El Nacimiento de Venus by Augusto Marín (Interpretation and Analysis)

El Nacimiento de Venus
Source: La Fundación de las Artes Augusto Marín

Without a doubt, Augusto Marín is one of the most important and famous Puerto Rican artists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Although his style tends toward abstraction, Marín’s paintings often draw inspiration from more traditional themes and famed pieces of Western art.

This painting, El Nacimiento de Venus (which translates to The Birth of Venus), takes its impetus from Sandro Botticelli’s painting of the same name. Botticelli’s Birth of Venus is one of the most recognizable paintings of the Renaissance period; in fact, it’s one of the most famous paintings in the Western world. The subject matter comes from classical mythology, depicting the moment that that the goddess Venus emerged from the sea as a fully grown woman; Venus is traditionally considered to be born of the sea-foam. She is the goddess of love and fertility in the Roman pantheon.

Birth of Venus
Source: Google Art Project

Marín reinterprets this masterpiece in his Birth of Venus. He replaces Botticelli’s staid color scheme and Renaissance serenity with the rich, bright shades of the Caribbean and a tangible energy that pervades the canvas. There are no straight lines in Marín’s painting; his piece is composed of a series of wildly curving lines, twisting and turning with incredible freedom. These lines create a sense of exaltation, conveying the great joy that the birth of Venus has occasioned.

On its most basic level, The Birth of Venus captures the essence of creation and creativity. Marín’s painting seeks to (and succeeds in) replicating the exaltant energy that accompanies acts of creation.

Disclaimer: I’m not an art historian or an expert on this topic. The above is my opinion, based on my interpretation of my foreknowledge of art and history. If I’ve done any additional research, I’ll note it above.