1970s Original Figurative Painting - Chicanx Artist Frank Martinez; Acrylic on Canvas

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Selling an original, signed painting by noted Chicanx artist Frank Martinez, along with a silver gelatin photo of the artist … Read more Selling an original, signed painting by noted Chicanx artist Frank Martinez, along with a silver gelatin photo of the artist in his studio with the painting displayed behind him.

The painting (see photos) depicts a laborer gathering pots or kettles of water, possibly by the side of a river; the worker is stooped over and faced down

The 40” x 30” rectangular painting is acrylic on canvas. The rear of the painting includes an inscription in pencil: “Para un amigo ay que se pasa siempre. Frank Martinez, 5/8/78.” (Translation: “For a friend who always passes by.”)

The untitled painting was a 1978 gift from Ramirez to noted Bay Area photographer Morrie Camhi (1928-1999), a close friend. I purchased it via a Camhi family estate sale.

The painting is accompanied by a framed 12 ¼” x 9 ½” black-and-white gelatin photograph showing Frank Martinez in his studio, showing the painting on an easel in the background behind the artist. The photo, by noted photographer Morrie Camhi, was featured in Camhi’s 1979 ‘Espejo' exhibition at the Lincoln Arts Center Gallery.

It’s a unique pairing. Martinez’s canvases are rarely available for sale. And so far as I can tell, it’s the only known photo of Martinez in his studio.



Bio: Frank Martinez (1924-2013)

Born in Los Angeles to Mexican immigrants, Frank Martinez infused his art with the pride he felt in his Mexican American heritage.

Martinez was a key participant in, and influence on, the Chicano Arts Movement in the late 1960s and 1970s. His abstract murals and easel paintings often focused thematically on regional history as well as pre-Hispanic and Mexican American history.

During his lifetime, Martinez’s art escaped widespread critical notice. But he was a major influence on —and mentor to— a younger generation of artists involved in the Chicano Arts Movement, including Lalo Garcia, Arturo Padilla, Ismael Cazaraz, Armando Vazquez and Lucila Villaseñor Grijalva, among others.

Martinez was a co-founder of the Mechicano Gallery and its successor, the Mechicano Art Center –one of the first Chicanx art collectives in Los Angeles– and was featured in a number of Mechicano’s early group and solo shows. He designed one of Mechicano’s earliest mural projects, a mosaic tile mural for East Los Angeles Doctors’ Hospital titled “Homage to Ruben Salazar”, finished in 1971.

He was also a co-founder of the El Jardin de Flor Y Canto collective in the early 1970’s, with Cazarez, Vazquez, Guillermo Bejerano and Joe Bravo. The collective’s mission was to fuel the burgeoning Chicano Art Movement via street mural projects throughout the San Fernando Valley and the greater Los Angeles County.

Martinez lived an extraordinary life. His parents, both Mexican immigrants, worked as migrant farmworkers, and as a child, Martinez traveled with his parents and worked in the fields, picking cotton, onions and lettuce. He served as a medic in World War II, and was among the troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy.

After the war, Martinez traveled to London to study at the Borough Polytechnic Arts Institute. He continued his studies at the Chouinard Art Institute, a precursor of CalArts, and then the Otis College of Art and Design. But with his young family growing, he never earned a degree.

In 1976, Martinez was one of five California artists commissioned to paint a mural for the Smithsonian Institution for the nation’s Bicentennial celebration. His portion of the canvas depicted the early years of the pueblo of Los Angeles. He would go on to create large-scale murals for the 1984 Summer Olympics and Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.

Martinez’ works are part of many private and professional corporate collections, including The Smithsonian Institution, the University of Southern California, Vidal Sassoon and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles.

Exhibitions:
The Chicano Artists of Mechicano Art Center (1971); Mechicano Art Center, Los Angeles.
Frank Martinez (1971); Mechicano Art Center, Los Angeles.
Three Partners: Ray Atilano, Javier Lopez, and Frank Martinez (1971); Mechicano Art Center, Los Angeles.
The Chicano Artists of the Mechicano Art Center (1971); Vincent and Mary Price Gallery, Los Angeles.
Bus Bench Art (1972); Outdoor artworks located along Whittier Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Eddie Martinez, Frank Martinez, and Robert Arenivar (1975); Goez Art Studios and Gallery, Los Angeles.
Raices-Roots: Tres Generations (1998); California State University, Northridge.
9th Annual De Colores Art Show (2003); California Art Museum.
¡El Grito! - Liberacion del Espiritu (The Cry - Liberation of the Spirit!) (2003); ARTINO Arts Group of Los Angeles.
Continuing the Latino Tradition (2007); Jewish Federation of Greater Santa Barbara.
"Looking Back, Moving Forward” (2007); Los Angeles Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels
!Adelante! Mexican American Artists: 1960s and Beyond (2011); Forest Lawn Museum, Glendale, California.
Latino Visions in Oxnard 2017 (2017); Oxnard, California.

Key reading:
Los Angeles Times: Frank Martinez dies at 89; noted L.A. artist. (2013)
L.A. Xicano. Edited by Chon A. Noriega, Terezita Romo and Pilar Tompkins Rivas. UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center Press (2011)
Reflections on the Chicano Art Movimiento — A primer. By Ricardo Vazquez (2015)
Chicana/o Remix: Art and Errata Since the Sixties. By Karen Mary Davalos (2017).
ArtForum: Frank Martinez (1924–2013) See less