Domínguez, Óscar

Óscar Domínguez (1906 - 1957) spent his entire childhood in Tenerife. In 1927 his father, the owner of a banana plantation, sent him to Paris for business.
Domínguez had always been attracted to the French capital and from a very young age his dream was to live in Paris and devout himself fully to painting. Soon after arriving to the city, he left his father's business and started to frequently visit the artists of Montparnasse and the exhibitions offered throughout the city, while he enrolled in a painting academy.
In 1929 he produced his first surrealist work with the influence of Dalí, Tanguy and Max Ernst, and in 1935 he joined André Breton's Surrealist group. That same year he organized the first exhibition of the surrealist group in Tenerife with his friend Eduardo Westerdahl.
Between 1938 and 1939, known as the cosmic period, he created his renown \"decalcomanies\".
When the Second World War broke out, Domínguez went to Marseille like many other artists, but he returned to Paris at the beginning of the 1940s. At this time his work was presented in a number of international exhibitions, while his work was clearly influenced by the work of De Chirico and Picasso. From 1948 onwards the triple trait period began, characterizing his work as more schematic and with a softer and luminous palette.
In the 1950s he started suffering from various episodes of depression, darkening his life and work and committing suicide on December 31st 1957.