Juventud Tenerifina

Trabajador del Campo, Tenerife, Canary Islands

Village Doctor

Washburn lived on the Canary Islands for two periods: first in 1935 - 1937, and again from June 1939 to 1940. During his time there he did many more paintings than drypoints. Gonzalez Reimers (see see bibliography ) provides extensive information about his time and work on the Canary Islands.

In 1937 he left due to the civil war, and again in 1940 he was advised to leave because of the war. He arranged to escape on a tanker, enrolled as an assistant steward since tankers were not supposed to carry passengers during wartime.

Concerned with his eyesight these are the last drypoints that Washburn created. He continued to paint for the rest of his long life.

The portraits in these series are all drypoints, done directly on the copper plates, and many were printed in editions of 35. However, in a letter written shortly after he arrived in America, he reported to a correspondent that , while he had had to leave many paintings and other belongings, he had managed to bring away copper plates, and from those he printed 10 impressions each immediately upon arrival.

Washburn's last residence on the Canary Islands was at the Hotel Marquesa. In Gonzalez Reimer's survey of his Canary Island prints, she reports that that several of his prints were available for purchase from the Hotel in the forties and fifties.

Note that for several of the prints, there is contradictory evidence as to whether they should be assigned to the Canary Islands or to Mallorca.