The artist and his work, Domingo Ramos Enríquez (1894 – 1956)

Domingo Ramos Enríquez was born on November 6, 1894, in Güines, and died on December 23, 1956. From an early age, he manifested his vocation for painting and had the opportunity to study at the San Alejandro Academy in Havana. He gained popularity after a competition organized by the magazine Bohemia in 1912; he later received a pension from the Cuban government to continue his studies in Madrid at the San Fernando Academy.
He perfected his art through classes at the Academy and extensive travel throughout Europe and its diverse pictorial trends. In 1919, he exhibited several Spanish landscapes in Barcelona, which were very well received by the public. In 1921, he returned to the island, where he presented an exhibition of 41 paintings, all of them remarkable in their execution.
Although he was a painter of international renown, as a landscape artist he never ceased to capture the native landscape. Throughout his artistic development, he was guided by the unique geography of Pinar del Río, exemplified by works such as The Valley of Viñales, Nocturne, Mogotes de La Costanera, Siembra de Viñales, The Main Mountain Range, Palmarito Cove, The Two Sisters, and Sierra del Cuajaní. The Havana landscape is also reflected in his paintings The Almendares River, The Forest, Havana, Surroundings of Puentes Grandes, Piloña River of Havana, and The Colossi, among others.
Shortly after, in 1923, an exhibition of thirty-eight works by Domingo Ramos was displayed in a space belonging to the Diario de la Marina newspaper. Among these were some also inspired by the western landscape of the island, the Pinar del Pinar, and Havana: Afternoon in the Valley, Autumn in Viñales, Sunset, Rocks of Viñales, Cueva del Espejo, Backwater of the San Vicente River, Hills of Santo Tomás, and Golden Afternoon. This exhibition helped consolidate his prestige as an artist.
In 1838, one of his large-scale landscapes would be featured in the Cuban exhibition presented at the New York Art Fair. The mogotes of the Sierra de los Órganos, at dusk, were captured by the artist with particular mastery and creative emotion on the occasion of this international event. It is said that the painting was one of the most attractive to the public who attended, dazzled by the exuberance of Cuban nature. Domingo Ramos’s rural landscapes would mark a milestone in Cuban visual art and in the subsequent careers of many of our artists.