Cañaverales 1956

Emilio Sanchez made "Cañaverales" using printmaking techniques, probably with some kind of wood or linoleum block. You can imagine him, inking the block, carefully laying the paper, and pressing it down. The light here is so interesting, like a hazy dream. The palm trees have been simplified, turned almost into symbols, and they march across the landscape in gentle rows. The green-blue ink is subtle, and the way the light green field meets the grey-blue sky, I wonder if Sanchez was thinking about flatness and depth at the same time? I'm drawn to the tall, thin lines of the trunks and the way they appear to be reflected in the field – a subtle, visual echo. Maybe Sanchez wanted to convey a quiet stillness, like a moment captured in memory. You see these kinds of stylized landscapes in the work of other artists, like Milton Avery, so it feels like part of a larger conversation about how we see and remember places.