Xavier Martinez The Skunk & His Execution

1869 – 1943 Xavier Martinez was born Javier Timoteo Martinez y Orozco in Guadalajara, Mexico in1869. When his stepfather was made consul-general in San Francisco, Martinez moved there and in 1893 enrolled at the School of Design where he was a pupil of Arthur Mathews. He was awarded a scholarship for further study in Paris at Ecole des Beaux-Arts. While in Paris he spent time with Whistler whose influence can be seen in his work. He returned to San Francisco in 1901 and established a studio. One of the City’s most colorful and popular Bohemians, he was known as Marty to his friends and wore baggy velvet trousers, a colorful sash around his waist, velvet beret, and a flowing crimson tie. Along with William Keith and Charles Rollo Peters, he cofounded the Del Monte Art Gallery in Monterey, the first gallery devoted exclusively to California artists. After his studio was destroyed by the earthquake and fire in 1906, he moved across the bay to the hills of Piedmont to a home at 324 Scenic Avenue. He taught at the California College of Arts and Crafts from 1909 until 1942. The California Legislature adjourned early in his memory on the day of his death in 1943. He signed his work with a monogram: early works in Paris were JTM superimposed in a circle, and finally XM within a circle made with a Chinese stone stamp. Member: San Francisco Art Ass’n; Bohemian Club.Works held: De Young Museum; Crocker Museum; Mills College; Monterey Peninsula Museum; Oakland Museum; Bohemian Club.