Laúd negro

David Manzur’s style underwent a radical change around 1974, moving from abstraction to classicism. This evolution is evident in Manzur’s application of painting techniques from the Renaissance, which he learned from an Italian specialist in art restoration, and in his exploration of themes and genres typical of the Baroque. "Black Lute" reveals the artist’s interest in the still life genre, here rendered through a tenebrist style that recalls the "bodegones" (still lifes) of the Spanish painter Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560-1627). Yet Manzur’s etchings are not simple imitations of a seventeenth-century painting style. By depicting the musical instrument within a geometric and architectural setting, he juxtaposes the artistic principles of modernism and the European tradition, establishing a bridge between the Spanish Baroque and the Constructivist theories that influenced his earlier works. Manzur’s mastery of the etching technique may be appreciated in the level of detail achieved in his depiction of reflective surfaces.

This text was created in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and written by Patricia Ortega-Miranda.