January 3, 1906

Oscar M. Domínguez (January 3, 1906 to December 31, 1957) was a surrealist artist and this biographical excerpt is from a longer article, which many will want to check out.

'Oscar Dominguez spent his early years in Tenerife with his grandmother, having been born in the city of San Cristóbal de La Laguna that also sits on the island. Dominguez became interested in painting from a young age as an outlet to the severe illness he had that slowed his growth and provoked a gradual deformation of his limbs and face....

'Towards the end of his twenties Dominguez spent time developing his Surrealist preferences. He became close with artists such as Man Ray, Yves Tanguy and André Breton who were leaders in Surrealism at the time, who also introduced Oscar Dominguez to the Parisian avant-garde scene. He...had his first solo exhibition in 1933 at the Fine Arts Circle (Círculo de Bellas Artes) of Tenerife....

'During the 1940s, and following the Nazi invasion of Paris, Dominguez moved to Marseille, when he worked underground with several other surrealists. He spent time with Pablo Picasso between 1944 and 1948, who influenced Dominguez’ work hugely; indeed, much of Doninguez’ early work also contained influences from Picasso, while his bohemian lifestyle could be seen to be modeled on Picasso as well. After World War II, Dominguez saw his work travel to New York, Milan and Prague, and he had a career highlight when he was asked to paint the set for Jean Paul Sartre’s play “The Flies”.'

"The Flies" was first performed in occupied Paris (1943).

Oscar Dominguez drew the cat below to go with the poem "Douter du crime,"  a text by Paul Eluard.




The poem "Douter du crime" was part of Eluard's Poésie et verité  (1942) and the Dominguez illustration appeared in the 1947 edition of this classic book. We may doubt the crime, but we cannot doubt the art.