Óscar Domínguez Spanish, 1906-1957

Domínguez was the inventor of decalcomania, a technique that involves pressing paint between surfaces to produce unpredictable shapes. This method became a poetic tool that allowed him to explore the unconscious, resulting in organic, visionary textures that expanded the visual vocabulary of surrealism. He also developed his so-called litachronic surfaces, experimental compositions that evoke the passage of time through layered materials, reflecting his fascination with the ancestral and the geological. Elements such as dragon trees, lunar-like terrains, and volcanic masses appear not as literal landscapes, but as symbolic expressions of an imagination shaped by insular identity.

 

During the Nazi occupation of Paris, Domínguez remained in the city and became involved in clandestine cultural resistance, turning his studio into a meeting point for poets and artists. In this context, he strengthened his friendship with Pablo Picasso, whose influence can be seen in the fragmented figures and structural freedom present in many of his works. In the 1950s, while suffering from a degenerative illness, his painting became more introspective and subdued, yet retained the symbolic power and metamorphic language that defined his career. Óscar Domínguez died in Paris in 1957, leaving a lasting legacy within European surrealism and a body of work that continues to offer new interpretations through its imaginative force and deeply personal vision.