Santiago Martínez Delgado

Santiago Martínez Delgado (1906–1954) was a Colombian painter, sculptor, art historian and writer.

In 1925, he moved to Cartagena, where, at the age of 18, he directed and illustrated some sections for the newspaper "La Patria" under the pseudonym of "Sanmardel".

Soon after, in 1926, Martínez traveled to Chicago, where he studied and worked for over five years at the Fine Arts Institute of Chicago under the tutoring of Ruth VanSickle Ford.

In Chicago, Martínez befriended and worked alongside Edward Hopper, Isamu Noguchi, Willem de Kooning and Edgar Kaufmann Jr.., among others.

Wright was quoted: "Young Santiago's brush lines are elegant and his attitude gracious."

In 1929, Martínez was awarded first prize for the "Best advertisement illustration" by the US Federation of Commercial Artists.

In 1933, he was awarded the Logan Medal of the arts for his mural at the "Century of Progress" International Exhibition in Chicago.

During these years in Chicago, he produced various illustrations for Esquire Magazine and participated in the Federal Art Project.

Martínez was a disciple of Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin, where he began to experiment with the Art Deco style.

Shortly after, he won the Logan Medal for the Arts for his mural: "Colombian evolution" at the 1933 Chicago International World Fair and exposition.

At the fair, Martínez also assisted with the Murals at the General Motors Exhibit, as Diego Rivera's commission was cancelled due to the Lenin controversy in New York.

Martínez returned to Colombia in 1934 with an innovative line pioneering in the pictorial Art Deco style.

In 1936, Martínez founded the Art school and decoration at the Universidad Javeriana Femenina.

From 1937 to 1940, he directed and illustrated the magazine "Revista Vida", which became the main outlet for cultural media at the time.

It featured interviews of world-renowned artists like Joan Miró and writers like his longtime friend Gabriela Mistral.

He also made various illustrations for the America, Anarkos, Cromos and PAN Magazines.

Martinez, who was an avid historian and protector of the Colombian artistic heritage, discovered a painting by Raphael de Urbino.

This discovery started a debate among Colombian scholars that is now referred to as "The dilemma of (La Madonna de Bogotá) (Lio de la Madona). Martinez Delgado managed to prove the provenance of the piece along with its authenticity with the use of X rays and detailed forensic work. In 1939, he took the painting to New York City during the 1939 World's Fair, where experts from the Metropolitan Museum, the Chicago Art Institute and the Louvre examined the painting. Among the experts were: Daniel Catton, Rich A. Sweet, Ruber H. Clark, Leo A. Marzolo, Adolfo Venturiy and Wilhelm Valentiner. They all concurred with Master Martinez and confirmed its authenticity. The painting was included in the artist's catalog as the "Madonna of Bogotá.''

He established a reputation as a prominent muralist during the 1940s and is also known for his watercolors, oil paintings, illustrations and woodcarvings.

Martínez attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Ruth VanSickle Ford.

In Colombia, Martínez was awarded the gold medal in the 1940 Salón de Artistas Colombianos and was again awarded the top prize in 1941.

In 1940, Martínez participated in the first Salón de Artistas Colombianos, where he won the Gold Medal for the oil on canvas "El que volvió"; the subsequent year, he won first prize for the oil on canvas "Interludio".

(Today at the Colombian National Museum).

Martinez also became the premier historian on Simón Bolívar and his army during the 1940s and 1950s.

His limited edition Iconography on Bolivar is considered the most accurate work on the image and resalable of Simón Bolívar.

In 1943, Martínez made his first major mural in Colombia at the school Presentación of Chapinero.

In 1945, started work on the Cúcuta Cathedral stations, as well as the murals and carvings at the city's government building.

That year, Martínez also illustrated the biography of Sucre realized by Carlos Arturo Caparroso (Editorial Horizontes, Bogotá), and was designated as a Member of the Historic Academy of Bogotá.

In 1947, Martinez Delgado painted the mural at the Salón Elíptico in the Colombian Congress Building, considered one of the greatest murals of the 20th century.

Martínez was then awarded La Orden De Boyaca (Colombia's highest government honor).

Martinez was at the top of the Latin-American fine-arts scene when he died at the age of 47.

Martinez's ancestry profoundly influenced his art choices and books.

Born into an aristocratic family in Bogotá, his father was the Conservative party leader Luis Martinez and his mother Mercedes Delgado Mallarino.

It was a difficult childhood due to his father's expulsion from Colombia as a result of an indictment for his involvement in an earlier Coup d'état.

Martinez began studying art by age 11 under the instruction of Colombian Master Roberto Pizano and following Andrés de Santa Maria at the Bogotá Fine Arts Academy.

In 1947, Martinez was commissioned by the Honorable Alberto Lleras Camargo, then-director of the OEA, and the Honorable Laureano Gómez, the Inter-American Conference organizer, to create the mural for the elliptic chamber of the National Congress Building.

He finished the fresco in time for the Inter American conference.

General George Marshall of the US called the piece a wonder of contemporary art, and was relieved that the capitol was spared from the fires during the Bogotazo.

Martinez was given the Cruz de Boyacá award by President Mariano Ospina Pérez

In 1948, Martínez founded a commercial art studio.