César Augusto Martínez

Place: Laredo

Born: 1944

Biography:

César Augusto Martínez is an American painter born in 1944 in Laredo, Texas. He is known for his portraiture and painting, and is prominent in the field of Chicano art. Martínez became involved in the Chicano movement for civil rights while studying at Texas A&I College, and befriended several of its leaders. He is best-known for his depictions of Chicano social types, which he calls 'batos' and 'rucas'. These are composite images taken from vintage magazines, photographs, yearbook pictures, obituaries, and other sources. Martínez has refined these images in paintings, drawings, and prints for many years. He also takes mythological subjects, South Texas folklore, and the Southwest landscape as subjects. Martínez is also a photographer and has been based in San Antonio, Texas since 1971. He received an Education Bachelor of Science Degree in All-Level Art Education from Texas A&I University, Kingsville, Texas, in 1968. Martínez, rather than expecting to be an artist, had hoped to become a bullfighter, and he has often utilized bullfighting imagery in his art.