Cesar Manrique Insight 

If you haven't experienced the work of César Manrique, you haven't experienced Lanzarote.

Visit our growing selection of eco attraction pages via this insight area....

Cesar Manrique Foundation, Fire mountains, Mirador Del Rio, Jameos del Agua, Jardin de Cactus,

A man with a Vision 

César Manrique Cabrera was born on April the 24th 1919 in Puerto Naos, Lanzarote. The Manrique family led a typical middle class happy family life.....

" my greatest happiness is to recall a happy childhood, five months summer vacations in Caleta and the Famara beach, with its eight kilometers of clean and fine sand framed by cliffs of more than four hundred meters high that reflected on the beach like in a mirror.

That image has been engraved in my soul as something of extraordinary beauty that I will never forget in all of my life"

At the end of the Spanish civil war, Cesar entered the Laguna University to study Technical Architecture, which he later abandoned. During 1945 he travelled to Madrid and joined a scholarship to the Academia De Bellas Artes De San Fernando, where he would graduate as an Art Professor and painter.

Cesar travelled to New York City in the fall of 1964, where he stayed until the summer of 1966. He was the guest of Waldo Diaz-Balart, a Cuban painter who lived in the lower East side of the city which at this time was home to many artists, journalists, writers and bohemians.

Later he became friendly with the Director of the Institute of International Education, sponsored by Nelson Rockefeller, this grant allowed him to rent his own studio and produce a number of paintings which he exhibited with success in the prestigious New York gallery, Catherine Viviano.

Homeward bound

"I feel true nostalgia for the real meaning of things, for the purness of people, for the bareness of my landscape, and for my friends"

Cesar had started to feel a deep nostalgia for Lanzarote:

" When I returned from New York, I came with the intention of turning my native Island into one of the more beautiful places on the planet, due to the endless possibilities that Lanzarote had to offer"

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César Manrique Cabrera was a painter, a sculptor, an architect, ecologist, monument preserver, construction advisor, planner of urban developments, outliner of landscapes and gardens. It is said that Cesar was a puritan, and that this was the ruler of his conduct, those who knew him well, speak with a deep respect, a passion and a joy which is almost tangible, including Borge Jensen owner of stay eco chic holiday rental property Casa Teiga

When Borge wanted to build a house like no other in Lanzarote, he called on his close friend Cesar for guidance...

" I have always been fascinated by Lanzarote's lava fields, which feel as though you are entering another dimension, so when Manrique and I found this plot in Tahiche, a village in the hills we knew it was perfect."

Casa Estrella, Casa Luna & Casita Sol are each part of this lovely Cesaresque building.

The Legacy

César built a home for himself in Taro de Tahiche during 1968, this project best represents Manriques's artistic and personal ideals of which many parallels can be seen within the Casa Teiga holiday homes.

After donating his home to the foundation César moved to the place he loved most in Lanzarote - Haria where he happily spent the remainder of his life. On the 25th of September 1992, César was killed in a car accident aged 73. The final twist to the tragic circumstances which occured only a few meters from the foundation, was that he had often voiced his loathing for the massive increase in the amount of vehicles on Lanzarote.

His final resting place sits on the outskirts of the Haria village in a small cemetery, his Legacy in the best form comes directly from the Cesar Manrique foundation website:

'For César Manrique, nature was the fundamental reference of his work and his existence, and to the end of his days he managed to maintain a profound commitment with the defence of the natural environment, in concrete, of his native island, Lanzarote.'

"There is an imperative need to go back to the soil. Feel it, smell it. That's what I feel."

César Manrique Cabrera, 1919-1992

With appreciation from the people of Lanzarote

César, eco attraction guide, pages so far: 

The César Manrique Foundation

Timanfaya - Fire Mountains

Mirador Del Rio - The Viewpoint

Jameos del Agua - The opening

Jardin De Cactus - The Cactus Gardens

More pages coming soon: