IMPORTANT CUBAN ARTWORKS, Volume Nineteen by CernudaArte

VOLUME NINE TEEN

IMPORTANT CUBAN ARTWORKS Cernuda

Arte

Leopoldo Romañach (1862 - 1951), Caibarién Beach, (Playa de Caibarién), ca. 1920, oil on canvas board, 14 ¼ x 19 ½ inches Exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde at the Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL, February 12 – March 27, 2016, and illustrated on page 75 of the accompanying catalog. Also exhibited in the show's second venue, Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, FL, from January 22, 2017 to April 23, 2017.

Amelia Peláez (1896 – 1968), Woman with Fish, (Mujer con Pez), 1948, oil on canvas, 52 x 40 inches

Please reference page 27 for more information.

Cernuda Arte provides a warranty of authenticity for every artwork offered in this catalog, according to the terms established in the Certificate of Authenticity that Cernuda Arte issues to the buyer(s) of artworks acquired from Cernuda Arte.

Amelia Peláez, Woman With Fish, 1948 (illustrated on the cover)

IMPORTANT CUBAN ARTWORKS

VOLUME NINETEEN

The sunset of 2022 is with us now and the moment to take stock of the year’s trajectory has arrived. We feel pleased and energized at the results during these transitional times, from hibernation to hyper action. The specter of the fearful pandemic has receded to somewhat tolerable levels and its termination is within reach. The art community has survived thanks to the tenacity of its integrants, the resourcefulness of technology, and to the spiritual need to interact with beauty, especially in times of ugliness. Forward we move.

The art experience is intimate, and at the same time, social in its dynamic. The personal connection between the art object and the art viewer is a private sentiment that eludes a precise description. It is a form of love and attraction, accompanied by the complicity of mutual understanding. This kinship is unique and only fully achieved in direct visual contact. That is why, in spite of the most recent past dependency on the placebo of the internet, we are now returning in droves to museums, art galleries and art fairs, for the real experience of the passion of and with art.

Art is social. Its stimulus is best encountered when shared with others -family, friends, and even strangers of the same flock. Here, at Cernuda Arte, we believe in the essential role of museums in the universe of art. From its origins and at its core, museums democratize art, allowing it to reach all, sharing beauty and teaching appreciation, irrespective of anyone’s social, cultural, or economic standing. Art is for everyone.

In our continued engagement and sustained support for these key institutions, we are currently sponsoring three new and ongoing museum exhibitions related to our field of expertise.

Cernuda Arte and gallery friends Eric Johnson and Holly Gaines, and Harvey and Terri Pollak, are co-sponsors, along with the David Rockefeller Center for the American Studies, of the historic exhibition, El Pasado Mío/ My Own Past: Afrodescendant Contributions to Cuban Art, Cooper Gallery, Harvard University, curated by Professor Alejandro de la Fuente, PhD, Director of the Afro-Latin American Research Institute, Harvard University; also by Professor Bárbaro Martínez Ruiz, PhD, Tanner-Opperman Chair at Indiana University and Professor Cary A. García Yiero, PhD, Freie University, Berlin and Leibniz University at Hannover. ( continues on page 178 )

Cernuda Arte’s Staff (from left to right): Alejandro Rodriguez, Harold Ferrer, Roxana Martinez, Nercys Cernuda, Ramón Cernuda, Nico Hough, María Rómulo, Daniel Ferrer, Diana Benitez

Vicente Escobar (1757 - 1834), Portrait of Don José Verdaguer y Carbonell de Alberti, (Retrato de Don José Verdaguer y Carbonell de Alberti), 1830, oil on canvas, 26 ¾ x 21 ½ inches Provenance: Private Collection, descendants of Don José Verdaguer, Barcelona, Spain

This painting is accompanied by an Export Permit issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports, Madrid, Spain, dated February 16, 2015, authorizing the exportation of this painting and confirming its authorship by Vicente Escobar. This painting is accompanied by a sixteen-page historical investigation on Don José Verdaguer, his life, and presence in Havana, prepared by colonial historian María Teresa Cornide, January, 2015.

Vicente Escobar (1757 - 1834 )

Of Vicente Escobar, the renowned art critic, José Gómez Sicre wrote in his book, Cuban Painting Today , published in 1944, “ The second artist [to be recorded in Cuba] Vicente Escobar (1757-1834) was born in Havana. He painted a fine series of family portraits of the aristocracy of that period and his canvases are noteworthy for their luminosity and delicate charm reminiscent in some respects of Goya. He used a very rich palette although his plastic interpretation was sometimes quite naive. His enthusiasm for his profession is reflected in the loving care with which he painted all the minute details of drapery in his compositions. Among the several pupils and assistants who worked in Escobar’s studio, Juan del Río was his closest.”

The Enciclopedia del Arte en América , published in 1968 by Bernardo Lerner, Bibliográfica Omeba, 1968, states of Escobar, “Cuban painter born in Havana in 1757, and dies in the same city in 1834. This artist of color distinguished himself as a portraitist, leaving a gallery of portraits that illustrated the era’s aristocratic personalities. The sincerity and ingenuity in his works give his extensive portraits a freshness and vitality rarely reproduced during the colonial period in Cuba. Calcaño observes, ‘Without a teacher or a model to imitate, without a school to follow, guided only by his genius and his perseverance, he became the first portraitist artist of this genre in Cuba. An honor student from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Escobar was designated painter of the Royal House by Queen María Cristina of Spain on May 15, 1827. He received these awards after undertaking an extensive trip throughout Italy, France, and Spain.”

Portrait oF Don José VerDaguer y Carbonell De alberti, 1830 (illustrated on page 4)

The portrayed, Don José Verdaguer y Carbonell de Alberti, was born in Villa Franca del Penedés, Barcelona, Spain, and died in Spain towards the end of the 1830s.

Verdaguer was a trusted and prestigious person in the eyes of the Spanish Court. He was named Second Lieutenant Governor and General Advisor of the Superior Government of the Island of Cuba in the years 1825 to 1834. He served under Governors (Captain Generals), Francisco Dionisio Vives (1823-1832) and Mariano Ricafort (1832-1834). Due to his high rank and official responsibilities on the Island, Verdaguer dressed in full military uniform.

Verdaguer surely played a major role in suppressing various rebellions that surfaced on the Island in favor of independence from the Spanish Crown. The most important of these separatist conspiracies during his period in Cuba were the aftermath Rayos y Soles de Bolívar and the Black Eagle conspiracy.

During the years of Verdaguer in the government of the Island, the economy developed and expanded greatly thanks to the expansion of the sugar industry and the liberalization of international commerce. Initiatives by Governor Vives also helped to improve the much needed public health services in the colony and to establish various hospitals for women, children and psychiatric patients.

This

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• A condition report on the artwork.

• A report on the history of the Martínez de Pinillos family in Cuba, by Dr. María Teresa Cornide Hernández, author of the book De La Havana, de siglos y de familias, Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana,

• Copy of the bill of sale from Galería + Antiguedades Minerva, Cádiz, Spain (on behalf of the Martínez de Pinillos family) to Cernuda Arte.

• Copy of the Authorization of Export documents from the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain, number 2015/01023, issued on April 4, 2015.

• Copy of the document of expertise and identification of the artwork signed by Dr. Juan Ramón Cirici Narváez, and Dr. Fernando Pérez Mulet, both art history professors at the Universidad de Cádiz, Spain.

José Nicolás De la Escalera (1734 - 1804), Holy Virgin of the Sorrows, (La Virgen Dolorosa), 1767, oil on canvas, 24 x 19 3/8 inches painting is accompanied by a dossier which includes: Several photos of the work prior to and after restoration. 2008.

José Nicolás de la Escalera (1734 – 1804)

The first Cuban-born painter to be recorded and recognized as an artist in the island’s colonial society, José Nicolás de la Escalera, executed paintings of religious subject matters in a baroque style, as well as portraits of distinguished persons of Cuba’s colonial elite. His most important works are located in chapels and Catholic churches in and around Havana, such as the oils that adorn the Church of Santa María del Rosario. In his compositions, the influences of Spanish master, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682), and of other Andalusian paintings of the 17th century, together with the preferred palette of the Sevillian School of that epoch, are observed.

Historical data and Provenance of Holy Virgin of the Sorrows, by José Nicolás de la Escalera:

Various generations of the extended Martínez de Pinillos family have been in possession of this painting since it was acquired from the artist in Havana in the late seventeen hundreds. The first owner of The Virgin of Sorrows, Don Bernabé Matínez de Pinillos y Saén de Cabezón was born in Logroño, Spain, in 1752 and died in Havana, Cuba, in 1829. The characteristics of the family founded in the colonial city of Havana by Don Bernabé point to the high probability that he was a collector of artworks by José Nicolás de la Escalera and that the Martínez de Pinillos family commissioned this artwork directly from the artist. It is known that Don Bernabé and Escalera were contemporary residents of Havana for a period of over twenty five years.

The artist had a distinguished reputation as a painter of religious subjects which were much appreciated by the Havana families of status and wealth, as a means of manifesting their devotion and also to adorn their homes. Escalera’s talent and Church connections facilitated him to develop relations with the small colonial elite of the island, especially the most active in religious matters. The Martínez de Pinillos family was much part of that class.

Don Bernabé was an important and successful member of the colonial establishment. Throughout his lifetime he was a Coronel in the Royal Spanish Armies, an Honorary Commissioner of the Royal Spanish Armanda, a Mayor Sheriff of the Sacred Inquisition and Knight of the Order of Charles III of Spain. In 1825 he was rewarded the extraordinary distinction of the title of nobility, Count of Villanueva, by the Spanish Crown.

Upon Don Bernabé’s passing in 1829, a sizable part of his considerable fortune and the title of nobility went to his first born son, Don Claudio Martínez de Pinillos y Cevallos (1780-1852). Don Claudio, II Count of Villanueva, received a polished education in the Catholic Seminary of San Carlos y Ambrosio, in Havana, where he became a prominent and successful figure in Havana’s society. He served in the military, as an astute government administrator and as a politician. During his lifetime, he significantly expanded the family’s wealth. Don Claudio died in Madrid where he and his wife María Teresa Ugarte had relocated and established permanent residence in 1849. In his will and testament, a group of valuable artworks are mentioned among the contents of the household. After Don Claudio Martínez de Pinillos y Cevallos death in 1852, his only son and heir (Claudio Martínez de Pinillos y Ugarte, 1832 to 1858) died young, unmarried and without children.

The continued trajectory of this painting, Holy Virgin of the Sorrows by Escalera, is unclear, except for the fact that the artwork stayed in the possession of members of the Pinillos family. Upon the death of Doña Carmen Martínez de Pinillos, (1919-2005) in Cadiz, Spain, the 260 year old artwork was rediscovered among the contexts of her house. Doña Carmen left this artwork and many others to his two nephews, the Benjumeda Martínez de Pinillos heirs. They in turn commissioned the Galería y Antigüedades Minerva, from Cadiz, Spain, to conduct the deaccession of the art collection. Cernuda Arte acquired the painting from this gallery.

Víctor Patricio Landaluze (1828 - 1889) was born in Bilbao, Spain in 1828. As a young man, probably at age 26, he traveled to Havana where he married a criollo lady, had a family of three children and produced a copious body of work until his death in Guanabacoa, Cuba in 1889.

Landaluze was a prolific draftsman, caricaturist, watercolorist and painter who “was the first artist [in Cuba] to capture the national prototype… he was possibly the most complete and defined artist in Cuba of his time. He cultivated the technique of watercolor and oil painting with exquisite sensitivity and with a notable sense of equilibrium in the composition… He created a group of typical popular characters that still live in the collective memory of Cubanness. The rural peasant, the Santería priest, the carriage driver, the slave, the mulatto woman, the wealthy landlord, as well as the flora of the island have been documented for posterity in his work”.(1)

The art of Landaluze constitutes the best iconographic documentation of the customs and folkloric types in Cuba in the second half of the nineteenth century. With loose and spontaneous draftsmanship, his prints illustrated various books of the period, such as, Los Cubanos Pintados por Sí Mismos (The Cubans Painted by Themselves), 1852; and his most ambitious publication, Tipos y Costumbres (Types and Customs), 1881. In this majestic book, currently a rare find, the artist depicts people of all walks of Colonial life - whites and blacks, poor and wealthy, powerful and powerless. His treatment of these characters is equally casual and relaxed, devout of evident preferences nor imposed hierarchy.

Víctor Patricio Landaluze (1828 - 1889), Lady Riding a Horse, (Dama a Caballo), ca 1870, oil on canvas, 14 ⅛ x 10 ⅝ inches Illustrated in Capital Arte, Madrid, Spain, December, 2015, page 83. This painting is accompanied by an Export Permit, issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports, Madrid, Spain, dated October 27, 2015, authorizing the exportation of this painting and confirming its authorship by Víctor Patricio Landaluze.

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The extensive texts of the book Tipos y Costumbres describe the different types as well as the cultural background and traditions of the epoch. It is interesting to note the collaboration in this publication of Landaluze with the liberal writer, Antonio Bachiller y Morales, an erudite who had been persecuted by the Spanish authorities on the Island for his political views in favor of autonomous self-government in Cuba.

Landaluze was a caricaturist of note in Havana. He collaborated with the satiric newspaper, Don Junípero and did political cartoons in La Charanga, El Mono Muza, Juan Palomo and other weekly newspapers and magazines.(2) Sarcasm towards pro-independence figures and separatist symbols were frequent in his caricatures, in line with his political beliefs, and the editorial inclinations of his employers. In fairness, it should be pointed out that his caustic imagery also touched other pro-Spain figures of colonial society. In Escena Galante, he pokes fun at the older-high class Spaniard who, with exaggerated gestures and elongated forms, attempts to enamor a much younger lady.

Landaluze’s sharp, offensive and witty irony and his humorous mockery were not reserved for the blacks or the pro-independence types. It encompasses all in the colonial society of his time. The artist has been wrongly judged and vilified by modern Marxist and ultra-nationalistic art historians. Depicted as a racist, hater of blacks and Cubans, his body of work has been ignored, diminished or qualified as quasi-treasonous by some.(3) The recent rediscovery of an abundant group of watercolors by Landaluze has permitted a revision of this creator and should redefine his importance in Cuban colonial art.

Víctor Patricio Landaluze (1828 - 1889), The Accident, (El Accidente), ca. 1880, ink & watercolor on heavy paper laid down on board, 4 x 5 1/2 inches

Víctor Patricio Landaluze (1828 - 1889), Gallant Scene, (Escena Galante), ca. 1880, ink & watercolor on heavy paper, laid down on board, 4 x 5 1/2 inches

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Víctor Patricio Landaluze (1828 - 1889), In Front of The Mirror, (Frente al Espejo), ca. 1880, ink & watercolor on heavy paper laid down on board, 5 ¾ x 3 ¾ inches

Víctor Patricio Landaluze (1828 - 1889), In the Absence of the Lady, (En la Ausencia de la Señora), ca. 1880, ink & watercolor on heavy paper laid down on board, 5 ¾ x 3 ¾ inches

Víctor Patricio Landaluze is “The most truly Cuban painter of the nineteenth century: the precursor of a national art that comes from its people.” (4) This is how art historian Dr. Loló de la Torriente describes, in 1950, this genre painter who arrived in Havana from Bilbao, Spain, in the mid-nineteenth century and introduced scenes from everyday colonial life, in a realistic manner that for the first time in the island’s art scenario depicted simple peoplerunaway slaves, freed blacks, white menial workers, public servants, and other typical characters from society. “What Landaluze achieves with his emotional and sorrowful art is to secure a distinguished place for the meek in his paintings. Black men and women, marvelous and full of grace, flaunting the cinnamon of their color and the charm of their attire, parade in his art.” (5)

“Even though born in Spain [Landaluze] should be considered, because of his art, a Cuban painter, full of humor, one who captures the ways, habits and popular characters of his time, many of which he defined, such as Liborio [the quintessential colonial criollo], current symbol of the Cuban people... His oils, watercolors and drawings constitute the best work available to consult and remember the way of life and typical prototypes of Colonial Cuba in the second half of the nineteenth century.” (6)

Ramón Cernuda

1 Bernardo Lerner, La Enciclopedia del Arte en América, Editorial Omeba, Argentina, 1969, volumen 4, n.n., alphabetical.

2 Lázara Castellanos, Víctor Patricio Landaluze, Editorial Letras Cubanas, Havana, 1991.

3 See: Jorge Rigol, Apuntes sobre la Pintura y el Grabado en Cuba, Editorial Letras Cubanas, Havana, 1982, pages 241-243.

4 Dr. Loló de la Torriente, Estudio de las Artes Plásticas en Cuba, Havana, Cuba, 1954, pg. 72. This book was awarded the National Prize of the Ministry of Education of Cuba, in 1950.

5 Ibidem, page 71.

6 Segunda Exposición de Arte Cubano Retrospectivo, Víctor Patricio Landaluze, Lyceum, Havana, Cuba, May 20, 1941, introductory text to exhibition catalog, Mrs. Leonor Barraqué.

Esteban Chartrand (1840 - 1884), El Abra [Yumurí River, Matanzas], (El Abra de Matanzas), ca. 1865, oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ inches

Provenance: Collection Auxerre, France Exhibited at the inaugural show of the 3160 Gallery Space, Cuban Art Classics, Cernuda Arte, July, 2022. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Esteban Sebastián Chartrand Dubois (1840 - 1884), was born in the Ariadne Hacienda, in Limonar, Matanzas, on October 11, 1840. From an early age Esteban manifested a clear vocation and talent for painting, surely stimulated by his mother. A cultured lady, Luisa Carlota Dubois was a pianist and portrait artist. Young Esteban visited France in 1854 and again in 1864 to study painting. He was a disciple of the renowned landscape artist, Theodore Rousseau.

In 1866 and in 1867 Chartrand secured his initial recognitions by winning First Prizes and Gold Flowers at fairs in Havana and Matanzas. In 1870, he exhibited in The Floral Fair of Charleston, South Carolina, a place he visited frequently to spend time with family.

In 1876, he was offered a teaching position at the prestigious Alejandro Arts Academy in Havana that, for personal reasons, he did not accept. That same year, Chartrand presented the painting Yumurí Valley in the International Centennial of the United States, in Philadelphia, as part of the Spain pavilion.

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In 1881 Chartrand again exhibited at the Matanzas Exposition . That year, on June 30th, the artist documented in his own writing a list of the oil paintings he created since he finished his studies in 1865. He acknowledged a total production of 107 works in 16 years. Towards the end of 1882 or early 1883, Chartrand traveled with his wife, Merced Rosalia Gálvez, to Hoboken, New Jersey, under medical advice. He sought a better climate to treat his advanced tuberculosis affliction. However, he did not recover and died there on January 26, 1884.

Art historians consider Esteban Chartrand one of the best landscape artists of all time in Cuba. His paintings have been included in numerous exhibitions in Europe and the United States.

Island museums such as the National Museum, The Museum of Colonial Art and others currently possess forty-seven oils by the artist. In the US, nearly thirty works by Esteban Chartrand have been located, including three in Florida: two at the Daytona Museum and one at the Flagler Museum

Esteban Chartrand (1840 - 1884), Landscape with Sailboats, (Paisaje con Veleros), ca. 1865, oil on canvas, 24 ¼ x 36 ¼ inches

Provenance: Collection Auxerre, France

Ramón Cernuda

Augusto Chartrand (1828 - 1899), Sailboats by the Sea, (Veleros en el Mar), 1888, oil on canvas, 9 x 12 inches Exhibited in In the Mind's Eye, Landscapes of Cuba, Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Sep. 22, 2022 - Jan. 15, 2023, curated by Amy Galpin, PhD, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition book, page 126. Not for sale.

Augusto Chartrand Dubois was born in Charleston, North Carolina, on January 23, 1828. Augusto, Philippe, and Esteban form the trio of Chartrand brothers that developed the art of landscape painting in the Island and focused on the theme of the Cuban countryside.

Augusto studied in France from age nine to nineteen. He traveled through various countries in Europe, Canada, Chile, India, and frequented different regions of the United States. He was known to be an eccentric, a musician, an explorer, an adventurer, and a womanizer. His dedication to painting was occasional since diverse occupations such as the administration of the family sugar plantation and other business dealings detracted him from painting. Until recently, the artist had been forgotten by art critics, but the fortuitous appearance of two small canvases depicting scenes from the Canímar River in Matanzas, served to initiate the “rediscovery” of this fine landscape artist of scarce yet solid melancholic production of exquisite filtered lights and Romantic palette. Like his brothers, Augusto preferred rendering rural scenes of his beloved Matanzas. At the Goupil Gallery in New York – which represented him from 1879 until his death –he exhibited at least seven documented works, two of these were scenes from the Yumurí Valley and others were seascapes of Matanzas. He lived convinced of the pictorial talents of his brothers and of his own.

In a parting letter to Rosa Chartrand, his niece, shortly before his death, Augusto tells her that Esteban and he “would be acknowledged in the history of the world”. He died days later, on August 25, 1899 in Matanzas, Cuba.

Ramón Cernuda

Philippe Chartrand (1825 - 1889), Glorious Sunset, (Glorioso Atardecer), 1886, oil on wood, 9 ½ x 14 inches

Philippe Chartrand Dubois was born in Cuba on May 31, 1825, at the Ariadne sugar plantation in the region of Limonar, Matanzas. Son of a family of wealth, he traveled to Paris in the 1840s and again in the 1850s where he studied painting under the influence of the artists of the Barbizon School of landscape. In later trips to Europe, Philippe surely became aware of the artistic innovations of Jean-Baptiste Corot and of the Impressionist Revolution that ensued in the country of his ancestors.

Along with his brothers, Esteban and Augusto Chartrand, he dedicated his artistic oeuvre to landscape painting. He excelled in smaller format works, oftentimes on boards, on china plates, hand-held fans and miniatures. In August of 1886, he was named the first Interim Professor of Landscape and Perspective at the San Alejandro Academy in Havana, where he taught until November of that year. He was again asked to teach at San Alejandro in January of 1888.

His known and properly identified pictorial production is not abundant. Only one work is listed in permanent exhibition at the National Museum of Havana, while thirty others are known to be in the Museum's deposits. Five works have been presented at international auction houses in the past twenty-five years. Philippe’s paintings have been included in major Cuban Colonial art exhibitions, such as: 300 Years of Art in Cuba, at the University of Havana, April, 1940; and in Colonial Painting in Cuba, at the National Capital Building, Havana, 1950. In Miami, his works were exhibited at the Bacardi Gallery, in 1988, as part of the show entitled Cuban Painting and Lithographs (1825–1925), and in the exhibition, One Hundred Years of Cuban Landscape, 1850 to 1950, at Cernuda Arte, in 2001.

Philippe’s contributions to the development of the genre in Cuba have not been fully studied and certainly not properly recognized. Particularly during the last years of his life (1880s), his creations evolved from Romantic-melancholic landscapes with naturalist inclinations (à la Barbizon) to looser, spontaneous compositions with visible and forceful brushstrokes. The application of color was executed in a way that accentuated the effect of light on the various forms, and the undefined linear contours emphasized motion versus the static characteristics of his earlier work. In the last years of his life, Philippe Chartrand in Havana had quietly linked with the ranks of the rebellious Impressionists of the Paris of his days, making him the first Cuban painter to produce art in what was then a revolutionary style. If we take into account that Monet, Renoir, Pissarro and other Impressionists were still facing in Europe the rejection of the critics and limited collector acceptance, Philippe Chartrand’s bold and drastic works of his late period deserve the attention of art historians.

Ramón Cernuda

A radiant and overpowering version of Our Lady of Charity (the Patroness Saint of Cuba) was rendered in 1871 by Spanish artist residing in Cuba, José Carol when he was at the height of his talents. The image depicted recreates the story of the Virgin Mary who appeared over the stormy waters of Cuba around 1608, to save three fishermen (traditionally called “the three Juanes”) when they found themselves adrift at sea. The Virgin and Child irradiate calmness. They are set in a central position on the canvas, floating on a cloud accompanied by angels, creating an ascendant and mystical experience. In the lower part of the composition, we see the fishermen in a rowboat imploring for help. The manner in which the painter executes the delicate folds of the Virgin’s white dress and her blue cloak, both adorned with golden threads, is somewhat reminiscent of Zurbarán’s mastery skills.

The scene suggests the painter came into contact with images of devotion and religious iconography in Cuba when he traveled to the island in the second half of the 19th century. At that time, Carol served as a sergeant under the command of Leopoldo O’Donnell, a general and statesman then stationed on the island who played a key role in the successful Spanish military insurrections of 1843 and 1854.

As published in an article in the Fine Arts section of the newspaper La Nación, Madrid (November 12, 1854), we learn that the painter’s talent for portraiture was much admired, at first by King Ferdinand VII, and later by Queen Isabella II of Spain.

José Carol (Nineteenth Century), Our Lady of Charity, (Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre), 1871, oil on canvas, 63 ¾ x 39 inches

Armando Menocal (1863 - 1942), Landscape with Boat and Dry Locust Tree, (Paisaje con Barca y Algarrobo Seco), ca. 1920, oil on canvas, 31 ½ x 50 ½ inches, original period stretcher.

Exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, Florida, February 12, 2016 - March 27, 2016, curated by Segundo J. Fernandez, PhD, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, pages 28 and 73.

Exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde, Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, Florida, January 22, 2017 - April 23, 2017.

Illustrated in the book In the Mind's Eye, Landscapes of Cuba, Amy Galpin PhD, Katherine Manthorne and Jorge Duany, Frost Museum, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, September 2022, page 28.

Armando Menocal was born in Havana, Cuba, in the summer of 1863, to an educated and distinguished criollo family. It was in that same city where he began his art education at the prestigious San Alejandro Academy, under the tutelage of the master painters, Miguel Melero and Valentín Sanz Carta.

After completing his tenure at San Alejandro, Menocal was sent by his parents to continue his art education at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, Spain in 1880, where he expanded his knowledge and understanding of the European painterly tradition. While living in Spain, the artist became connected to important figures in the Iberian literary and artistic circles, such as Joaquín Sorolla and Menéndez Pelayo. He exhibited in Spain with success, and began receiving major recognitions, including a Second Place Award from the National Exposition of Madrid in 1884, for his painting Castilian Generosity. In 1893, his painting Columbus Shipped Back to Spain by Bobadilla, a depiction of Christopher Columbus being returned to Spain in shackles by his successor Francisco de Bobadilla, was exhibited at the Chicago World’s Fair Universal Exposition in Chicago and generated controversy for its nationalist political and historical subject matter.

Armando Menocal (1863 - 1942), Spanish Dancer with Mantilla, (Bailarina Española con Mantilla), 1889, oil on canvas, 33 ½ x 21 ½ inches

Exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde, Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, Florida, January 22, 2017 - April 23, 2017.

In addition to his remarkable aptitude and sensitivity to the arts, Menocal was characterized by his fierce love for liberty and his Cuban homeland. After a decade in Europe, Menocal returned to Cuba in the early 1890’s to join the Liberation Army during Cuba’s War of Independence. It is known that during the war years he found time to paint scenes of combat between the Mambises and the Spanish forces, as well as sketches of Cuban Army encampments. Armando Menocal finished the war of with the degree of Commander, but was still a painter above all.

Once the Cuban Republic was established, Menocal was given the position of the Chair of Landscape at his alma mater, the School of the Fine Arts at San Alejandro. In 1915, he was awarded the Gold Medal at the Exposition of California. In 1918, in recognition of his mastery and patriotism, he accomplished the decoration of the Presidential Palace of Cuba. In 1927, he became Director of the San Alejandro School.

Armando Menocal executed many important paintings and murals in public buildings in Havana, such as the Presidential Palace, the Town Hall of the City Government of Havana, and the University of Havana. He was a founding member of the National Academy of the Arts and Letters of Cuba.

Due to his unquestionable talent and the expressive looseneness of his brush, as well as his position as an iconic artist of a free Cuba, Armando Menocal became a seminal figure in educating the top artists of Cuba’s 20th century Vanguardia movement.

The artistic nationalism that Menocal helped pioneer in his landscape, portrait, and historic paintings became a thematic mainstay of the island’s creative production for the decades to come. Menocal’s legacy at the academies of San Alejandro in Havana and San Fernando in Madrid created an indelible impression on new generations of talented painters, who carried the torch that Menocal and his contemporaries had lit. The artist died in Havana in 1942. His works are prominently included in the permanent collection of the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana, Cuba, and the San Fernando Academy Museum in Madrid, Spain.

Nico Hough

Miguel Arias (1841 - 1915), Sunrise in the Countryside, (Amanecer en el Campo), ca. 1900, oil on canvas, 19 x 13 ½ inches Exhibited in One Hundred Years of Cuban Landscape, 1850 to 1950, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, Dec., 2001 - Feb., 2002, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 19.

This painting is accompanied by an Export Permit issued by the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports, Madrid, Spain, dated November 19, 2014, authorizing the exportation of this painting and confirming its authorship by Miguel Arias.

Miguel Arias Bardou was born in Astorga, León, Spain in 1841. As early as 1885, he worked as a painter and set designer for several theaters in Cuba, including “La Caridad Theater” in Santa Clara. Later on, he was a set designer for the well-known Alhambra Theater in Havana. His work primarily depicted the countryside with peasant scenes immersed in intimacy and tranquility and in perfect harmony with the island’s landscape.

By the end of the nineteenth century, his artworks were exhibited along with the better known and much recognized Cuban colonial artists. In 1892, he presented various canvases at the Salon Pola, located in No. 100 Obispo Street, Old Havana, in a group show that included creations by Miguel Melero, José Arburu Morell, Federico Sulroca, Juana Borrero and Valentín Sanz Carta. With the advent of the Cuban Republic in 1902, Miguel Arias, whose sympathies were with the Island’s independence, opts to stay in his adopted country and in 1910 he was chosen to be a founding member of the National Academy of Arts and Letters.

Miguel Arias’ paintings were shown in the two major group exhibitions presenting colonial and classical Cuban art of the last century: 300 Years of Art in Cuba, at the University of Havana, April of 1940, and Colonial Painting in Cuba, at the National Capitol Building of Havana, March-April of 1950. In 1966, 1971 and again in 1981, his works were included in exhibits at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana, which houses three large-oil paintings, among other paintings executed by him. The Daytona Beach Museum of Arts and Sciences also has in their permanent collection a beautiful oil on canvas, circa 1875, by Miguel Arias, entitled Paisaje Cubano, which has been exhibited in several museums in Florida.

Ramón Cernuda, One Hundred Years of Cuban Landscape, 1850 to 1950, 2001, page 36, revised.

Miguel Arias (1841 - 1915), Landscape and Farmer, (Paisaje y Campesino), ca. 1900, oil on canvas, 10 ¾ x 18 ⅛ inches

Enrique Crucet was born in Havana on July 12, 1895. The artist cultivated landscapes, cityscapes and marine paintings. He commenced his studies in basic and ornamental painting at the Galician Center of Havana where Baldomero Moreira, the Spanish painter and graduate of the San Fernando School of Fine Arts in Madrid, was his professor. As a young man he departed to Barcelona, where he studied at the atelier of Catalan painter Luis Granier. From there he turned to Paris, and later to Rome. He returned to Cuba in 1918 and exhibited his paintings at the Fine Arts Salon in Havana. This capital’s municipality rewarded his artistic resolve, granting him a scholarship to study abroad. Crucet was a graduate of the National Academy of Fine Arts at San Alejandro. In 1919 he returned to Spain, and in Madrid he completed advanced studies at the celebrated Academy of Fine Arts at San Fernando, obtaining its credentials. Julio Blanco Coris, Antonio Munoz de Graim, and Joaquín Sorolla were the mentors who markedly influenced Crucet’s artistic personality. On October 19, 1920, he celebrated the first exhibition of his paintings at the Circle of Fine Arts in Madrid. The artist’s most salient awards encompassed a Third Prize recognition at the International Exhibition in Paris; a Medal of Honor and Honorable Mention at the Iberoamerican Exposition in Seville; the Landscape Award at the Second International Biennial Exposition, and Gold Medal in Santiago, Chile. The artist died in 1979

Ramón Cernuda

Enrique Crucet (1895 - 1979), Landscape, (Paisaje), ca. 1920, oil on canvas, 38 x 40 inches

Gonzalo Escalante (1865 - 1939), Hut with Clothesline, (Bohío con Tendedera), ca. 1937, oil on wood, 20 x 10 inches

Gonzalo Escalante (1865 - 1939), Landscape with Huts, (Paisaje con Bohíos), ca. 1937, oil on wood, 20 x 10 inches

Gonzalo Escalante Díaz was born on January 9, 1865 in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. Escalante studied painting in Mexico City during 1880-1884 and then traveled to Madrid, Spain, where he continued to study painting from 1884-1888 at the Academy San Fernando.

In 1888, the artist exhibited artworks at the Barcelona Universal Exposition (Spain’s first International World’s Fair) and shortly afterwards, in 1890, he moved to Cuba and established residency in the city of Guantánamo. There, in the Oriente Province of the Island, he intensified his artistic endeavors, and by 1918-1920, he was totally dedicated to painting as the only means of supporting his wife, Carmen Preval and his five children. His preferred subject themes were landscapes, marinas and the occasional portrait.

By 1931, Gonzalo Escalante moved to Havana where he established friendships with Fidelio Ponce and other well-known artists. In 1937, he exhibited two works at the Beaux Arts Salon sponsored by the Círculo de Bellas Artes, Havana. During those years, the gallery and art supplies store, La Venecia, located in Old Havana, represented the artist and sold his work to the public.

Various works by Gonzalo Escalante are part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana. The artist passed away in Havana, on August 28, 1939.

Ramón Cernuda

Exhibited

Exhibited in Amelia Peláez, The Craft of Modernity, Perez Art Museum, Miami, December 2013 and illustrated in the accompanying exhibition book, pages 44 & 45.

Illustrated in the book Amelia Peláez, by Alejandro Alonso, Editorial Letras Cubanas, Havana, Cuba, 1988, pages 20 & 21.

Illustrated in the book Amelia Peláez, Cerámica, by María Elena Jubrías, Ediciones Vanguardia Cubana, Fundación Arte Cubano, Escandón Editores, 2008, Sevilla, Spain, page 18.

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Still Life with Fruits, (Naturaleza Muerta con Frutas), 1935, oil on canvas, 27 ½ x 32 inches in Amelia Peláez, A Retrospective, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, Cuba, November 1968, and listed number 60 in the exhibition catalog.

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Composition, (Composición), 1955, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 15 ½ x 21 ½ inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Zaragoza, Spain

This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Ramón Vázquez Díaz.

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Reclining Woman, (Mujer Reclinada), 1961, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on museum quality board, 29 x 40 inches Provenance: Private Collection, New Jersey This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Ramón Vázquez Díaz.

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Colonial Style Interiors (Interior de Estilo Colonial), 1962 mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 11 ½ x 17 3/8 inches

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Mug, (Jarra), 1952, one-of-a-kind, hand painted ceramic, 3 3/4 x 5 x 4 inches signed ‘AP 52’ on the bottom

Amelia Peláez (1896-1968), Mug, (Jarrita), 1951, one-of-a-kind, hand-painted ceramic, signed 'AP 51' on the bottom, 3 ¾ x 5 ¾ x 3 ¾ inches

The two ceramic works illustrated here, Mug, 1951 and Mug, 1952 by Amelia Peláez come from the Dr. Adalberto Quintana Collection, Havana, Cuba and San José, Costa Rica.

Dr. Quintana was the personal physician of Carmen Peláez, the artist's sister, and received these artworks directly from her.

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Set of Six Espresso Coffee Cups with Saucers, (Juego de Seis Tazas de Café Espresso con Platos), 1960-62, six ceramic espresso cups, 1 ¾ inches in height, 2 ¾ inches in diameter, each individually painted by the artist; each signed and dated 1960 - 1962; with six ceramic saucers, 4 ¾ inches in diameter each, hand painted, signed and dated by the artist.

Exhibited in Amelia Peláez: The Craft of Modernity, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL, curated by René Morales and Ingrid W. Elliott, Dec. 2013 - Feb. 2014, and illustrated in the corresponding book, pages 104 and 105. Exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL, February 12 - March 27, 2016, curated by Segundo J. Fernandez, PhD, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 82 Also exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde at the Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, FL, from January 22 - April 23, 2017. One espresso coffee cup and one saucer appear illustrated in the book Amelia Peláez, Cerámica, María Elena Jubrias, Ediciones Vanguardia Cubana, 2008, page 80.

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Venus with Hibiscus, (Venus con Marpacífico), 1951, tempera on paper, 12 ¾ x 18 ½ inches This painting is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity by Ramón Vázquez Díaz. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Woman with Fish, (Mujer con Pez), 1948, oil on canvas, 52 x 40 inches (cont'd page 27)

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Woman with Fish, (Mujer con Pez), 1948, oil on canvas, 52 x 40 inches [unframed], 64 ¼ x 54 inches [framed]

Provenance: Collection of Dulce María Loynaz del Castillo, poet; Private Collection, Dominican Republic. Exhibited in Miami Currents: Linking Collection and Community, Miami Art Museum of Dade County (MAM), Miami, FL, Oct. 30, 2002 – March. 2, 2003.

Exhibited in Amelia Peláez: The Craft of Modernity, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, Florida, December 4, 2013 – February 23, 2014. Exhibited in Lydia Cabrera and Édouard Glissant: Trembling Thinking, Americas Society, New York, NY, Oct. 9, 2018 - Jan. 12, 2019. Exhibited in Where the Oceans Meet, Museum of Art and Design, Miami Dade College’s Freedom Tower, May 26, 2019–Jan. 12, 2020. Exhibited in 100 Years of Creations by 20 Women Artists, 1922-2022, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, Aug. - Nov. 2022.

Illustrated in Cuban Art & Identity: 1900-1950, Dr. Juan A. Martínez, Vero Beach Museum of Art, Vero Beach, Florida, 2013, page 39. Illustrated in the book Amelia Peláez: The Craft of Modernity, René Morales and Ingrid S. Elliott, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL, 2013, pages 92 and 93. Also illustrated in the scholarly publication ARAS Connections, Amelia: Images of Mystery, the Transformation of Shadow in Women, Joan Golden-Alexis, Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism, Issue 3, New York, NY, 2018, pages 18 and 24, with critical text on page 24 and 25. Also illustrated in Lydia Cabrera and Édouard Glissant: Trembling Thinking, Elvis Fuentes, ArtNexus Magazine, no. 111, Bogota, Colombia, Dec. – Feb. 2019.

Exhibited

Amelia Peláez (1896 - 1968), Flower Vase on a Lace Tablecloth, (Jarrón de Flores sobre Mantel de Encaje), 1960, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 31 x 25 inches This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Ramón Vázquez Díaz. Exhibited at EXPO Chicago Art Fair, Festival Hall, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, Sep. 27 - 30, 2018. in 100 Years of Creations by 20 Women Artists, 1922-2022, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, Aug. - Nov., 2022.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Woman, (Mujer), 1938, oil on heavy paper laid down on canvas, 28 x 25 ½ inches Provenance: Private Collection, Geneva, Switzerland; Private Collection, Mexico City, Mexico Illustrated in Wifredo Lam: Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume I, 1923-1960, Acatos, Project Director: Eskil Lam, page 257, no. 38.38. This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Monsieur Eskil Lam, Paris, January 22, 2013.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Woman with Bird, (Mujer con Pájaro), 1950, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on canvas, 38 ½ x 28 ½ inches

signed Wifredo Lam, dated 1950, and dedicated a mi amigo J.M. Aerin buen de su mal amigo (lower center)

Provenance: Galerie Nathalie Seroussi, Paris, France; Private Collection, Paris, France; Marta Gutiérrez Fine Arts, Miami, Florida; Brillembourg Capriles Collection, Miami, Florida, Exhibited in Wifredo Lam: A Retrospective of Works on Paper, Americas Society Art Gallery, New York, Sep. - Dec. 20, 1992, and illustrated in the corresponding catalog, page 33, no. 59.

Exhibited in Wifredo Lam: Obra Sobre Paper, Centre Cultural, Fundació La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain, Jan. 21 - Mar. 28, 1993, and illustrated in the corresponding catalog, page 155, no. 84.

Exhibited in Intersecting Modernities: Latin American Art from the Brillembourg Capriles Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, 2013, and illustrated in the corresponding catalog, page 111.

Illustrated in Wifredo Lam: Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume I, 1923-1960, Acatos, Paris, 1996, Project Director: Eskil Lam, page 457, no. 50.24.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Femme Cheval, (Woman Horse), 1959, oil on canvas, 31 ¾ x 23 ½ inches Illustrated in Wifredo Lam: Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume I, 1923-1960, Acatos, Project Director: Eskil Lam, page 476, no. 59.17. This painting was reproduced in The New York Times, Friday, November 14, 2008, page C24. This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Lou-Laurin Lam, dated October 7, 2008, no. 08-21.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Osun, (Osun), 1979, bronze sculpture, number 19 of 50, 16 ¼ x 7 ¾ x 3 ¾ inches

Illustrated [different number] in Wifredo Lam: Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume II, 1961-1982, Project Director: Eskil Lam, Acatos 2002, page 225, no. 125.

Illustrated in Wifredo Lam and the International Avant-Garde, 1923-1982, Lowery Stokes Sims, University of Texas Press, Austin, Texas, 2002, page 207, no. 9.14.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Ça Va Mal, 1959, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on canvas, 22 ¾ x 28 ¼ inches

Provenance: Galleria Cadario, Milano, Italy; Aste Farcettiarte, Prato, Italy, November 2013, Lot 565; Galleria Biasutti + Biassuti, Turin, Italy; Private Collection, Turin, Italy.

Exhibited in Wifredo Lam, Cuba-Italia, Un Percorso, Galleria Gruppo Credito Valtellinese, Milan, Italy; also shown at Palazzo Sertoli and Museo de Storia e Arte, Palazzo Sassi De’Lavizzari, Sondrio, Italy, November 2002-January 2003. Illustrated in the corresponding catalog, page 123, and listed on page 173, no. 75. This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity issued by Madame Lou-Laurin Lam, widow of the artist, numbered 99-18, and dated April 13th, 1999.

Few visual artists of the 20th century are more immediately recognizable than Wifredo Lam. The 1959 mixed media composition, Ça Va Mal, features some of Lam’s most representative imagery, but its composition is in many ways a departure for the artist. While most of Lam’s works present his figures against a solid colored background, here the artist establishes points in physical space—the patient on the chaise lounge, the huddled Orishas (guardian spirits) joining them bedside – defining the background and foreground with unusual clarity. While Lam’s body of work typically inhabits the world of dreams and spirits, Ça Va Mal depicts an intersection between the mythic and the real. Within the mystical symbology of Wifredo Lam’s work, horses signify spiritual empowerment. The human-animal hybrids of his femme cheval (horse-headed women) figures are devotees who are attuned with or inhabited by the Orishas. In Ça Va Mal (1959), a convalescent patient is being comforted by these femme cheval figures, as well as a small pantheon of some of Lam’s best-known devotional figures, ancestral spirits in the form of birds. The Orishas have arrived to give strength to the bed-ridden subject, offering insight to the role of belief in Lam’s production.

For Wifredo Lam, faith was foundational, not only as an expression of his creativity, but also as an anchor to his own identity and history. The diasporic religions of Africa which informed his work were taught to him by his godmother, Mantonica Wilson, a Yoruba priestess for whom Lam had a lifelong adoration. These traditions also shaped Lam’s anti-colonial posture and the pride he felt towards his heritage, convictions which made him an important figure of the international Negritude movement.

Nico Hough

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Composition, (Composición), 1957, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on canvas, 27 ½ x 39 ¾ inches Provenance: Falchi Arte Moderna, Milano, Italy

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by Eskil Lam, numbered 22-04, and dated April 8, 2022

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Untitled [Personnage at Dusk], (Sin Título [Personaje al Atardecer] ), 1970, pastel on heavy paper laid down on board, 26 3/8 x 39 1/4 inches

Provenance: Romano Lorenzin Collection, Italy; Gianni Donati Collection, Italy. Exhibited in Dallas Art Fair, Dallas, Texas, April, 2019.

This artwork is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity signed by Monsieur Eskil Lam, dated January 8, 2014, no. 14-01.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Untitled [Bird], (Sin Título [Pájaro] ), 1964, pastel on heavy paper laid down on canvas, 19 x 25 inches Exhibited in Dallas Art Fair, Dallas, Texas, April, 2016.

This artwork is accompanied by a photo-certificate of authenticity signed by Madame Lou-Laurin Lam, dated September 22, 2011.

5/8 x 28 ¾ inches

Provenance: Gastaldelli Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy; Illustrated in Wifredo Lam: Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume II, 1961-1982, Project Director Eskil Lam, Acatos, 2002, page 313, no. 69.26.

Illustrated in Wifredo Lam, Max-Pol Fouchet, 1st edition, Spain, 1976, page 243, numbered 553.

Illustrated in Wifredo Lam, Max-Pol Fouchet, 2nd edition, Spain, 1989, page 263, numbered 585.

This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Eskil Lam, dated November 16, 2021. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Untitled [My Fate], (Sin Título [Mi Destino] ), 1969, oil on canvas burlap, 23

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Untitled [Figure and Elegua], (Sin Título [Figura y Elegua]), 1961, one-of-a-kind terracotta, hand painted by the artist, 17 ¾ inches in diameter Signed, dated, and located Albissola Mare in front Provenance: Dr. Alex Eliseo Asencio, New York, New York

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Untitled [Bird of the Sun], (Sin Título [Pájaro del Sol] ), 1977, one-of-a-kind ceramic plate, 20 ¼ inches diameter

Signed and dated on the front; on the back, “Ceramiche S. Giorgio, Albisola”.

Provenance: Piccola Galleria, Savona, Italy; Il Ponte Casa D'Aste, Milano, Italy; Private Collection, Genoa, Italy

Exhibited in Remember to React: 60 Years of Collecting, NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sept. 2018 - Nov. 2019. This work is registered in the Archive Wifredo Lam, Paris, France.

Paris, 20th Century , a series of seven aquatints created by Wifredo Lam in 1979, is composed of an edition of ninety-nine sets, of which this complete series, signed and numbered by the artist, is identified as number 70. This set, number 20, was acquired by Cernuda Arte in "virgin" condition, never framed nor exhibited before, and kept in its original package from the date of creation in 1979.

Aquatints are etchings that produce finely granulated tonal areas rather than lines, so that the finished works often resemble watercolors. The pastel-like hues achieved in Lam’s aquatints are so exquisite that they remind us of the shades of a rainbow. Aquatints became the most popular method of producing serial toned artworks in the late 18 th and 19 th centuries. Francisco Goya, Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, and later Pablo Picasso and Georges Rouault expressed a preference for this complex technique.

The Paris, 20th Century series of seven aquatints, (various numbers) has been exhibited at: Wifredo Lam, A Retrospective of Works on Paper , Americas Society, New York, U.S., 1992; Wifredo Lam, Obra Sobre Paper, Fundacio La Caixa, Barcelona, Spain, 1993; Wifredo Lam, Grafic , National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden, 1993; Wifredo Lam, Catalogue Raisonné of Lithographs , Le Musée du Dessin et de l'Estampe Originale, Gravelines, France, 1993-1994; Wifredo Lam, La Maison de l'Amérique Latine, Paris, France, 1994; and Wifredo Lam: Cuba Italia, Un Percorso , Refettorio delle Stelline, Milan, Italy; 2002-2003. All works from the series are aquatint on heavy paper, and measure 20 x 26 inches.

This series, Paris, 20th Century , appears documented and illustrated in Wifredo Lam: Ouevre Gravé et Lithographié, Catalogue Raisonné , Musée de Gravelines, pages 164-166.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Paris Siglo XX, 70/99, #7903, (Paris, 20th Century), Untitled, 1979

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982), Paris, 20th Century, 70/99, #7901, Untitled, 1979

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982), Paris, 20th Century, 70/99, #7902, Untitled, 1979

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982), Paris, 20th Century, 70/99, #7904, Untitled, 1979

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982), Paris, 20th Century, 70/99, #7905, Untitled, 1979

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982), Paris, 20th Century, 70/99, #7906, Untitled, 1979

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982), Paris, 20th Century, 70/99, #7907, Untitled, 1979

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Untitled [Plate with Fish], (Sin Título [Plato con Pescado]), 1962, silver plated sculpture, number eleven of twenty, Artist's Proof, 15 inches in diameter, signed and dated on the front, numbered on the reverse.

Provenance: Lic. Jorge Molina Mencía, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Exhibited [different number] in Wifredo Lam, The Messenger, March, 2006, Tresart, Miami, Florida, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 13.

We are grateful to Monsieur Eskil Lam for having confirmed the authenticity of this artwork.

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982) Untitled [Plate with Fish], (Sin Título [Plato con Pescado] ), 1962 bronze sculpture, artist’s proof of a series of 200 numbered units, 15 inches in diameter, signed and dated on the front, numbered on the reverse.

Illustrated in IMPORTANT CUBAN ARTWORKS, Volume Eleven, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, 2013, page 63. We are grateful to Monsieur Eskil Lam for having confirmed the authenticity of this artwork.

This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by Lou- Laurin Lam, widow of the artist, Paris, France, February 06, 2002, no. 06-04.

Víctor Manuel García (1897 - 1969), City Park, (Parque en La Ciudad), ca. 1940, oil on canvas, 28 ¼ x 19 inches Exhibited in The First Generation of the Vanguardia Artists, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, November, 2021. We thank Ramón Vásquez Díaz for his kind assistance in cataloging this artwork.

Víctor Manuel García (1897 - 1969), Stroll in the Park, (Paseo por el Parque), ca. 1954, oil on canvas, 20 ¼ x 16 inches

Víctor Manuel García (1897 - 1969), Peasant, (Campesino), ca. 1925, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on cardboard, 17 ¼ x 12 ¼ inches

Provenance: Art 70 Gallery, New York.

Víctor Manuel García (1897 - 1969), Young Lady and Flower, (Muchacha y Flor), ca. 1950, gouache on cardboard, 21 x 14 inches Provenance: Galería Acacia, Havana, Cuba; La Galería Fine Arts, Coral Gables, Florida. Exhibited at Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, Palm Beach, Florida, January, 2020.

