Painting

The first centre for painting in Tenerife was La Laguna, were the first painters started to appear in the 16th century. La Laguna was later followed by other schools like La Orotava, Garachico, Puerto de la Cruz and Santa Cruz.

What are considered two of the best 17th century Canary Island painters were from La Orotava: Gaspar de Quevedo and Cristobal Hernandez de Quintana, whose work can be seen in many of the Island's churches.

In 1775, Luis de la Cruz y Rios was born in Puerto de la Cruz. He was King Ferdinand VII's court painter and an excellent miniaturist. He won great prestige at court, where he was known as El Canario. Some of his paintings can be seen in the Church of Nuestra Señora de la Peña de Francia, in Puerto de la Cruz.

Valentin Sanz, born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife in 1849, was the first landscape painter of the Canary Islands. Works of his, like El Paisaje de La Laguna, can be seen in the Santa Cruz Municipal Museum of Fine Arts. The close of the 19th century saw Realism and Impressionism cohabiting with strains of Romanticism that could still be seen in the works of some artists.

Juan Rodriguez Botas (1880 - 1917) was the first impressionist painter of the Islands, and his paintings can be seen in the Santa Cruz Municipal Museum. He followed in the footsteps of Valentin Sanz, but using an impressionist style.

Local expressionist artists include Mariano de Cossio (1890 - 1960). Some of his al frescoes are conserved in the Church of Santo Domingo, in La Laguna. A master of water colours to the point of creating his own school, was Francisco Bonnin Guerin (Sta. Cruz de Tenefie, 1874 - 1963), whose works of art include many country landscapes.

One of the most famous of all Canary Island painters was undoubtedly Oscar Dominguez (La Laguna, 1906 - Paris, 1957), a surrealist who has left a large and highly personal collection of works. Current artists include Pedro Gonzalez (La Laguna, 1927), an artist who teaches in the School of Fine Arts.