20th century Spanish
 
Manrique is a painter, architect and sculptor from the Canary Islands who gained worldwide fame. He was also a staunch defender of the environmental values of his homeland, which had such a strong influence on his work.
 
His experience in the Spanish Civil War, where he had fought as a volunteer on Franco’s side, left a terrible impact on him, and on returning from the war he burned his military uniform as a sign of his condemnation of the horror of the war he had lived through.
 
After just two years studying Architecture at the University of La Laguna he abandoned it to move to Madrid. Thanks to a scholarship from the General Captaincy of the Canaries he enrolled at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated in 1945 as a teacher in art and painting.
 
He lived for a brief period in New York, from 1964 to 1966, when he returned to his native Lanzarote. During his time in America, he won a scholarship from the International Institute for Education in New York and exhibited his work at the Catherine Viviano gallery. His contact with the art critic John B. Myers opened doors for him to some of the major American artists of the time, like the Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko (1903-1970) and the Pop artist Andy Warhol (1928-1987), among others.
 
He died in Arrecife in 1992, the victim of a tragic traffic accident.
 
Besides his output as an artist, Manrique was also a prolific designer of architectural spaces perfectly integrated into their natural environs, not only in the Canary Islands but also in other places, such as, for instance, the La Vaguada shopping centre in Madrid.

His works have been exhibited all over the world and won countless awards and prizes throughout his career.