles. 19 Ibid., Chase, 21. 20 Translation by author. 21 Ibid., Chase, 53.

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