Fidelio Ponce de León (1895 - 1949), The Procession, (La Procesión), ca. 1944, oil on canvas, 27 x 35 inches

Provenance: Margot del Monte Collection, Havana, Cuba. Exhibited in Exposición de Óleos de Fidelio Ponce de León, University of Havana, Cuba, August 1948, and listed in the corresponding catalog, no. 31. Also exhibited in Latin American Art, Sotheby’s, New York, New York, November 25-26, 1986, and illustrated in the exhibition catalog, no. 69.

“One of Ponce’s only attempts at panoramic compositions is Procesión (Procession), 1940’s. This impressive painting shows a devout procession from a certain distance, in a desolate and expansive landscape. Closer to the viewer we see the backs of a group of female spectators kneeling and looking towards the long and seemingly slow caravan of hardly identifiable figures, who are carrying a devotional statue and other religious objects.”

Juan A. Martínez, from the forthcoming book Fidelio Ponce de León: A Cuban Original, Manuscript, page 68.

Fidelio Ponce de León (1895 - 1949), Portrait of a Woman, (Retrato de Mujer), ca. 1940, oil on canvas, 23 x 16 inches Provenance: Prat Poig Collection, Santiago de Cuba. Exhibited in Arte Cubano, Subasta Havana, Havana, Cuba, November 2012, and illustrated in the corresponding auction catalog, number 42, page 52. This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity issued by Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba, and signed by Roberto Cobas Amate, Specialist, January 9, 2012.

René Portocarrero (1912 - 1985), Carnival Dancers, (Bailadores de Carnaval), 1945, oil on board laid down on Masonite, 28 ¼ x 36 ¼ inches

Provenance: The Brillembourg Capriles Collection.

Exhibited in Intersecting Modernities: Latin American Art from the Brillembourg Capriles Collection, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, 2013, and illustrated in the corresponding publication, page 132 & 243. Illustrated on the front cover of Linden Lane Magazine, Summer, 2022, Belkis Cuza Malé, Director. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Provenance: Private Collection, Ontario, Canada; Collection, Montreal, Canada. Exhibited in Art Miami Fair, Miami, Florida, December 1 - 6, 2015. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

“In 1947, Portocarrero begins to work on a group of pastels that occupy him all of that year and are prolonged sporadically until 1949... in this collection of pastels it is possible to find still life’s with flowers, images from catholic iconography, interiors with elaborate screen panels, groups of dancers, harlequins, and also, the exceptional version of a native satyr... Brilliant colors contained by black lines establish a distorted accent that configures the grotesque and agitated character of these works, reflecting moments of dramatic expressionism.”

no. 11.

René Portocarrero (1912 - 1985), Woman in Interior, (Mujer en Interior), 1947, pastel on heavy paper laid down on board, 22 ⅝ x 14 3/4 inches Graziella Pogolotti and Ramón Vázquez Díaz René Portocarrero, Editorial Henschel, Berlin, 1987, section

René Portocarrero (1912 - 1985), Flower Vase in Green Background, (Florero en Fondo Verde), 1966, oil on canvas, 20 ¼ x 16 ¼ inches Provenance: Private Collection, Prague, Czech Republic; Arthouse Hejtmánek, Czech Republic Exhibited in EXPO Chicago Art Fair, Festival Hall, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, April 13 - 16, 2022. Sold prior to publication of this catalog.

René Portocarrero (1912 - 1985), Cathedral, (Catedral), 1963,

¾ x 17 inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Ramón Vázquez Díaz.

René Portocarrero (1912 - 1985), Five Young Women and a Dove, (Cinco Jóvenes y una Paloma), 1970, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 19 ½ x 25 ½ inches ink on heavy paper laid down on board, 23

Roberto Diago (1920 - 1955), Female Figure in Black, (Figura Femenina en Negro), 1948, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 19 ¾ x 14 ½ inches This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity issued by Juan Roberto Diago, grandson of the artist Roberto Diago.

Roberto Diago (1920 - 1955), Face, (Rostro), 1945, oil on board, 23 ¾ x 19 inches Exhibited in Pintura Cubana en México, Palacio de Bellas Artes, México D.F., June, 1946, listed no. 21, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog.

Exhibited

Provenance:

Mario Carreño (1913 - 1999), The Grand Vase, (El Gran Jarrón), 1976, oil on canvas, 19 ⅞ x 23 ¾ inches Private Collection, Florida. Mario Carreño (1913 - 1999), Women and Horse, (Mujeres y Caballo), 1945, mixed media on board, 13 x 16 ¾ inches Provenance: Private Collection, Mexico City, Mexico; Private Collection, Miami, Florida. in Mario Carreño, Recent Paintings, Perls Galleries, New York, New York, November 1945, no. 18. in Christie’s Latin American auction, New York, New York, November 20, 2012, lot no. 95, and illustrated in the corresponding auction catalog.

Provenance:

Exhibited in Mario Carreño, Galería Imagen, Santiago de Chile, June 1976, and illustrated on page 25 of the corresponding catalog.

Exhibited in Mario Carreño, The Art Contact, Coconut Grove, Florida, March 1979, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog.

Exhibited in Mario Carreño, Retrospectiva 1945-1988, Museo Nacional de Artes, Montevideo, Uruguay, December 1988, and listed in the corresponding exhibition catalog.

Exhibited in Sotheby’s Latin American Art, New York, May 2-3, 1990, lot no. 196, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog.

Exhibited in Mario Carreño, Recent Paintings, Perls Galleries, New York, New York, November 1945, no. 18.

Exhibited in EXPO Chicago Art Fair, Festival Hall, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, April 13 - 16, 2022.

Mario Carreño (1913 - 1999), Dawn of the Volcanoes, (Amanecer de los Volcanes), 1974, oil on canvas, 33 ¼ x 47 inches Private Collection, Mexico City, Mexico; Private Collection, Miami, Florida.

Cundo Bermúdez (1914 - 2008), Portrait of Julio L. Bernstein, (Retrato de Julio L. Berestein), ca. 1942, oil on board laid down on canvas, 24 ½ x 17 inches Exhibited in Cundo Bermúdez: Oils, Watercolors, Sculptures, and Lithos, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, May, 2021. Illustrated in the book, Cundo Bermúdez, Cuban American Endowment for the Arts, Miami, Florida, 2000, page 83, no. 42.10.

Cundo Bermúdez’s 1940s portrait of his close friend, Julio López Berestein (1915-1968), is a compelling rendition – one that exudes admiration and respect. And who is this man portrayed in such gracious manner? The painter focuses closely on his face, his eyes… With his bold and vibrant language, he captures the essence of the sitter and creates this important work of art – a heartfelt homage to a great Cuban artistic photographer.

In the 1940s and 50s, Berestein distinguished himself in the art of portrait photography. Over the course of his prolific career, he mastered this discipline and captured with his lens a large number of prominent personalities from the world of art and entertainment. Among other accomplishments, he made a big mark in the pages of history when he was asked to photograph all the selected painters featured in the seminal 1944 book, Cuban Painting Today: Víctor Manuel, Abela, Gattorno, Amelia, Lam, Ponce, Carlos Enríquez, Carreño, Portocarrero, Mariano, Arche, Martínez Pedro – and of course, Cundo Bermúdez. His photos have become iconic images of these and other famed artists. In this canvas, Cundo’s depiction of Berestein celebrates both friendship and artistic genius.

Nercys Cernuda

Cundo Bermúdez (1914 - 2008), Trio in C Minor, (Trío en Do Menor), 1968, oil on canvas, 42 x 70 inches Provenance: Pepe and Hilda López Collection, Martha Gutiérrez Fine Arts, Miami, Florida. Exhibited in Homage to Cundo Bermúdez, Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Miami, Florida, May – June, 1987. Illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 18.

Cundo

September, 2013. Exhibited in Cundo Bermúdez:

Exhibited in Cundo Bermúdez:

Florida, May, 2021. Illustrated in the book, Cundo Bermúdez, Cuban American Endowment

Cernuda

the Arts, Miami, Florida, 2000, page 125. This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by artist Cundo Bermúdez, and inscribed “San Juan, Agosto, 1993".

Bermúdez (1914 - 2008), Acrobats, (Saltimbanquis), 1951, gouache on paper laid down on board, 21 x 17 inches The Artist, The Friend, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, Oils, Watercolors, Sculptures, and Lithos, Arte, Coral Gables, for Cundo Bermúdez (1914 - 2008), Havana Quartet, (Cuarteto Habanero),1991, lithograph, Artist's Proof 3, 30 x 42 inches Provenance: Martha Burr, niece of the artist. Exhibited in Cundo Bermúdez: Oils, Watercolors, Sculptures, and Lithos, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, May, 2021.

Cundo Bermúdez (1914 - 2008), Portrait of a Woman, (Retrato de Mujer), ca. 1959, oil on wood, 22 ½ x 15 ¼ inches

Provenance: Oddette Lavergne, Canada; Beatriz de Mariscal, Mexico City.

Exhibited in Latin American Paintings, Drawings, and Sculptures, Christie’s, New York, November, 1985, and illustrated in the corresponding auction catalog, lot no. 127.

Exhibited in Homage to Cundo Bermúdez, Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Miami, Florida, May – June, 1987. (Museum exhibition label attached on the back of the frame.)

Exhibited at Twentieth Century Cuban Art from the Collection of Ramón and Nercys Cernuda, Interamerican Art Gallery, Miami Dade Community College, February, 1988.

Listed in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 27, no. 8. A copy of the catalog accompanies the artwork. This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by artist Cundo Bermúdez, and inscribed “San Juan, Agosto, 1993".

This painting was exhibited in Exposición de Pintura Cubana Moderna, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, Mexico, June 1946. Also exhibited in Selección de Obras de la Exposición de Pintura del Palacio de Bellas Artes de México, III Salón Vicente Escobar, Havana, Cuba, October 22-30, 1946.

Exhibited in Mariano, Exposición Retrospectiva. Paisaje y Figura, 1942-1955, Lyceum, Havana, Cuba, October 20 - November 2, 1955, and listed in the exhibition catalog, no. 5.

Exhibited in VII Bienal Internacional de Sao Paolo, Museu de Arte Moderna, Sao Paulo, Brazil, October - December 1963.

Exhibited in Mariano Exposición Retrospectiva, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba, May 1975, and illustrated in the exhibition catalog, page 40.

Exhibited in Mariano: Uno y Múltiple, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain, October 18 - November 11, 1988.

Exhibited in Mariano, Obras Escogidas, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba, July 1991, and illustrated in color in the exhibition catalog, page 49.

Exhibited in Todos los Colores de Mariano, Museo Dolores Olmedo, Mexico City, Mexico, 2000, and illustrated in color in the exhibition catalog, page 31.

Exhibited in Mariano, Salle d’Exposition du Quai Antoine 1er, Monte-Carlo, Monaco, 2004, illustrated and listed in the exhibition catalog, no. 48.

Exhibited in Mariano, Sala de Exposiciones de Santo Domingo, Salamanca, Spain, and illustrated in color in the exhibition catalog, page 42.

Exhibited in Mariano: Variations on a Theme, McMullen Museum of Art, Boston College, Boston, Elizabeth T. Goizueta, curator. September – December, 2021, and illustrated in the accompanying exhibition book, page 90. This painting is illustrated in Los Pintores Cubanos, Mariano, José Rodríguez Feo, Bohemia, June 15, 1962, page 33. Also illustrated in Mariano, Tema, Discurso y Humanidad, Dannys Montes de Oca, Spain, 2004, page 111.

Illustrated in Mariano, Catálogo Razonado, Volumen I, published by Ediciones Vanguardia Cubana, page 205, no. 46.01.

Mariano Rodríguez (1912 - 1990), Landscape of Casablanca, (Paisaje de Casablanca), 1946, oil on canvas, 28 x 36 inches

Mariano Rodríguez (1912 - 1990), Portrait of Lolita, (Retrato de Lolita), ca. 1947, oil on canvas laid down on board, 16 x 15 inches Exhibited in Art Miami Fair, Miami, Florida, December, 2021. Illustrated in Mariano, Catálogo Razonado, Volume I, 2nd Edition, page 221, no. 47.26. We are grateful to Lolita Rodríguez, daughter of the artist and sitter for this portrait, for having confirmed the provenace and authenticity of this painting.

Mariano Rodríguez (1912 - 1990), Mangos, (Mangos), 1967, oil on canvas, 60 x 48 inches This painting comes accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity, signed by Dolores and Alejandro Rodríguez, daughter and son of the artist, no. 68841-019, September 5, 2019. This painting will be illustrated in the upcoming book, Mariano: Catálogo Razonado, Pintura y Dibujo 1967-1990, Volumen 3, Project Director José Veigas Zamora, Ediciones Vanguardia Cubana, Sevilla, Spain, currently in production.

Mariano Rodríguez (1912 - 1990), Cupid, (Amorcillo), 1965, oil on canvas, 29 ¼ x 39 ¾ inches

This painting was exhibited in Mariano, Óleos y Dibujos, Galería La Habana, Havana, Cuba, 1965. Exhibited in The Exhibition of the Cuban Painter Mariano, Atelier Gallery, Cairo, Egypt, 1966.

Exhibited in Mariano, Una Energía Voluptuosa, Casa Las Américas, Havana, 1998.

Exhibited in Mariano Rodríguez: An Homage, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, April - June, 2004.

Illustrated in Mariano, Bohemia magazine, Havana, no.5, 1966.

Illustrated in the book Mariano, Tema, Discurso y Humanidad, Dannys Montes de Oca, Sevilla, Spain, page 50. Illustrated in Todos los Colores de Mariano, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, 2000, (multimedia).

Mariano Rodríguez (1912 - 1990), Woman, Rooster and Fruits, (Mujer, Gallo y Frutas), mixed media on heavy paper, 28 ¾ x 40 ¼ inches This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, no. 753, signed by Alejandro Rodríguez, son of the artist, dated June 7, 2007.

Mariano Rodríguez (1912 - 1990), The Black Mass, (La Misa Negra), 1952, oil on canvas, 38 3/8 x 47 3/4 inches

Exhibited in Exposición Homenaje al Dr. Luis de Soto, Galería de Arte de la Sociedad Nuestro Tiempo, Havana Cuba, 1955, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 124.

Exhibited in Cuban Art: A Retrospective 1930-1980, The Signs Gallery, New York, January – May 1982, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, no. 20.

This exhibition later traveled to Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, Sala Arteconsult, Panama City, Panama, May – June 1982. Exhibited in La Habana en Madrid, Centro Cultural de la Villa, Madrid, 1989, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 37. Exhibited in Christie's New York, Latin American Sale, Important Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, November 24-25, 1998, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog no.180, page 216.

Illustrated and documented in Mariano, Catálogo Razonado, Pintura, dibujo y cerámica 1950-1966, Volumen II, Ediciones Vanguardia Cubana, page 101, no. 52.05.

Illustrated in “Mariano. Fiesta libre y en series”, Bohemia, no.19, Havana, September 21, 2012, page 8. This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, issued and signed by Dr. Dolores Rodríguez, daughter of the artist. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Luis Martínez Pedro (1910 - 1989), Woman's Face, (Rostro de Mujer), 1944, ink on paper laid down on board, 22 ¾ x 18 inches

This painting is illustrated in the book, Album del Cincuentenario de la Asociación de Reporteros de La Habana (1902-1952), page 101, and it is reproduced along side a short story written by the illustrious Cuban writer, Enrique Labrador Ruiz. We thank Gustavo Orta, art collector and researcher, for this information.

Luis Martínez Pedro (1910 - 1989), The Drinker, (El Bebedor), 1935, graphite on paper, 18 x 15 ½ inches

Illustrated in the book Cuban Art, Remembering Cuba Through its Art, Private Collections in Exile, 2004, published by Arte al Dia International, from the collection of Felipe del Valle and Sergio Delgado, page 167.

Carmelo González (1920 - 1990), Woman and Rooster, (Mujer y Gallo), ca. 1950, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 19 x 24 ½ inches Provenance: Professor James Amos Porter, Washington, D.C. and Dr. Constance Porter Uzelac, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Professor James A. Porter (1905-1970), taught at Howard University, Washington, D.C., where he was Head of the Department of Art and also Director of the Gallery of Art of this institution. His seminal book, Modern Negro Art, was published in 1943 and has proven to be one of the most informative sources to date on the productivity of African American artists in the United States since the 18th century. Professor Porter repeatedly traveled to Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s, where he studied and researched the artistic movement of the Island. He established a strong bond of friendship with Carmelo González that is corroborated in the numerous correspondences among the two, preserved by Constance Porter Uzelac, daughter of Professor Porter. The painting illustrated above, Woman and Rooster was part of the art collection of distinguished art historian and painter, Professor James Amos Porter, Washington, D.C., and later belonged to his daughter, Dr. Constance Porter Uzelac, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Raúl Martínez (1927 - 1995),

Four Portraits of Martí, (Cuatro Retratos de Martí), 1967, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 31 ⅝ x 25 ⅜ inches

Carmelo González (1920 - 1990), Figure, (Figura), ca. 1958, oil on canvas, 34 ½ x 15 inches

Carmelo González (1920 - 1990) painter, engraver, draftsman and art professor. He studied at the National Academy of San Alejandro, Havana, from 1939 to 1945, and then continued studies on a scholarship at the Student’s League in New York from 1946 to 1947.

