Valentín Sanz y Carta (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1849 – United States, 1898)
He commenced his education at the Academy of Fine Arts of Santa Cruz de Tenerife at the tender age of nine, where he was influenced by the romanticism of his instructors Nicolás Alfaro, Cirilo Truilhé, and Pedro Tarquis. At the age of 26, he was awarded a scholarship from the Provincial Council of Tenerife to further his studies at the Special School of Painting, Sculpture and Engraving in Madrid. There, under the guidance of his mentors, Federico Madrazo and Carlos de Haes, he gravitated towards realism, enhancing his skills in light and colour. He participated in the Watercolour Exhibition of 1880, where the Royal Family acquired his piece titled The Dawn in the Fields of Asturias.
At 32, he embarked on a journey to Cuba as an illustrator for a scientific mission to study the flora of the Antilles, sponsored by the Canarian Fernando León y Castillo, who was the Minister of Overseas. During his 16-year stay in Cuba, he developed a remarkably bold artistic style, adeptly incorporating the essence of tropical nature into his artworks.
In 1886, he was appointed as a professor of Landscape and Perspective at the Academy of Fine Arts of San Alejandro, affiliated with the University of Havana. During his tenure as an academic, he successfully reformed the teaching approach, which had predominantly relied on classroom instruction, advocating for excursions to various locations of artistic significance. Many of his students gained fame as painters, earning prestigious national and international accolades, with some even pursuing teaching careers themselves.
In 1896, he returned to Tenerife with his wife, Dolores de la Cruz Muñoz, settling in La Laguna, where he created stunning landscapes of La Vega. This exceptional landscape artist also dabbled in portraiture.
Two years later, while back in Cuba, he made a journey to New York, where he tragically succumbed to scarlet fever, a disease contracted from a girl he had painted, although other sources suggest it was due to malaria.
His artworks are preserved in the Municipal Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, as well as in numerous private collections and several institutions across America.
