Series: Dominican Modernism with Darío Antonio Suro García-Godoy

Darío Antonio Suro García-Godoy was an art critic, diplomat and painter from the Dominican Republic. He was the nephew of painter Enrique García-Godoy, his first art teacher. García-Godoy is considered one of the founders of the modernist school of Dominican painting. Dario Suro was born in La Vega in 1917. As a young man he constantly drew scenes of the town and surrounding areas. His first teacher was Enrique Garcia Godoy, his uncle, an acclaimed academic painter, who had been trained in Europe, primarily in Italy, and who painted Dominican historical scenes.

Garcia Godoy’s earliest work could be defined as “costumbrist” which gradually converts itself into a kind of “neoimpressionism” immediately receiving a very positive, heartfelt welcome from the public because in essence it is pleasant, easy and decorative. In this phase there are two themes that begin to obsess Suro. He paints rain scenes that he later explains are a reaction to the paintings of Yoryi Morel, that are brimming with sunlight and also as a reaction to certain meteorological conditions – in La Vega, his home town, there was more rain than Morel’s home town, Santiago, which was sunnier. His other obsession at this time was horses, which fascinate him, constantly drawing and painting them. According to his wife Maruxa, every time he saw one of these noble animals he would become transfixed, carefully observing them.

“Suddenly, something terrible happens, the most tragic moment of his life: his son, Jaime Agustin, born in Mexico and almost two years old, suddenly dies. His painting at this moment clearly reflects the anguish and pain of this tragic moment. This becomes an obsessive theme that haunts him for several years in his canvases that deal with the sad event. Some of these works are very dark, indeed, like the one of the father carrying the dead child. Another is full of color, with Jaime in the foreground, attending his own funeral surrounded by his “friends, keeping the darkness outside of the painting. This tragedy remains with Suro for the rest of his life. In spite of the overwhelming anguish, two events bring him a certain relief – the birth of his son Federico in 1948 and that of his daughter Rosa in 1949.”

Dario Surio – Biography – Part 3 – Dominican Republic – www.dariosurio.com

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