During his lifetime, Carmelo participated in more than forty one person exhibitions and more than one hundred group shows in the Americas, Europe and Asia. As an art professor, he taught at various institutions and in 1959 became the Director of the National Academy of San Alejandro in Havana.

Guido

Provenance:

We are grateful to Architect Juan M. Bustamante and his son Dr. Jorge Bustamante for having entrusted the sale of the Bustamante Collection of fourteen Cuban artworks to our gallery. This selection of paintings focuses on creations by artists of the group of The Eleven, many of whom were friends of the retired architect Juan M. Bustamante.

Exhibited

Llinás (1923 - 2005), The Return, (El Regreso), 1979, collage on paper, 24 x 20 inches Architect Juan M. Bustamante Collection, Palm Beach, Florida. Guido Llinás (1923 - 2005), Painting... White, Black, Red and Blue, (Pintura... Blanco, Negro, Rojo y Azul ), 1955, oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 inches in Art Miami Fair, Miami, Florida, December, 2015. Illustrated in the book Trazos en los Márgenes, Arte Abstracto e Ideologías Estéticas en Cuba, Tomo I, Second Edition, Ernesto Menéndez-Conde, Ediciones Dador, Madrid – New York, 2020, page 205.

Raúl Martínez (1927 - 1995), Untitled (LA), (Sin Título (LA)), 1964, oil on Masonite, 31 ¾ x 47 ¾ inches This painting is illustrated in the book Cuban Art, Past and Present, Vol. 1, Frank Padrón, 2016, page 158. Raúl Martínez (1927 - 1995), Untitled (The Storm), (Sin Título (La Tormenta)), 1959, mixed media on canvas, 34 ¾ x 46 ½ inches This painting is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Corina Matamoros, Archives of Raúl Martínez, dated October 28, 2017.

Luis Martínez Pedro (1910 - 1989), Untitled (Abstract Composition), (Sin Título (Composición Abstracta)), 1954, oil on canvas, 38 x 58 inches Exhibited in Sandú Darié – Martínez Pedro at the Social Science Pavilion, University of Havana, Cuba, 1955. Illustrated in the book More than 10 Concrete Painters, Beatriz Gago, Fundación Arte Cubano, 2019, pages 46 and 49.

Luis Martínez Pedro (1910 - 1989), Plate with Geometric Figures, (Plato con Figuras Geométricas), 1956, one-of-a-kind, hand painted ceramic plate, 10 ¼ x 1 inches Illustrated in the book Luis Martínez Pedro, Revelaciones, Fundación Arte Cubano, 2017, page 41.

“Luis Martínez Pedro was one of the pioneers of the concrete movement in Cuba. Together with Sandú Darié, he presented an exhibition at the University of Havana in 1955 that, due to its radical nature, is appreciated as a milestone in the history of Cuban abstract art... that same year, together with Amelia Peláez and Wifredo Arcay, he promoted the implementation of an artistic ceramics project, a practice that, until then, was considered to belong to the fields of crafts... The historical-artistic context of the island and the experimental desire of the young generation that had demolished academic canons in the middle of the century, paved the way for these theories and led several of the most important artists of the time down the path of artistic ceramics.”

Raisa Ruiz Arias, excerpt from the book Luis Martínez Pedro, Revelaciones, Fundación Arte Cubano, 2017, page 23.

Sandú Darié (1908 - 1991), Concrete, (Concreto), ca. 1950, mixed media on wood, 9 ⅝ x 12 ¾ inches Exhibited in Art Miami Fair, Miami, Florida, December, 2017.

This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Pedro de Oraá, Havana, Cuba, January 11, 2013.

This

Rafael Soriano (1920 - 2015), Geometric Abstraction, (Abstracción Geométrica), 1961, oil on canvas, 18 x 29 ½ inches Exhibited in Art Miami Fair, Miami, Florida, December, 2017. artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Hortensia Soriano, daughter of the artist.

Angel Acosta León (1930 - 1964), Coffee Maker, (Cafetera), 1960, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 10 ⅞ x 8 ½ inches

Provenance: Acquired from the artist by Edith García Buchaca; Inherited by Annabelle Rodríguez García, Madrid, Spain.

Angel Acosta León (1930 - 1964), Bird, (Pájaro), 1963, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 15 ¼ x 22 ¾ inches

Provenance: Hauff & Auvermann, Berlin, Germany; Galería de la Mano, Madrid, Spain.

Angel Acosta León (1930 - 1964), Garden, (Jardín), ca. 1962, mixed media on napkin paper laid down on board, 8 ⅝ x 13 ⅝ inches Illustrated in the book Angel Acosta León and His Magic, by Dr. Rosa A. Chediak, pages 132-133. This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Eugenia Antonia Acosta León, sister of the artist, and a copy of the book Angel Acosta León and His Magic, by Dr. Rosa A. Chediak. Angel Acosta León (1930 - 1964), Constant Mutation, (Mutación Constante), 1963, mixed media on paper laid down on board, 2 ¾ x 4 ⅛ inches Illustrated in the book Angel Acosta León and His Magic, by Dr. Rosa A. Chediak, page 61. This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Eugenia Antonia Acosta León, sister of the artist, and a copy of the book Angel Acosta León and His Magic, by Dr. Rosa A. Chediak.

José Mijares (1921 - 2004), Head and Bird, (Cabeza y Pájaro), 1979, oil on canvas, 35 ½ x 28 inches Provenance: Carolina Díaz Collection, Miami, Florida; Carlos Fita Collection, Coral Gables, Florida.

José Mijares (1921 - 2004), Young Lady by the Window, (Joven en La Ventana), 1994, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Caracas, Venezuela; Acquired directly from the artist.

José Mijares (1921 - 2004), Woman by Stained-Glass Window, (Mujer Vitral), 1970, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches

Exhibited in Art Miami Fair, Miami, Florida, December, 2005. Illustrated in IMPORTANT CUBAN ARTWORKS, Volume Four, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, December, 2005, page 39.

Antonia Eiriz (1929 - 1995), Figures, (Figuras), ca. 1965, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 35 ½ x 30 inches

Provenance: Coral Capital Art Collection S.A., Panama Exhibited at the Hotel Saratoga, Havana, Cuba, 2015

Exhibited in Radical Women, Latin American Art, 1960-1985, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, September 2017 – January 2018, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition book, page 96.

Exhibited in 100 Years of Creations by 20 Women Artists (1922 to 2022), Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, July - November, 2022.

Antonia Eiriz (1929 - 1995), My Rebellion, (Mi Rebelión), ca. 1965, oil on metal laid down on wood, 18 ¼ x 14 inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Pablo Vidal Eiriz, son of the artist.

Exhibited in 100 Years of Creations by 20 Women Artists (1922 to 2022), Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, July - November, 2022.

Antonia Eiriz (1929 - 1995), Turbulent Impulses, (Impulsos Turbulentos), ca. 1965, oil on metal laid down on wood, 18 x 13 ¾ inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Pablo Vidal Eiriz, son of the artist.

Exhibited in 100 Years of Creations by 20 Women Artists (1922 to 2022), Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, July - November, 2022.

Gina Pellón (1926 - 2014), Cuban Finch, (El Tomeguín), 2010, mixed media on canvas, 39 ½ x 32 inches Exhibited in Gina Pellón, Still Going Strong, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, Novemeber – December, 2010, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 15. Exhibited in Dallas Art Fair, Dallas, Texas, April, 2019.

Gina Pellón (1926 - 2014), Story for a Dance, (Cuento para Bailar), 2013, mixed media on canvas, 39 x 31 ¾ inches Exhibited at Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, Palm Beach, Florida, January, 2019.

Gina Pellón (1926 - 2014), Starry Night, (Noche de Estrellas), 2010, mixed media on canvas, 44 ¾ x 57 ½ inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Miami, Florida. Exhibited in Gina Pellón, Still Going Strong, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, November – December, 2010, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 20.

Gina Pellón (1926 - 2014), The Lady in the Blue Dress, (La Dama en el Vestido Azul), 1989, mixed media on canvas, 51 x 38 inches Provenance: Galeri Syd, Sonder Alslev, Denmark. A photograph of the painting appears in the Archives of Gina Pellón, as organized by the artist.

Gina Pellón (1926 - 2014), The Gold Wind Carried by the Snow, (El Oro del Viento Llevado por la Nieve), 1992, mixed media on canvas, 63 ½ x 51 inches Exhibited in the 9th Bourg-en-Bresse Contemporary Art Fair, November 4-22, 1992, Bourg-en-Bresse, France, and illustrated in the accompanying exhibition catalog, page 55. A copy of the catalog accompanies the artwork. A photograph of the painting appears in the Archives of Gina Pellón, as organized by the artist.

Agustín Fernández (1928 - 2006), Shield, (Escudo), 1986, oil on canvas, 28 x 24 inches Provenance: José Gómez Sicre Collection, Washington D.C.; by descendants to Manuel Delgado Collection, Caracas, Venezuela.

Agustín Fernández (1928 - 2006), Armor, (Coraza), 1975, oil on canvas, 33 inches round, diameter

Agustín Cárdenas (1927 - 2001), Stèle, (Stele), 1974-1975, bronze sculpture with granite base, edition two of seven, 21 ⅝ x 11 1/2 x 5 ⅛ inches

This artwork is stamped with the seal of Fonderia Tesconi, Pietrasanta, Italy. Provenance: Galerie Le Point Cardinal, Paris, France.

Exhibited in Cárdenas - Sculptures Recentes, 1973-1975, Le Point Cardinal, Paris, France, May-July 1975, and illustrated in the exhibition catalog, no. 28.

Exhibited in Cárdenas - Sculptures Récentes, 1973-1975, Caveau du Château, Montbeliard, France, October-November 1975, illustrated in the exhibition catalog and listed as number 28.

Exhibited in Fondation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris, France, June-September 1981. Illustrated and listed in the catalog as number 29. Exhibited in Cárdenas - Trente ans de sculpture, JGM Galerie, Paris, France, October 1988, and illustrated in the exhibition catalog, page 21.

Agustín Cárdenas (1927 - 2001), The Couple, (La Pareja), 1955, one-of-a-kind wood sculpture, 17 ½ x 6 x 4 inches, plus base, signed and dated by the artist

Provenance: Carmen Leyva Marrero, who acquired it directly from the artist. Galería La Acacia, Havana, Cuba, sold to a Miami, FL, art collector on July 11, 2002. Export permit accompanies the artwork.

Exhibited in Agustín Cárdenas, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Florida, Aug. 2016 – May 2017. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Exhibited in Things That Cannot Be Seen Any Other Way: The Art of Manuel Mendive, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, California, April - October 2013. Exhibited in Things That Cannot Be Seen Any Other Way: The Art of Manuel Mendive, Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, Miami, Florida, November 16, 2013- January 26, 2014. Illustrated in the catalog, Mendive, Carin Arte, Padua, Italy, 1990, Pierre Restany and Giorgio Segato, pages 18-21. Illustrated in the two-museum catalog, Things That Cannot Be Seen Any Other Way: The Art of Manuel Mendive, Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, California African-American Museum, 2013, page 47. Illustrated in the book, Mendive, 2015, Collage Ediciones, Havana, Cuba, page 89. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

In Yoruba beliefs, the early morning hour between 3:00 and 4:00 is a special time when spirits are at their most active. In Mendive’s depiction, this life-force is literal, every subject in the painting is humanized and awake. This magic hour, known to the Yoruba as afémóju, is among the most sacred time for medicine men to pick herbs, because the spiritual energy of the fauna is at its highest. Yoruban medicine is a holistic tradition, largely connected to the deity Osain, God of wild herbs. Osainistas are devout herbalists, with the expertise of knowing when and where to gather herbs, and which prayer or incantation to place upon the plants before using them. In Three in the Morning (1987), the multi-faced Osainista can be seen entering the bush on the left of the composition.

The beliefs and practices that take place during afémóju were brought from the Nigerian delta to the new world, where they gained added significance. Nocturnal rituals connect to the historical realities of Diasporic Africans, who worshipped under the cover of night. Thematically, the work is concerned with vitality, regeneration, faith, and sustenance. The zoomorphic entities in Mendive’s work are representations of spiritual beliefs. These entities flow together and interact, echoing Yoruba beliefs about the integration of the spirit world and the natural one. Tree-human hybrids, present throughout the work, represent nature as a source of religious belief. The associated symbol of the tree-bird hybrid represents the energy of the forest. The three-breasted woman represents fertility, while other human hybrids symbolize potential, complexity, and the mysteries of the human experience. To illustrate their kindship, many of the subjects in the composition have their mouths open, and are nourishing or being nourished by other spirits.

For the Osainistas, food is medicine and medicine is food. Another vital component in this holistic belief is the role of spiritual health. According to Yoruban medicine, to practice medicine or to be healed, your faith must be in alignment with the world around you. This requires an understanding, not only of the earthly qualities of the natural world, but also its divine characteristics. Three in the Morning (1987) is a depiction of this material and religious act of harvest and worship.

Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Three in the Morning, (Las Tres de la Madrugada), 1987, oil on canvas, 46 ½ x 74 ¼ inches Exhibited in Manuel Mendive in Padua, Colors 90, Department of Culture & Cultural Heritage, Padua, Italy, 1990.

Nico Hough

Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Idyll, (Idilio), 1989, mixed media on canvas, 31 ¼ x 40 inches Exhibited in Nature and Our Body, Week of Cuban Culture, Department Store Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, August, 1989. This painting is illustrated in the book Manuel Mendive, Art Random, Kyoto Shoin International, Kyoto, Japan, 1989, page 7. Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Conversations with Oggun, (Conversaciones con Oggun), 1998, mixed media and collage on canvas, 21 ½ x 29 inches Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Imaginary Figures, (Figuras Imaginarias), 1988, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 38 inches Provenance: Aquired directly from the artist, Private Collection, Rome, Italy Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Silence, (Silencio), 1990, mixed media on paper, laid on board, 22 ¼ x 30 inches Provenance: Aquired directly from the artist, Private Collection, Rome, Italy

Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Amorphous Figure, (Figura Amorfa), 1991, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 19 x 23 ¾ inches This painting is accompanied by a photo of the artist with the artwork. Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), The Family and The Ancestors, (La Familia y Los Antepasados), 1997, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 12 ¾ x 19 ½ inches Provenance: Dr. Alex Eliseo Asencio, New York.

Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Offerings from the Sea, (Ofrendas del Mar), 2002, acrylic on canvas, 29 x 33 inches

Provenance: Aquired directly from the artist by Cernuda Arte, in 2003.

Exhibited in Springtime at Cernuda Arte, April – May, 2006, and illustrated in the corresponding digital catalog.

Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), three views of a semi-circular wood sculpture: We Are The Same, (Somos los Mismos), 2004, acrylic on Royal Palm trunk, 35 x 15 x 6 ½ inches

Provenance: Aquired directly from the artist by Cernuda Arte, in 2004.

Exhibited in EXPO Chicago Art Fair, Festival Hall, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, September, 2019.

Manuel Mendive (b. 1944), Realm of Spirits, (Reino de los Espíritus), 1987, oil on canvas, 35 ½ x 47 ½ inches

)

Carlos Alfonzo (1950 –1991), Wake Up Story, ( Historia para Despertarse ), 1988-89, oil on canvas, 72 x 96 inches, ( cont'd page 91

Carlos Alfonzo (1950 - 1991), Wake Up Story, (Historia para Despertarse), 1988-89, oil on canvas, 72 x 96 inches

Provenance: McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas.

Exhibited in Carlos Alfonzo: New Paintings, McMurtrey Gallery, Houston, Texas, 1989.

Exhibited in Triumph of the Spirit: Carlos Alfonzo, a Survey, 1975-1991, Miami Art Museum, Miami, Florida, December 18, 1997 – March 7, 1998.

Exhibited in Triumph of the Spirit: Carlos Alfonzo, a Survey, 1975-1991, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C., June 18 – September 13, 1998.

Illustrated in color in Triumph of the Spirit: Carlos Alfonzo, a Survey, 1975-1991, no. 42, p. 110.

Carlos Alfonzo was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1950. He began his formal art education at the School of San Alejandro in 1973 and later received a degree in Art History from the University of Havana in 1977. After completing his studies, Alfonzo exhibited throughout the country and began teaching art. Conditions on the island were difficult for the young artist, and in 1980, Alfonzo fled from Cuba to Key West, Florida, during the Mariel boatlift. He eventually moved to Miami and developed a following in the local and national art scenes. A restless and educated creative, Alfonzo expressed himself in a broad range of disciplines, working through painting, sculpture, drawing, and ceramics. Throughout his career, the artist focused mainly on the issues of oppression, exile, and the struggle for personal survival, as well as spirituality and the creative process itself. In 1991, at age 40, Carlos Alfonzo died of AIDS-related complications. In spite of his short life, Alfonzo left behind a considerable legacy.

