César Augusto Martínez (born 1944 in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the flag of t ...

) is an artist, prominent in the Chicano world of art. While studying at what was then called Texas A&I College, and later

Texas A&I University Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by bo ...

, he became involved in the Chicano movement for civil rights and became close friends with several of its leaders. He is currently based in

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

Early life

He was raised by his mother and her family in Laredo as his father died when he was an infant. He graduated from Martin High School in Laredo,TX.

Exhibitions

Martínez has exhibited his work at the

Fresno Metropolitan Museum The Fresno Metropolitan Museum of Art and Science was a Smithsonian Institution Affiliate and American Alliance of Museums accredited museum located in downtown Fresno, California, in the San Joaquin Valley. The Museum was established in 1984 a ...

, Centro Cultural Aztlán in San Antonio, TX, the Yerbabuena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, among other venues.

Collections

Martínez' work is in the collection of the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, the Vero Beach Museum of Art and the

McNay Art Museum The McNay Art Museum, founded in 1954 in San Antonio, is the first modern art museum in the U.S. state of Texas. The museum was created by Marion Koogler McNay's original bequest of most of her fortune, her important art collection and her 24-roo ...

, the

Museo de Arte Moderno The Museo de Arte Moderno (Museum of Modern Art) is located in Chapultepec park, Mexico City, Mexico. The museum is part of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura and provides exhibitions of national and international contemporary a ...

in Mexico City,

The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture & Industry The Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art, Culture & Industry of the Riverside Art Museum, or The Cheech, is an art museum and academic center in Riverside, California, United States. The center will focus on the presentation and study of chicano ...

and others.

References

External links

Lengthy but informative oral history interview with the Smithsonian Archive of American Art
1944 births Living people People from Laredo, Texas Artists from Texas 20th-century American painters American male painters 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists 20th-century American male artists {{US-artist-stub