The scarce indigenous population of the island left its prints in some pictographs on caves, on objects created to give solution to some problems of subsistence, in the creative conception of the houses in the country, called Bohío. Conquerors granted primordial attention to the construction of the first villages. They built fortress to protect the territories from the threat of frequent pirate attacks, which didn't prevent Havana from the English conquering on XVIII century.
The painting appearance was tardy, fueled by the necessities of the church and a bunch a rich people choosing more and more elegant residencies. A popular stream was flooding streets and commercial centers.
The expansion of an economy based on the production of sugar attracted foreign visitors interested in offering testimony of the environment and costumes of the island. In this way, diverse valuable collections of printings were conformed to spread a picturesque vision of the island.
The San Alejandro Academy was founded then, around the beginnings of the XIX century.

Conceived for the drawing training towards the technical development, the school soon focused on the formation of painters and sculptors, according to the lineaments of the European academicism, so, on the edge of the transformations produced along the entire XIX century in the old continent. The reformist streams were stronger in literature. However, the topic approached in painting was enhancing its wings. Portray, landscapes, costumes and the historical affairs received a prior attention. The painter abandoned the artisan's servitude to become an artist.

The last third was coming, when José Martí –also pioneer in this field- was proving that art has a higher sense than a mere decorative function or a simple reproduction of reality. He states that along his entire work, from his notes on Goya to his brief analysis about the impressionistic movement. But the important turn of plastic arts would have to wait until the second decade of the recently-concluded century. The change of the artistic languages was involved then in a transforming process undertaking culture as a whole. In the neocolonial context there was the intention of re-designing, from the modern perspective, the nation's body.
For this purpose it was necessary to find new referring details, go to the deepest zones of the country and enhance the links with the external contemporary world.

Creation was oriented towards literature and music. Something similar was happening in the research of history and social sciences fields. What is known as avant-garde was conformed in this way.

Jorge Arche`s Centennial

With motive of painter Jorge Arche's centennial, one of the most outstanding portraitist of his epoch, the National Fine Arts Museum in Cuba will feature until next June an exhibition conformed by 29 paintings made among 1933 and 1952 by this notable artist, whose painting is defined by experts as vital possessing a serene reliability.

Considered by the critic as a renovator of the portray genre, he left as heritage the testimony of an iconography of intellectuals and artists of his epoch, among them we can highlight Arístides Fernández, Fernando Ortíz, Lezama Lima, Rita Longa and the well-known image of José Martí.

By the middle of the 30s, can be noticed in the island a complex plastic panorama in which three streams converged: the academicians, upholding their privileged position during the first quarter of the XX century; the modern artists bursting with a new aesthetic proposal in opened conflict with the obsolete languages from the change of the Cuban century and the vanguard artists which joined the founders in a renovating movement, a common endeavor to consolidate the success of a new art. In that moment, the solid figure of Jorge Arche emerges, who rose above the field with one of the prizes from the First National Exhibition of Sculpture and Painting of 1935 with the oil painting La Carta, praiseworthy performance in an event where eminent artworks were presented: Rey de los Campos de Cuba by Carlos Enríquez, El entierro de Cristo y La familia se retrata by Arístides Fernández, Beatas by Fidelio Ponce, among others.

Source: National Fine Arts Museum and Presentation Catalog of the Exhibition. Words by Roberto Cobas Amate. April /2005.

The Víctor Manuel`s Gitana Tropical

Painted in Paris in 1929, Gitana Tropical belongs to the Víctor Manuel`s early years, when his painting is offering services of vibration and foundation. Here are the essential features of his plastic imagination: Gaugin as starting point of his poetic perception; a discreet Cezannian presence; the primitive Italian, Modigliani and Arie Laurencin.

But its definitive American character is evinced by the author himself: “She is mongrel, a mulatto girl, but I added almond-shaped eyes like the Indians from Peru or Mexico …''. The so-heterogeneous elements are re-arranged from a unitary intuition transforming this work in a central symbol of Víctor Manuel's poetic.

Gitana Tropical is the image professing more fascination over the audience, close to be a sort of American Gioconda, the first classic work from the Cuban pictorial modernism.

Taken from the Digital Newsletter La Ventana Abierta from the Fine Arts National Museum.

About the photography in Cuba

Among the second half of XX century's 60s and the 70s, the documental photography has had a special significance together with the artistic result of photo-reporters` work, which evinced the vitality of the changes, endowing the photographic image with artistic validity and formal perfection due to its sensible appropriation of reality.

Notable names of this photographic language are: Korda, Raúl Corrales, Liborio Nodal and Roberto Salas among some many others.

Just around the 45th anniversary of the Guerrillero Heroico`s photo taken by Korda on March 5, 1960, the Fototeca de Cuba featured the group exhibition of photography and design of posters La imagen, aimed at saluting the entire body of work of this prestigious photographer and where about twenty creators presented their works.

Along the latest years, photography assumes new techniques and contents, adding expressive means, proposing more introspective images where the integrating elements are generally built taking as starting point the artistic creation itself.

Outstanding responsibles of these new forms and creations belonging to a new generation of photographers are: Alain Pino, Juan Carlos Alom, Carlos Garaicoa, René Peña, Luis Gómez, Eduardo Hernández and Lidzie Alvisa, among others.

This wide range of images joining the Cuban photography panorama undoubtedly evinces its purposes of best art.

The current Cuban plastic is characterized by its variety of expressions and styles and its creativity. It is evinced by the work entitled Todo el Tiempo by the plastic artist Roberto Diago, made on mixed technique with a format of 86 x 76 cm. For more information about this piece go to our Painting Shop. Good opportunity to acquire Cuban Art.


Strong contrasts and live and symbolic colors define the style of Cuban posters, which has served not only to the social propaganda but also to the cinema promotion. An example of this can be seen up to July 10 at the Museum of Applied Arts in Viena (Museum fuer angewandte Kunst Wien) . The 60 works made among 1940 and 2004 are gathering under the title of ‘'La Cubanidad'', representing the great diversity, high quality and creativity of this expression from Cuban plastic.

The 2005 Curaduría Prize, conferred by the National Council of Plastic Arts acknowledged Humberto Díaz and Analia Amaya for the work made to organize the exhibition Land-scapes, at Habana Gallery and Lissette Solórzano for her ‘'La ciudad entre columnas'' in the Fototeca de Cuba.