The decade between his arrival to the United States and his untimely death was characterized by success and overwhelming artistic growth. During his time in his adopted country, the artist's work assumed a more dynamic, expressionistic quality, bursting with enigmatic references to Cuban Santería and Alfonzo's personal vocabulary of images. Throughout the 1980's, the artist exhibited considerably both nationally and abroad, and received fellowships from CINTAS Foundation (1983–84) and the National Endowment for the Arts (1984). Carlos Alfonzo hit a reinvigorated stride in the late 1980's, producing some of his most compelling works in 1988 and 1989.

Wake Up Story (1988-89) is highly representative of his best works from the era. Violent, freeflowing brush strokes dominate the composition, which is populated by a coterie of the artist’s preferred symbols–eyes, daggers, ladder-like shapes, spirals and the figure-eight of infinity. These icons are rooted in interpretations of Santería, a religion which Alfonzo practiced discretely, and whose iconography he did not include in his compositions until after he left the Cuban isle. The eye and the dagger-pierced tongue are both symbols of protection against curses, bad luck, and slander. The ladder is a short-hand for ascension, spiritual or artistic. The lower-left of Wake Up Story’s canvas is organized in a spiral shape, which the artist used frequently in his production to symbolize the energies of creation. In the upper right-hand of the canvas are the interlocking circles of the figure eight, signaling the boundlessness of infinity. These gestural symbols collide and intersect amidst a frenzy of primary colors, in stark contrast to the dark and subdued palette of his final two years of painting.

In 1990, Carlos Alfonzo was selected to be included in the following year's Whitney Biennial, taking place from April to June of 1991. Inclusion in this exhibition was the artist's most prestigious achievement to date. Unfortunately, in February of 1991, the artist succame to illness, and passed away in Miami, Florida. Works by Carlos Alfonzo have been collected by the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Pérez Art Museum Miami, as well as several other internationally recognized institutions.

Nico Hough

Carlos Alfonzo (1950 - 1991), I Am Alive and I Survive. I Grind an Infamous Lust, (Yo Estoy Vivo y Sobrevivo. Yo Muelo una Lujuria Infame), 1976, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 25 x 19 ¼ inches

Pedro Pablo Oliva (b. 1949), The Freshness of Childhood, (El Frescor de la Niñez), 1991, oil on canvas, 70 x 70 inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of authenticity signed by the artist.

Pedro Pablo Oliva (b. 1949), Son, Raising the Useless is a Fool's Errand, (Hijo, Criar Inútiles es Carga de Tontos), 1991, mixed media on heavy paper, 39 ½ x 28 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Caracas, Venezuela.

Roberto Fabelo (b. 1950), Suyu and the Beans, (Suyu y los Frijoles), 2016, oil on canvas, 93 x 79 inches Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist.

Exhibited in EXPO Chicago Art Fair, Festival Hall, Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois, September, 2017. Illustrated in the book Fabelo, Persistencia, Eusebio Leal, Rome, Italy, 2017, pages 30 and 31.

Roberto Fabelo (b. 1950), Nest of Dogs, (Nido de Perros), 2018, oil on canvas, 90 ½ x 79 ½ inches

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist.

Exhibited in Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary Art Fair, Palm Beach, Florida, January, 2019.

Exhibited in Roberto Fabelo: The Theater of Life, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, April – July, 2021.

Roberto Fabelo (b. 1950), Suyu and the Romantic Rhinoceros, (Suyu y los Rinocerontes Románticos), 2016, oil on silk, 47 ¾ x 94 inches

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist.

Exhibited in Roberto Fabelo: The Theater of Life, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, April – July, 2021. Can be displayed indistinctively in a vertical or horizontal position

Roberto Fabelo (b. 1950), Small Theater, (Pequeño Teatro), 1992, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 22 x 29 ½ inches Exhibited in The Sensual and the Erotic in Cuban Art, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, November, 2021.

Roberto Fabelo (b. 1950), Grand Bird, (Gran Pájaro), 2014, acrylic on silk, 93 x 48 ½ inches Exhibited in Roberto Fabelo: The Theater of Life, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, April – July, 2021.

Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948), Hill, (Colina), 1987, oil on canvas, 39 x 47 inches

Provenance: Nina Menocal Gallery, México City, México. This painting was exhibited in Tomás Sánchez, Andrés Puig, De Cuba a Cuba: El Arte Como Puente, February, 1993, Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Miami, Florida, and is illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 20. Illustrated in El Nuevo Herald, Galería Section, page 21D, Friday, February 19, 1993, Armando Álvarez Bravo. This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the artist. Also accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity signed by Nina Menocal. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948), Vulture Meat, (Carne de Auras), 1975, oil on canvas, 31 x 39 inches

This painting is signed, dated, and titled on the back and is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by the artist.

Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948) is known for his zen-like landscapes that draw the viewer to a serene state of mind. This subject matter evolved from the turmoil that he encountered during the early stages of the Revolution in Cuba, where intolerance towards religion and those who practiced their faith was the official form. Probably in response to this climate of intolerance, the artist produced a series of historical canvases that constitute a platform not only of his spirituality but of the thoughts and feelings of many of his countrymen in the mid 1970’s. Carne de Auras (1975) is one of these works packed with visual drama. The sky is reminiscent of John Constable’s threatening and emotional atmospheres. It is politically controversial and religiously audacious. It is shocking, but most importantly, it provides the viewer the opportunity to reflect upon the touching imagery of its content. An apt metaphor for what the painter intended.

Carne de Auras is clearly a painting of Tomás Sánchez in transition. He had been Antonia Eiriz’s student and his earlier works reflected many of her traits: the monstrous faces, garish, cartoon-like compositions and politically incorrect creations. This work is one of a series of crucifixions rendered by the artist where one can see how he evolves from the manic to tranquil meditative representations in later years. In it, the use of quick, dry strokes of a thin brush is revealed, a sui generis way of depicting the grass that eventually becomes a trademark in his mature style. Carne de Auras composition also presents one of the first landscapes of the artist, a painting subject that has earned him international recognition.

Carne de Auras is a message painting with multiple interpretations. It is a work that transcends its period with its redemptive force. This is the mark of a masterpiece.

Cookie Gazitúa

Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948), Island, (Isla), 1996, acrylic on canvas, 42 ¾ x 58 inches Exhibited in Tomás Sánchez in Focus, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, June – July, 2010, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, back cover. Exhibited in Art Miami, Miami, Florida, December, 2009.

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Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948), Sacrifice Seen Through a Box, (Sacrificio Visto a través de una Caja), 1984, watercolor on heavy paper, 7 x 4 ¼ inches

Illustrated in IMPORTANT CUBAN ARTWORKS, Volume Six, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, December, 2007, page 87.

Also titled, signed, dedicated and dated by the artist on the reverse: "To my friend Jeannine with much appreciation, this small gift" Tomás Sánchez, December 12, 1985.

Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948), Shore (Sketch #1), (Orilla (Boceto #1)), 1987, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 19 ½ x 19 ½ inches

We are grateful to the artist, Tomás Sánchez, for having confirmed the authenticity of this artwork.

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Lilian Garcia-Roig was born in Havana, Cuba, in 1966. She earned her BFA in 1988 at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990. She was the Director of Graduate Studies in Visual Art at Florida State University, Tallahassee from 2002 to 2008, and is currently a tenured art professor and Chair of the Arts Department at this institution. She has been represented by Cernuda Arte in the United States since 2012.

Garcia-Roig is a plein-air landscape artist, the French expression for “in the open air” painting. Just like the French impressionists used to depict the landscape in an immediate way, from direct observation, Garcia-Roig reflects in her representations a passionate engagement with both the given visual terrain and the painting process. Her body of work essentially befogs the boundaries between abstraction and representation.

In the artist’s own words, “There is a strong sense in my works that nature is intoxicatingly near and yet unreachable… just out of one’s grasp. Nature won’t settle down, be passive, or ever fully reveal itself. But, at the same time, it will offer us more than we seek. I can only hope my paintings can do the same.”

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Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Mogote Hill and Plantain Trees, (Mogote y Platanal), 2018, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches Exhibited in Lilian Garcia-Roig: Made in Cuba, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, November – December 2018, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 33.

Exhibited

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Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Hemlock Cove, (Bosque Frondoso), 2008, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches Exhibited in Sense of Habitat, Tallahassee Museum, Tallahassee, FL, 2007. in the solo show, More Than a Brush With Nature, UNF Gallery, Jacksonville, FL, 2010. in FSU Faculty Selections, The Augustus Turnbull III Florida State Conference Center, Tallahassee, FL, 2011. in Converging Dialogues in Contemporary Art, Cernuda Arte Represented Artists, Art Ovation Hotel, Sarasota, Florida, September 2020 - March 2021, Dr. Francine Birbragher, curator. April of 2021, it was announced that Lilian Garcia-Roig had received a 2021 Guggenheim fellowship. She was one of only twenty-six recipients of this prestigious award in the field of Fine Arts. The Guggenheim Fellowship is the most recent in a series of impressive achievements by the artist.

In addition to the Guggenheim Fellowship, some of Garcia-Roig’s other important national awards and fellowships include a 2021 Blackwell Prize in Painting; 2017 Joan Mitchell Artist-In-Residence; 2006 Joan Mitchell Foundation Award for Painting; 2006 Milton and Sally Avery Fellowship at the MacDowell Colony; 1994 Mid-America Arts Alliance/NEA Fellowship Award in Painting; 1992 Kimbrough Award, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; and 1990 Charles Addams Memorial Prize in Fine Art, University of Pennsylvania, among others.

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Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Into the Woods: Staccato Greens, (Adentro del Bosque: Verde Staccato), 2006, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches Nercys Cernuda

Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Bucolic Viñales Valley with Sunset and Dry Plain, (Escena Bucólica de Viñales con Atardecer y Secadero), 2017, acrylic on heavy paper, laid down on board 22 x 30 inches

Exhibited in Lilian GarciaRoig: Made in Cuba, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, Nov. – Dec. 2018, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 7.

Exhibited in Florida Prize in Contemporary Art, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, Florida, May - Aug,, 2019.

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Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Edge of the Knife Hill Range, (Filo de Cuchillo en Formación de Mogotes), 2018, oil on canvas, 36 x 48 inches Exhibited in Lilian Garcia-Roig: Made in Cuba, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, November – December 2018, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 19.

Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Deep Wood Transition, (Transición Bosque Adentro), 2012, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches

Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Maple Mashup 1, (Enredo de Arces 1), 2013, oil on canvas, 30 x 24 inches

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Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1966), Central Palms with Oranges I, (Palmas Centrales con Naranjas 1), 2015, oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

The Cup of Ire (2022) brings a new tone to this canonical scene, subverting the viewer's expectations with its vibrant palette and inclusion of Afro-Cuban imagery and esoteric symbols. Amongst its vocabulary of images are the Cosmogram (a Kongolese icon depicting the cycle of life, death, and renewal), and the All-Seeing Eye, (a cross-cultural emblem of knowledge and protection). As with many works from this sweeping series, The Cup of Ire (2022) demonstrates Morera's ability to synthesize ancient religions with modern anxieties in her topical, personal, and spiritual compositions.

Clara Morera (b. 1944), The Cup of Ire, (La Copa de la Ira), 2022, mixed media collage on canvas, 48 ¾ x 30 ½ inches The Cup of Ire (2022) is a recent entry into Clara Morera's Revelation series, a collection of works the artist began during the early days of the Coronavirus pandemic. These works connect powerful imagery from The Book of Revelation to our chaotic times.

This mixed media assemblage recreates a scene that has long been a fixture in Western classical and religious art. Per Revelation, God commands seven angels to pour seven cups (or bowls) of his wrath unto the worshippers of the Antichrist. Depicted here are three of the seven punishments - the second cup, which turns the sea to blood; the third cup, which turns the rivers and springs to blood; and the fourth cup, which is poured onto the sun, and makes the sun scorch the earth. At the top of the composition, bold and featureless, is the face of God. In the bottom section reads the text: "Then I heard a mighty voice from the Temple say to the seven angels, 'Go your ways and pour out on the earth the seven cups containing God's wrath.'"

Clara Morera (b. 1944), Archangel Michael and The Dragon, (Arcángel Miguel y El Dragón), 2022, mixed media collage on canvas, 48 ½ x 35 ½ inches

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

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The Great Harlot, also known as "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of the Earth," (Revelation 17:5) is a figure in The New Testament associated with empire and sin, commonly understood as a symbol of Pagan Rome. Her presence prophesies an apocalyptic clash between good and evil. In The Great Harlot (2021), the figure is personified as a woman covered in symbols of conflict.

This work comes from Morera’s Revelation series, and serves as a bridge into the her follow-up series, Harlots, a suite of works dedicated to controversial and transgressive female figures throughout history.

Clara Morera (b. 1944), The Great Tribulation, (La Gran Tribulación), 2021, mixed media on canvas, 60 x 34 ½ inches Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Clara Morera (b. 1944), The Great Harlot of Babylon, (La Gran Ramera de Babilonia), 2021, mixed media on canvas, 64 x 28 ½ inches

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Clara Morera (b. 1944), The Warrior of the Apocalypse, (La Guerrera del Apocalipsis), 2021, mixed media collage on canvas, 40 x 30 ¾ inches

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Clara Morera (b. 1944), Macorina, (La Macorina), 2021, mixed media on canvas, 50 ½ x 31 ¼ inches

Macorina, 2021, by Clara Morera is an entry into the artist’s Harlots series. Unlike most of the other works from Harlots, the subject comes from recent history.

María Calvo Nodarse, (1892 - 1977), better known as La Macorina, was a Cuban courtesan with many clients in the island’s high society, including former president José Miguel Gómez. By the time she retired in 1934, she had amassed a fortune and owned mansions, racehorses, and an iconic fleet of red convertibles.

La Macorina was the first woman in the Americas to hold an automobile driver’s license, due in no small part to her connection to the Cuban elite. She has become a popular figure in folklore, with many notable poems, songs, and paintings celebrating her singular and extravagant life.

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Clara Morera (b. 1944), Hetaira, (Hetaira), 2021, mixed media on canvas, 39 x 58 1/4 inches

Sold prior to publication of this catalog.

Clara Morera (b. 1944), Leda and the Swan, (Leda y el Cisne), 2022, mixed media on canvas, 34 ½ x 45 ½ inches

The disturbing tale of Leda and the Swan, in which the Greek God Zeus transforms himself into a swan to seduce the Spartan queen Leda, was a popular subject of classical European art. Because of the story's origin in mythology and its animal antagonist, artists made Leda and the Swan the subject of erotic and often scandalous compositions that would not have been allowed had they depicted two human subjects. Master painters from the Renaissance era, including Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Peter Paul Rubens made artworks based on the myth. In the 1400’s, even the famed collector Lorenzo de’ Medici had a collection of explicit art of Leda and the Swan.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, master artists of all kinds, such as Paul Cézanne, Cy Twombly, and Wifredo Lam made important works based on the story. With Leda and the Swan, Clara Morera joins the conversation in the 21st Century. In her vision, Zeus is a black swan instead of the traditional white, signifying both villainy and the unforeseen.

In modern times, the story of Leda and the Swan has become problematic for different reasons- viewers are no longer shocked by Leda's supposed immodesty, but rather for Zeus' violence and deception. Consequently, it is still considered obscene. Because of its history of enduring controversy, the artist included her interpretation of the scene, Leda and the Swan (2022) in her continuing series, Harlots.

Nico Hough

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Flora Fong (b. 1949), Sunflower on the Mountain, (Girasol en la Montaña), 2017, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 37 ¼ inches

Flora Fong (b. 1949), Crab in the Mangrove, (Cangrejo en el Manglar), 2016, acrylic on canvas, 43 ½ x 51 inches

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Flora Fong (b. 1949), Rooster of Fire II, (Gallo de Fuego II), 2019, acrylic on canvas, 49 x 36 inches

Flora Fong (b. 1949), Life in the Countryside is Hard, (La Vida en el Campo es Dura), 2015, oil on canvas, 67 ¾ x 84 ¾ inches

Exhibited in Circles and Circuits: Chinese Caribbean Art, Chinese American Museum, Los Angeles, California, September 15, 2017 – March 11, 2018 and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, pages 120-121, listed on page 224.

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DEMI (b. 1955), The Kindergarden, (El Jardín de Niños), 1997, acrylic on canvas, 32 x 42 inches, signed, titled, and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

DEMI’s painterly world is a fully realized realm where dreams, joy, chaos, sorrow, innocence, pain, and beauty all co-mingle. At the heart of her work is always the subject of children. Within her intricate compositions, childhood is at once personal and universal. Stripped from all notions of romance and cynicism, these paintings invite the viewer to return to the wonder of early experience, with all its jubilations and fears.

