A celebration of the life and work of Key West artist Mario Sanchez (1908–2005)

with 51 full-color reproductions of his intaglios—painted relief carvings

Better Than Ever

MARIO SANCHEZ Better Than Ever

Mario Sanchez with author Nance Frank at
Mario’s “Studio Under the Trees”
Key West, 1997
The art of Mario Sanchez—showing charming
Key West and Ybor City architecture, street
vendors, funeral processions, parades, cigar
factories, ice-cream trucks, people out for a
stroll, traditional Cuban comparsa dancers
with bands—has become symbolic of the pic-
turesque diversity of Key West life in the
early–mid 20th century. Sanchez portrayed
neighborhood places and events where he
grew up, exhibiting his love for Florida’s easy
island living. His work also depicts Tampa’s
Latin community, Ybor City, with the same
textured, quirky quality.
His work brings to life the diversity and
charm of colorful neighborhood life. The ven-
dors hawk their wares, the trolleys move and
rattle, the people gossip and haggle, the dogs
bark, the bells ring, and children run with
their kites.
Sanchez’s compelling art has become
MARIO SANCHEZ
highly collectible and is exhibited by many
museums of note. This volume joins Mario
Sanchez: Painter of Key West by Kathryn Hall
Proby; Mario Sanchez: Once Upon a Way of
Life by Nance Frank and Brewster
Chamberlin; and Mario Sanchez: Before &
After by Nance Frank to bring Sanchez’s art to
the book world.
Nance Frank studied with Mario Sanchez
for a decade. She owns and runs the Gallery
on Greene in Key West, which represents
Mario Sanchez and other Caribbean figurative
artists. Visit www.galleryongreene.com.

Other titles by Nance Frank

Nance Frank
$20.00
Front cover art: Better Than Ever
by Mario Sanchez

Pineapple Press, Inc.

Sarasota, Florida
Nance Frank
 Better Than Ever
MARIO SANCHEZ
Nance Frank

Pineapple Press, Inc.

Sarasota, Florida
Acknowledgments:
Claudia Pennington, Executive Director, Key West Art and Historical Society
Norman Aberle, Curator, Key West Art and Historical Society
Tom Hambright and Brewster Chamberlin – Historical Proofing
Alan Kennish – Photography
Julie Molback – Graphic Design

Copyright © 2010 by Nance Frank

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Inquiries should be addressed to:

Pineapple Press, Inc.

P.O. Box 3889
Sarasota, Florida 34230

www.pineapplepress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Frank, Nance, 1949-

Mario Sanchez : better than ever / Nance Frank. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-56164-476-6 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Sanchez, Mario, 1908-2005—Themes, motives. 2. Folk art—United States. 3. Key West (Fla.)—In art. 4. Ybor City (Tampa, Fla.)—In art. I.
Sanchez, Mario, 1908-2005. II. Title.
N6537.S314F73 2009
709.2—dc22
2009050176

First Edition
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Design by Julie Molback

