Manuel de la Cruz González

Manuel de la Cruz González Luján (April 16, 1909 — September 22, 1986) was a Costa Rica n painter and sculpture, primarily known for his abstract paintings. One of the first artists to introduce contemporary art to Costa Rica, González received the Aquileo J. Echeverría National Prize for painting in 1963 and the Magón National Prize for Culture, the highest cultural honor in Costa Rica, in 1981.

Biography Manuel de la Cruz González was born in San José, Costa Rica, in 1909. He was self-educated as an artist. Beginning in 1934, he was an active participant in the Círculo de Amigos del Arte, a large guild of artists and intellectuals sponsored by the painters Teodorico Quirós and Max Jiménez, which brought together noted members of the country's artistic elite of that period, such as Francisco Amighetti, Francisco Zúñiga, and . He met internationally known artists, such as Jesús Rafael Soto, Lía Bermúdez, and Alejandro Otero, and taught at the Centro de Bellas Artes in Maracaibo, Venezuela, before returning to Costa Rica in 1958. These artists, led by González, participated in multiple exhibitions both in Costa Rica and abroad. From 1972 to 1973, he taught at the University of Costa Rica's School of Architecture. In 1981, he was awarded the Magón National Prize for Culture, the highest honor given by the Costa Rican Ministry of Culture and Youth.

Between 1935 and 1986, González's work was exhibited in a great number of group and solo shows in Costa Rica, Cuba, Venezuela, and the United States. He died in San José in 1986, at age 77. A gallery at the Museo Dr. Rafael Ángel Calderón Guardia was named in his honor.