DEMI was born in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1955. She was the youngest of three children. In her early childhood, DEMI enjoyed a secure and middle class life; her father was an officer in the Constitutional Army, and her mother tended the home. Her youthful innocence came to an abrupt end when, following the Cuban Revolution, her father was imprisoned and eventually executed for political reasons. This tragic event, as well as the social isolation and dislocation that followed, would go on to become her creative fountainhead. The super-charged emotions of childhood, positive or otherwise, became the language of her work.

Occupying a unique position between the baroque and the naïve, DEMI continues in a rich lineage of popular painters-echoing the omnipresent magic of Marc Chagall, the stylized simplicity of Henri Rousseau, the spectral tableaus of Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington, and the visceral modernism of Frida Kahlo. Within the pantheon of other great Cuban artists, she is in dialogue with the masters Eduardo Abela, whose work also revolved around the subjects of children and fantasy, and Uver Solís, whose compositions also synthesized folk-art informalities with modern expression.

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DEMI’s work is distinguished by its contradictions, as well as its impressive arsenal of effects and innovations. Within one composition, the viewer will notice the simplified anatomies of children and the flattened perspective of interior scenes, contrasted with a meticulous treatment of her other preferred subjects – intricate lace, tulle, orchids, and swirls of abstract colors. Tranquil scenes are frequently interrupted by spirals of chaos. The painter makes dramatic use of shadow and light, taking the Renaissance idea of chiaroscuro to its conclusion. Perhaps most impressively, DEMI reforms the medium of acrylic paint in ways that are both sophisticated and surprising. She achieves transparencies normally considered the domain of oil painting, boldly re-imagining the material. Using very small brushes, the artist builds up layers of acrylic, creating a nearly pointillist impasto. The cultivation and execution of these techniques are substantial triumphs.

DEMI’s path to becoming a painter was not a straight line. She arrived to the United States in 1971, living in New York State for some years before settling in Miami in 1978. In search of a creative outlet, she began taking theater classes at night through Miami Dade College. In 1980, the artist had a minor role in a production of La Vida es Sueño. It was during that show that she met her future husband, an established Cuban painter who had been commissioned to design the invitations. The two fell in love and married. Her first recognized painting, an oil on canvas work executed in 1983 based on a wedding photo, is now in the Cuban archives of the Smithsonian. Her talents were apparent very early on in her painting career.

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DEMI (b. 1955), For Cristina Holt, (Para Cristina Holt), 1996, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 58 inches, signed, titled and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL Exhibited in Demi: Paintings of Children, Dreitzer Gallery, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, February - March, 1998, and illustrated in the accompanying exhibition catalog, unnumbered page. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

DEMI (b. 1955), Pink Baby with Green Dress, (Bebé Rosada con Vestido Verde), 1990, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, signed and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

DEMI (b. 1955), The Peddler Girl, (La Niña Vendedora), 1987, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 33 inches, signed and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

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In 1985, DEMI’s work caught the eye of Bill and Judith Ladner, two medical doctors who had moved from New York to South Florida. These prescient collectors were among DEMI’s first major patrons. The Ladner Family bought several important works produced during the early years of her artistic career. Support from the Ladner family helped give DEMI the independence she needed to commit herself fully to her art. Correspondences between DEMI and the Ladner family are now in the Cuban archives of the Smithsonian, alongside her first artwork.

In 1987, the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture inaugurated the artist’s first major solo show, DEMI, to great critical and commercial success. The artist continued exhibiting extensively throughout her lifetime, including several solo exhibitions at Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, FL (2001, 2003); the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, Newport News, VA (1993); Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL (1994); Dreitzer Gallery, Brandeis University (1998); Legacy Fine Art Center, Panama City, Panama (1999), and Gomez Fine Art-Galeria, San Juan, Puerto Rico (2008), among others.

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DEMI (b. 1955), Me and My Sisters, (Yo y Mis Hermanas), 1988, acrylic on canvas, 54 x 38 inches, signed and dated on front, also signed, titled, and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

DEMI (b. 1955), Frozen Charlotte, (Charlotte Congelada), 1986, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 15 inches, signed and dated on front, also signed and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

DEMI (b. 1955), Multi-Face Doll, (Muñeca Multifacial), 1986, acrylic on canvas, 28 x 22 inches, signed, titled and dated on front, also signed, titled and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

DEMI (b. 1955), Two Artists, One Love, (Dos Artistas, Un Amor), 2003, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 24 inches, signed and dated on front, also signed, titled, and dated on reverse Provenance: Private Collection, Miami, FL Exhibited in Everything for Love –Todo por Amor, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, FL, April – May 2003, and illustrated in the corresponding catalog, n.n. page.

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DEMI (b. 1955), Vanitas, (Vanitas), 1987, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 20 inches, signed and dated on front, and also signed and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

DEMI (b. 1955), My Son, (Mi Hijo), 1989, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24 ¼ inches, signed and dated on reverse Provenance: Collection of the Ladner Family Trust, Boca Raton, FL

The artist has also participated in several group exhibitions, including shows at Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, FL; the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, Miami, FL (1988); Inter-American Art Gallery, Miami, FL (1991); Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL (1992); Contemporary Art Museum, Tampa, FL (1992); University Gallery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (1993); Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL (1993); Center of Contemporary Art, North Miami, FL (1993); Museum of Fine Arts, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL (1993); Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL (1994); The Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL (1994); Appleton Museum of Art, Ocala, FL (1996); St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY (1997); Des Tapisseries Museum, Aix-En-Provence, France (1998); Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Belleair, FL (1998); City of Orlando, Public Art Program, Orlando, FL (1998); Lowe Art Museum, Miami, FL (2000); Editart Gallery, Geneva, Switerland, (2002); South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, SC (2005); Center for the Arts, University of Buffalo, NY (2006); Lehigh University Art Galleries, Worcester, MA (2007); Gomez Fine Art-Galeria, San Juan, PR (2007); Florida Frost Museum, Miami, FL (2009); Sorbonne University, Paris, France (2010); Salamatina Gallery, Long Island, NY (2011); the US Embassy Residence, Vatican City, Rome, Italy (2010-12); and the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale, FL (2020); among others. The artist’s work has been included in many prestigious international art fairs over the past two decades, including Art Miami, Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary, EXPO Chicago, ArteAméricas, and more.

Nico Hough

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Miguel Florido (b. 1980) The Murmur of Our Beloved Silence, (Rumor de Nuestro Silencio Enamorado), 2008, oil on canvas, 31 ½ x 39 ¼ inches Miguel Florido (b. 1980), When Love Finds You (from the Meadows series), (Cuando el Amor te Encuentra (de la serie Praderas)), 2022, oil on canvas, 48 ½ x 92 inches

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Miguel Florido (b. 1980), Fond Memories, (Gratos Recuerdos), 2021-2022, oil on canvas, 35 ¼ x 23 ½ inches

Miguel Florido (b. 1980), To Start Again, (Volver a Empezar), 2021-2022, oil on canvas, 9 ¾ x 13 ¾ inches

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Miguel Florido (b. 1980), The Nearness of You, (Tu Cercanía), 2020-2021, oil on canvas, 9 ¾ x 13 ¾ inches

Miguel Florido (b. 1980), Blissful Memories, (Recuerdos Felices), 2017-2022, oil on canvas, 9 ¾ x 13 ¾ inches

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Miguel Florido (b. 1980), My Days Without You... Eternal, (Mis Días Sin Ti... Eternos), 2013, mixed media on canvas, 55 x 55 ½ inches

Miguel Florido (b. 1980), Sadness, (Tristeza), 2013, mixed media on canvas, 78 ½ x 39 inches Exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde, Florida State University Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee, FL, February 12 - March 27, 2016, curated by Segundo J. Fernandez, PhD, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 100 and again on the back cover of the publication. Also exhibited in Cuban Art in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the International Avant-Garde, Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, FL, January 22 - April 23, 2017.

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Miguel Florido (b. 1980), Our Love Flows, (Nuestro Amor Fluye), 2019, oil on canvas, 91 ¾ x 48 inches Exhibited in Converging Dialogues in Contemporary Art: Cernuda Arte Represented Artists, Art Ovation Hotel, Sarasota, Florida, September 2020 - March 2021, curated by Dr. Francine Birbragher.

Like many other important artists of his generation, Juan Roberto Diago achieved cultural recognition in Europe before realizing the same success in Cuba, his homeland. Since the very early days of his career, the artist has crafted an artistic discourse around the themes of Afro-Cuban history, spirituality, and identity, as well as racial tensions and traumas. These subjects were ignored and avoided in place of the official narrative in Cuba, where the state insisted that all inequalities had been resolved by the revolutionary government. As such, Diago’s work was marginalized. Just like with other great masters of Afro-Cuban art, the Grupo Antillano, in general, and Manuel Mendive, specifically, official Cuban institutions did not embrace Juan Roberto Diago’s production until he became established abroad.

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Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Portrait, (Retrato), 1998, mixed media and collage on canvas, 39 ½ x 32 inches Sold prior to the pubication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), I, Black, (Yo, Negro), 1998, collage on cardboard and heavy paper, laid down on canvas, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the artist.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), One, Two, Three, (Uno, Dos, Tres), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper, laid down on canvas, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the artist.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Bloodied Self Portrait, (Autorretrato Ensangrentado), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper, laid down on canvas, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the artist.

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Annulled, (Anulado), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper, laid down on canvas, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the artist.

127

In the mid-1990s, Juan Roberto Diago left Cuba to travel to Europe for the first time. During this trip, Diago had two personal exhibitions— the first in Oloron, France, in 1994, and the next in Cerdena, Italy, in 1995. He was warmly received by international audiences, who were receptive to the powerful firsthand personal and political messaging in his work. Upon his return to Cuba in 1995, he participated in a number of exhibitions, but could not gain cultural traction. His expressive, outspoken work was becoming more sophisticated in its arguments on race and inequity, and was not well-received by the Cuban establishment.

On his latter trip to Europe, the artist landed in Madrid with no funds, where he was housed and fed by two Spanish families who had faith in his work. These patrons allowed him to concentrate on production, and funded Diago’s trip to the 1997 Venice Biennale. For the artist, even this important Biennale was bittersweet –he exhibited in Venice, but did not have the money to bring his artworks back with him. Subsequently, the works from that show were lost.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), The Reader, (El Lector), 1998, oil and collage on canvas, 51 ¼ x 32 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid, Spain

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Trapped, (Atrapado), 1998 mixed media, wood, and cardboard on canvas, 39 ½ x 32 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid, Spain

128

Diago returned to Spain and produced a body of work in 1998 that would set the course for the issues he would explore throughout his career. Early signs of his later iconography appear throughout – masks, scars, and overt references to identity populate the works. These expressionist compositions demonstrate the influence Diago absorbed from the works of New York artists, both in their incorporation of text and found materials, as well as in their urgent, gestural qualities. Works from this period have become rare and sought after by collectors. The year 1998 would mark the beginning of a breakthrough for the artist, both critically and creatively – that same year, he exhibited in France and Spain, participated in the Vancouver Art Fair, and was included in a collective showing of Cuban art in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

129

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), I, (Yo), 1998, mixed media and collage on canvas, 39 ½ x 32 inches Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid, Spain

In 1999, Diago had two solo exhibitions in Paris and became the first Latin American artist to receive the prestigious Prix Amédée Maratier award. In 2001, the artist began collaborating with Cernuda Arte, which granted him his first exposure in the United States. The following year, after achieving considerable success abroad, he was officially embraced by the Cuban art firmament with the solo show, Comiendo Cuchillo, at the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana.

Nico Hough

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Diago, (Diago), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

Signed, dated, and fingerprinted by the artist on the reverse.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Self-Portrait 1-2-3-6, (Autorretrato 1-2-3-6), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

Signed, dated, and fingerprinted by the artist on the reverse.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), You and I, (Tú y Yo), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on canvas, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the artist.

130

131

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Scarface, (Cara Cortada), 1998, oil and mixed media on canvas, 51 x 31 ¾ inches Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), My Hands, (Mis Manos), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on canvas, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

This painting is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the artist.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Flowers for Two, (Flores para Dos), 1999, oil on canvas, 31 ½ x 23 ¾ inches. Exhibited in Juan Roberto Diago, My History is Your History, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, FL, June-July, 2001. Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Crazy, (Loco), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

Signed, dated, and fingerprinted by the artist on the reverse.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Self Portrait, (Autorretrato), 1998, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 27 ½ x 19 ¾ inches

Signed, dated, and fingerprinted by the artist on the reverse.

132

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), The Mask, (La Máscara), 1998, mixed media on canvas, 51 ¼ x 32 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid, Spain

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Hands Up, (Manos Arriba), 1998 mixed media on canvas, 39 ½ x 32 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, Madrid, Spain

133

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Us, (Nosotros), 2001, mixed media on canvas, 51 x 29 inches

Exhibited in Juan Roberto Diago, My History is Your History, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, FL, June-July, 2001.

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Offering to My Gods, (Ofrenda a Mis Dioses), 2001, oil on canvas, 51 x 29 inches

Exhibited in Juan Roberto Diago, My History is Your History, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, FL, June-July, 2001.

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

134

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Four-Faced Figure [from the Free Men series], (Figura Con Cuatro Rostros [de la serie Hombres Libres] ), 2021, one-of-a-kind bronze sculpture, 21 ½ x 18 ¼ x 11 ½ inches

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), The Free Man Series, (La Serie del Hombre Libre), 2021, bronze sculpture, 1 of 3, 22 ¾ x 15 ¾ x 5 ¾ inches

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist

135

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Woman's Face [from the Free Men Series] (Rostro de Mujer [de la Serie Hombres Libres), 2021 bronze sculpture 2 of 3 23 ⅝ x 16 x 9 inches

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Juan Roberto Diago (b. 1971), Man with Collar, (Hombre con Collar), 2021, bronze sculpture 1 of 3, 23 x 14 x 8 ¾ inches

Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist

Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

Works from this series were created using the “Direct Casting” technique, an ancient and labor-intensive method of bronze sculpture production that involves the creation of a new clay mold for each edition. During the process of casting, the mold is destroyed, and is re-created for each subsequent sculpture. The resulting sculptures are all unique in their details, and no image is repeated identically.

136

David Rodríguez (b. 1956), The Things You Never Told Me, (Las Cosas que Nunca Me Dijiste), 2010, oil on canvas, 27 ½ x 21 ½ inches

David Rodríguez (b. 1956), Yellow, Blue and Red, (Amarillo, Azul y Rojo), 2007 oil on canvas, 39 x 31 inches

137

138

Arturo Rodríguez (b. 1956), The Count After Velázquez, (El Conde Después de Velázquez), 1981, oil on paper, 29 ½ x 22 inches Provenance: Aquired directly from the artist.

139

Arturo Rodríguez (b. 1956), The Outcasts, (Los Marginados), 1999, oil on canvas, 14 x 18 inches Provenance: Aquired directly from the artist. Arturo Rodríguez (b. 1956), Untitled, (Sin Título), 1986, oil on canvas, 21 ¾ x 31 inches

Danuel Méndez was born in Güines, Havana, Cuba in 1989, and graduated from the prestigious San Alejandro Academy in 2010 with a focus on painting. During this period of time, he participated in many group exhibitions at the San Alejandro Academy of Arts Gallery, the Academia de Artes Plásticas Eduardo Abela, and later in the collective exhibition Colateral at the 2011 Havana Biennal.

In the winter of 2016, Méndez left Cuba for Miami, where he now works and lives. This confident voice in the world of contemporary painting creates figurative and abstract compositions of profound psychological tension and energy. Méndez is a painter with a vision – his work is expressionistic, privileging the subjective over the real in the tradition of the early 20th century avant-garde.

In 2019, Méndez initiated his most popular suite of works to date, the powerful “Lost in the Woods” series. In these depictions, the artist alludes to the challenges that the post-modern information and internet age present to those who confront this futuristic lifestyle unexpectedly and abruptly without the benefits of a gradual incorporation to the social fabric of the advanced societies.