Printed in China
 Volume III is dedicated to
Mario Sanchez
October 7, 1908 – April 28, 2005
Untitled (Blue Fish)
1980s
20 x 25 inches
CONTENTS
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mario Sanchez Chronology (1908–2005) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1 Relics of Old Key West (The Oldest House) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2 Street Cries of Yesteryears (The Bahama House) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3 Untitled (Charlie Thompson’s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4 Boca Grande Specials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5 Punta Gorda Tarpon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6 Speckled Trout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
7 Preparatory drawing for An Old Key West Sea Wolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8 Key West Dorado . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9 Key West Squirrelfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
10 Key West Porgy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
11 Pez Aguja de Abuelo Anselmo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
12 Squirrelfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
13 Heads or Tails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
14 Bicentennial Americana #6 O ld Key West (Harbor) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
15 Cockfight Raid. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
16 Morning Gossip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
17 Shut-Up-U-Mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
18 Garcia’s Army. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
19 Zacaria’s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
20 The Great Imitator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
21 Main Drag 1940s Key West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
22 Francisco Marrero Cigar Factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
23 Prolific Cigar Makers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
24 The Buckeye . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
25 Preparatory drawing for The Buckeye. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
26 Untitled (No Me Olvides) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
27 Old Island Days 39 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
28 Old Island Days: My Father Reading to the Cigar Workers . . . . . . . 46
29 Preparatory drawing for Old Island Days: My Father
Reading to the Cigar Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
30 San Carlos Parade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
31 Key West Sunday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
32 Old Island Days: Carpenter’s Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
33 Mama Tillie (Lucky Woman). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
34 Preparatory drawing for Mama Tillie (Lucky Woman) . . . . . . . . . . . 54
35 Loaded with Pure Ice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
36 Serenity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
37 4th of July Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
38 Old Island Days (Balloons for Bottles,
Buck Teeth Swap Co.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
39 Ramon and His Dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
40 Old Monroe County Courthouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
41 The Beginning of a Fortune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
42 How-You-Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
43 Old Ybor City — Wasn’t This Better
Than Parking Lots? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
44 The Knife Sharpener . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
45 Don Julio, The Knife Sharpener . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
46 Forgotten History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
47 Viva Abelardo Boza y su Comparsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
48 Fiesta in Old Key West, Al Boza’s Comparsa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
49 Sanchez Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
50 Waiting for the Pee-Roo-Lee Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
51 A Famous Key West Landmark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
52 El Galano (The Shark). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
53 Better Than Ever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
54 Old Island Days: The Missing Ice Wagon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Collections of Mario Sanchez Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2 Street Cries of Yesteryears (The Bahama House)
1963
15.75 x 23 inches

The first settlers in Key West were from the Bahamas and began arriving after Spain ceded Florida to the United States in 1819. The Bahama
House, at 730 Eaton Street, and the Richard Tuggy Roberts House, just behind it on William (both shown here), are two of the Bahamian-built
houses in town. A ship’s captain at only 18 years of age, John Bartlum, who built the structure on Eaton Street, was a descendant of a loyalist
family. Both he and Roberts brought these houses over on a schooner in 1847 from Green Turtle Bay. Bartlum was famous as a ship builder, and
the houses are pegged with wood, not nailed with metal fastenings.
These houses were built before the streets of Key West had been laid out, and one of them sits on the street while the other flanks it on the
William Street side. Bartlum constructed his home in 1846, after the most devastating hurricane in Key West’s history substantially flattened the
town on October 11. In a scenario still familiar to hurricane victims everywhere in Florida and the Bahamas, no carpenters or other workmen
were readily available to repair or rebuild, except at outrageous prices. So Bartlum went home to the Bahamas, dismantled his house in Green
Turtle, loaded it aboard a ship, and reassembled it on a lot he had purchased in Key West from his brother, Joseph.
He wasn’t the only one from Green Turtle Cay to relocate lock, stock, and barrel. Roberts did the same, buying a piece of Bartlum’s land and
reassembling his own Green Turtle house. Like Bartlum, he was a wrecker, but as a Southern sympathizer and entrepreneur during the Civil War,
he also used his ships to run Union blockades.
Every schoolchild on the island was taken through this house for many years to learn Key West history. Today the owners open their house
once a year for the Old Island Days House & Garden Tours and show off the interior and its collection of local art.
The focus of this intaglio is not just the architecture, but also the people who serviced the neighborhood. The Pee-Roo-Lee Man from
Chicken Alley, a familiar character in Mario’s scenes, cries out to the children about his delicious homemade candies. A man carrying heavy buck-
ets of tripe approaches the star of the picture, Uncle Dave, who sports a salt-and-pepper goatee and sells thyme from Nassau, along with parsley
and flowers. Dave has copied the Cuban vendors’ signs: “No se Fia” means literally in Spanish “Don’t trust.” It’s another way of saying “Don’t ask
for credit.”
Set within a stone fence surrounding the house are a royal poinciana in full bloom, two heavily laden coconut palms, a hibiscus tree, and a
sapodilla. The electric lights and trolley tracks date the scene of this carving between 1918 and 1930.

12
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