140

Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), The Project, (El Proyecto), 2021, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), The Girl in the Striped Dress, (La Muchacha en el Vestido de Rayas), 2021, oil on canvas, 14 x 11 inches

Works

141

Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), The Burden of the Past, (La Carga del Pasado), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches by Danuel Méndez have been exhibited at various international art fairs within the United States, including EXPO Chicago, Art Miami, Art Wynwood, Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary, the Dallas Art Fair, and Philadelphia Fine Art. The artist has been represented exclusively worldwide by Cernuda Arte since 2018. Ramón Cernuda and Nico Hough

Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), Thursday's Conclusions, (Conclusiones de Jueves), 2021, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches

Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), Backyard, (Patio), 2021, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches

142

143

Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), Ashé Over the Mountain, (Ashé Sobre la Montaña), 2020, acrylic on canvas, 65 x 75 inches

144

Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), Woman Crossing the River, (Mujer Cruzando el Río), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), The Young Girl in the Mirror, (La Joven en el Espejo), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), Man Looking Northeast, (Hombre Mirando al Noreste), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 inches

145

Danuel Méndez (b. 1989), The Blue Aura, (El Aura Azul), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 48 inches

146

Joel Besmar (b. 1968), The Scent of Books, (El Aroma de los Libros), 2021, oil on canvas, 59 x 39 ¼ inches

147

Joel Besmar (b. 1968), Awakening From a Dream, (Despertar de un Sueño), 2022, oil on canvas, 29 ½ x 39 ¼ inches

148

Joel Besmar (b. 1968), Of Wisdom and Wonder, (De Sabiduría y Asombro), 2021, oil on canvas, 35 ½ x 38 inches Joel Besmar (b. 1968), Encounter of Voices, (Encuentro de Voces), 2021, oil on canvas, 35 ½ x 39 ½ inches

149

Joel Besmar (b. 1968), Free on Your Own Recognizance, (Libertad Bajo Palabra), 2017, oil on canvas, 78 ½ x 57 ½ inches

Jorge Luis Santos (b. 1973), Blue Wall (from the series "A-Z"), (Muro Azul (de la serie "A-Z")), 2017, mixed media on canvas, 72 x 72 inches

Jorge Luis Santos (b. 1973), Bingo #11, (Bingo #11), 2015, mixed media on canvas, 71 x 70 ½ inches

Illustrated in the book Jorge Luis Santos, produced by Jorge Pérez and Mario José Hernández, Selvi Artes Gráficas, Valencia, Spain, 2018, page 375.

150

Jorge Luis Santos (b. 1973), Paraphrasing (from the series "Two Worlds"), (Parafraseando (de la serie "Dos Mundos")), 2017, mixed media on canvas, 77 ½ x 75 ¼ inches

Jorge Luis Santos (b. 1973), Patching it Together (from the series "Two Worlds"), (Poniendo el Parche (de la serie "Dos Mundos")), 2018, mixed media on canvas, 71 ½ x 67 inches

151

152

Giosvany Echevarría (b. 1971), Morning Breaking Through My Window, (Crece la Mañana por Mi Ventana), 2015, oil on canvas, 47 x 66 ¾ inches Giosvany Echevarría (b. 1971), Morning Reflections, (Reflejos de la Mañana), 2016, oil on canvas, 35 ⅝ x 47 ⅛ inches

153

Giosvany Echevarría (b. 1971), Interlude, (Interludio), 2022, oil on canvas, 33 ¼ x 62 inches Giosvany Echevarría (b. 1971), The Hues of My Land, (Los Matices de Mi Tierra), 2015, oil on canvas, 40 ⅛ x 78 ¾ inches

Nicolás

¾ inches

Nicolás

154

Guillén (1938 - 2003), The Stare, (La Mirada), 1988, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 27 ½ x 19 Guillén (1938 - 2003), The Salute, (El Saludo), 1988, mixed media on heavy paper laid down on board, 20 x 27 ½ inches Exhibited in Radical Conversations: Cuban American Art from the 1980’s, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, March 17 – June 12, 2022.

Vicente Hernández belongs to an important tradition of protest painters, from the early expressionism of the Spanish Francisco Goya (1746–1828), to the superb and poignant compositions of the Belgian James Ensor (1860–1949), the sharp social realism of the French Gustav Courbet (1819-1877), and the confrontational political art of Harlem Renaissance painter Faith Ringgold (b. 1930), among others. Notably, the dynamic density of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica (1937), a masterwork on the horrors of war, is an ever-present influence throughout Hernández’ canvases. Among Cuban protest painters, the art of Umberto Peña, Marcelo Pogolotti, Antonia Eiriz, and Pedro Pablo Oliva, all serve as reference points to Hernández’ artistic lineage. Like Hernández, these painters also produced protest art, distinguished from propaganda by degrees of sophistication and originality of presentation.

Within his work, Hernández imagines the artist as witness to history. Themes in his protest art include electoral fraud, the absence of free press, censorship and surveillance, the failures of self-imposed isolationism, mass migration, material scarcity of essentials, and the circus-like spectacle of politics on the island. Far from surrendering to gloom, Hernández’ work focuses on the indomitable spirit and ingenuity of his fellow citizens in the face of these issues.

As with the surrealist masters before him, the artist has created a distinct visual vocabulary in the framework of magical realism, allowing him to better evade censorship and to communicate complicated ideas succinctly. Every detail in these maximalist compositions is charged with symbolic historical and political meaning.

Vicente Hernández, while living in Cuba, has exhibited extensively abroad. Since 2001, he has participated in over fifty group exhibitions and major art fairs in the United States. Art as Protest, Protest as Art, in 2021, marked his fourth solo exhibition in the United States, following The Marvelous World of Bujamey, in 2002, From a Strange Town, in 2009, and To Leave, Or Not To Live, That Is The Question, in 2019 at Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida. He has also illustrated more than ten books. Hernández has had one-person exhibitions in the U.S.A, Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela, Argentina, Dominican Republic, among others. In 2016, his life and art were the subject of a book, Vicente Hernández (Ediciones S/G, Lima, Peru). In 2019, works by Vicente Hernández were included in the exhibition, “A Round Trip”, at the DA2 Center in the city of Salamanca, Spain.

Nico Hough

155

Vicente Hernández (b. 1971), The Demonstration, (La Manifestación), 2021, oil on canvas, 59 x 78 ¾ inches

156

Vicente Hernández (b. 1971), Liberty I, (Libertad I), 2021, oil on canvas, 78 ¾ x 59 ¼ inches Provenance: Acquired directly from the artist. Exhibited in Vicente Hernández, Art as Protest, Protest as Art, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, July, 2021.

157

Vicente Hernández (b. 1971), The Procession, (La Procesión), 2022, oil on canvas, 79 x 59 inches

158

Vicente Hernández (b. 1971), The Red Circus, (El Circo Rojo), 2020, oil on canvas, 39 x 51 inches Exhibited in Vicente Hernández, Art as Protest, Protest as Art, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, July, 2021. Vicente Hernández (b. 1971), In Total Agreement, (En Total Acuerdo), 2022, oil on canvas, 46 ¼ x 58 inches

159

Jorge Luis Santos (b. 1973), The Eye of the Hurricane, (El Ojo del Huracán), 2015, mixed media on canvas, 51 ¼ x 51 ¼ inches Illustrated in the book Jorge Luis Santos, produced by Jorge Pérez and Mario José Hernández, Selvi Artes Gráficas, Valencia, Spain, 2018, pages 344 - 345.

Irina Elén González (b. 1978), Times of Bonanza, (Tiempos de Bonanza), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 21 ½ x 18 inches

The heart of Irina’s art is nourished from a formal academic study and the detailed observation of other renowned painters that have cast a spell on her. The artist’s works connect with diverse Italian Renaissance maestros such as, Fra Bartolommeo and Titian, and the great 17th-century Dutch painter, Frans Hals. Furthermore, the artist has found fertile ground and inspiration in the hard-paved contributions of exceptional Northern European women artists during the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly, those of the prominent Italian painter, Lavinia Fontana, and also of the eminent Dutch master, Judith Leyster, whose works were admired for their vibrant palette and astonishing detail of the clothes and jewelry that their subjects wore. Medieval illuminated manuscripts, Naive Art, Art Nouveau, Surrealism, craftwork, and tapestry have likewise influenced the artist’s approach.

Irina Elén acknowledges that these allusions have helped develop her own visual language. “The accomplishment is obtained when you are able to interpret, distill and reweave the references into one’s creations,” she says.

Irina Elén González (b. 1978), Everyone Leaves, (Todos se Van), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 29 ½ x 23 ¾ inches

160

Irina Elén González (b. 1978), Flight Over Troubled Waters, (Vuelo Sobre Aguas Turbulentas), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 34 x 27 inches

Her paintings are imbued with grace, freshness and metaphor. Symbols of beauty, joy, youth, providence and paradise abound, together with certain constants that appear and reappear in her compositions, such as – the feminine imagery, the intimate-surreal setting, the sheer pleasure of fantasy, and the marvelous sense of craft.

The portrayal of delicate and rich fabrics – lace, chintz, organdy, satin, brocade and calico –reminisces the creations of some Dutch baroque painters, in that it embodies great attention to the minute details that enhance the visual brilliance of a painting. The intricate patterns of threads, reproduced in the dresses, tapestries and quilts, appear to have been individually brush-stroked into place by the artist, so that the viewer is able to see and feel the differences in texture of the clothes depicted.

Ultimately, Irina Elén’s body of work displays her gift for bestowing compositions of extraordinary beauty and sensibility. The merging of creative virtue with genuine authenticity is what makes her artistic career so engaging and promising. In her painterly world – where imagination is queen – everything is possible.

Nercys Cernuda

Irina Elén González (b. 1978), A Blossoming Love Affair, (Idilio en Flor), 2022, acrylic on canvas, 20 ⅝ x 16 ¼ inches Sold prior to the publication of this catalog.

161

162

Sandro De La Rosa (b. 1972), The Sound of Wind, (El Sonido del Viento), 2022, oil on canvas, 48 x 33 inches

163

Sandro De La Rosa (b. 1972), The Dream, (El Sueño), 2009, oil on canvas, 78 ¾ x 63 inches Exhibited in Three From Cuba, Vicente, Sandro and Florido, From the Fantastic to the Sublime, Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida, Ocala, Florida, February - April, 2012, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 31. A copy of the catalog accompanies the artwork.

Ismael Gómez Peralta (b. 1967), Santa María del Rosario Church, (Santa María del Rosario), 2004, oil on canvas, 39 ¼ x 29 ¾ inches Exhibited in For Whom the Bells Cry, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, November – December, 2005, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog.

Ismael Gómez Peralta (b. 1967), From the series 'Illumination', (De la Serie Iluminación), 2006, mixed media on canvas, 46 x 36 ½ inches Acquired directly from the artist.

164

Humberto Calzada (b. 1944), Breeze of the Palms, (Como Arrullo de Palmas), 2006, acrylic on canvas, 18 x 14 inches

Humberto Calzada (b. 1944), Living in a Calendar II, (Viviendo en el Segundo Calendario), 1983, acrylic on canvas, 45 x 60 inches

Illustrated in the book Humberto Calzada: In Dreams Awake, A Thirty Year Retrospective, Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, December, 2006, Miami, FL, page 67.

165

Dayron González (b. 1982), Punished, (De Penitencia), 2012, mixed media on canvas, 36 x 12 ¼ inches

Dayron González (b. 1982), High Voltage, (Alta Tensión), 2011, mixed media on canvas, 42 ½ x 30 ¾ inches

Exhibited in Art Miami, Miami, Florida, December, 2011. Exhibited in Selections of Cuban Modern and Contemporary Protest Art, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, July – October, 2021.

166

167

Dayron González (b. 1982), Night Stroll, (Ronda Nocturna), 2016, oil on canvas, 80 x 60 inches Exhibited in Dayron González, From Green to Red, Cernuda Arte, October, 2016, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 35.

Eduardo Abela (1889 - 1965), Nude, (Desnudo), ca. 1928, oil on paper laid down on board, 20 ½ x 15 ¾ inches Provenance: Maritza Alonso, sister-in-law of the artist; Hosanna Abela, by inheritance. This painting is illustrated in the book, Eduardo Abela - Cerca del Cerco, José Seoane Gallo, Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1986, page 492. Also illustrated in the book, Eduardo Abela, de lo Real a lo Imaginario, Obras Escogidas, Yolanda Wood and Roberto Cobas, Ediciones Vanguardia Cubana, 2010, page 43. Nude (Desnudo) was painted shortly after Abela's arrival to Paris in 1927. It is believed that this painting was one of the six works on paper that were included as part of the artist's famous solo exhibition at Galerie Zak, Paris, December, 1928.

Florencio Gelabert (1904 - 1995), Woman, (Mujer), 1949, terracotta sculpture, one-of-a-kind, 12 ½ x 11 x 6 ¼ inches

This sculpture is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity, signed by Florencio Gelabert Soto, son of the artist.

168

Carlos Sobrino (1909 - 1980), At the Bottom of the Sea, (En el Fondo del Mar), 1958, mixed media on board, 39 x 30 inches

Provenance: Private collection, Zaragoza, Spain.

This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Ramón Vázquez Díaz and José Veigas Zamora.

Carlos Sobrino (1909 - 1980), Portrait of a Young Girl, (Retrato de Niña), ca. 1957, oil on canvas, 10 ½ x 10 ½ inches

169

170

Belkis Ayón (1967 - 1999), Disobedience, (Desobediencia), 1998, set of 8 collagraphs, 3 of 4, 101 x 78 inches Sold prior to the publication of this catalog. (cont'd page 171)

Belkis Ayón (1967 - 1999), Disobedience, (Desobediencia), 1998, set of 8 collagraphs, 3 of 4, 101 x 78 inches

Provenance: Private Collection, New York, New York.

Exhibitions:

Exhibited in Kongo Criollo, Taller Boricua Gallery, New York, New York, October 23 – November 21, 1998.

Exhibited [different number] in Trabajando pa’l inglé, Concourse Gallery, Barbican Centre, London, England, 1999.

Exhibited [different number] in Arte Cubano, Más Allá del Papel, Centro Cultural del Conde Duque, Salas Pedro de Ribera y Juan de Villanueva, Madrid, Spain, 1999, and illustrated in the exhibition catalog.

Exhibited [different number] in Siempre Vuelvo. Colografías de Belkis Ayón, Exposición Homenaje, Séptima Bienal de La Habana, Galería Habana, Havana, Cuba, 2000, and illustrated in the exhibition catalog.

Exhibited [different number] in Colografías y matrices de Belkis Ayón. Imágenes desde el silencio, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba.

Exhibited [different number] in Nkame, Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Convent of San Francisco de Asís, Havana, Cuba, 2009.

Exhibited [different number] in Nkame, Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Fowler Museum at UCLA, Los Angeles, California, October 2, 2016 – February 12, 2017.

Exhibited [different number] in Nkame, Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), El Museo del Barrio, New York, New York, June – November 2017, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog, page 15.

Exhibited [different number] in Nkame, Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, January – April 2018.

Exhibited [different number] in Nkame, Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, June – September 2018.

Exhibited [different number] in Nkame, Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Chicago Cultural Center, Sidney R. Yates Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, February – March, 2020.

Exhibited [different number] in Nkame, Belkis Ayón (1967-1999), Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, February – September 2021.

Exhibited [different number] in Belkis Ayón, Collographs, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain, November 2021 – April 2022.

Exhibited in El Pasado Mío / My Own Past: Afrodescendant Contributions to Cuban Art, Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African American Art at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, September 2022.

Literature:

Illustrated [different number] in the book Colografía a Cinco Voces, University of Havana, Cuba, 2007.

Illustrated [different number] in the book Nkame, Belkis Ayón, Catalogue Raisonné, Dr. Katia Ayón, Turner, 2010, p. 231, no. 98.12. Illustrated [different number] in the book Behind the Veil of a Myth: Belkis Ayón, Cristina Vives, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, Houston, Texas, 2018, pages 132 and 133, and on two unnumbered pages.

Belkis Ayón’s Disobedience (1998) depicts a ceremonial ritual being performed by the enigmatic fraternal order of the Abakuá. This secret society’s rules, myths and practices were one of the artist’s main sources of inspiration throughout her brief but prolific career. Her interest in their culture was in itself defiant, as a foundational principle of the Abakuá is a prohibition on participation of any kind by women.

In the bottom portion of Disobedience, below the practitioners, are three female figures observing the ritual. On the left, a woman is transfixed on the ceremony. On the right, a woman with catholic imagery on her forehead is in a panic. In the center, unimpressed and knowing, is the bonewhite figure of Princess Sikán, the central martyr of the Abakuá belief system and a proxy for Belkis Ayón herself. The presence of women is the ultimate act of disobedience, a breaking of the most cardinal rule of the Abakuá.

Several aspects of Disobedience demonstrate a deep knowledge of the Abakuá. The Moruá Yuánsa, (enchanter), plays the four-pointed Erikunde maraca to find and harmonize with the magic Voice of the Universe, (the same voice which Princess Sikán was executed for hearing in their legends). Two practitioners are robed in clothes which feature the block print typical of so-called Leopard Men or Ekpé, a holdover from a separate secret society tradition originating in the Cross River Delta of Africa and brought to Cuba during the slave trade, where it was formative in the creation of Abakuá customs. Leopard Men are said to have the ability to channel the spirit of leopards at night. One practitioner holds a bowl with an offering. Masks, which are a crucial requirement of Abakuá ceremonies, are scattered around the site, perhaps in another subtle disobedience.

Nico Hough

171

Belkis Ayón (1967 - 1999), Untitled, (Sin Título), 1999, lithograph, 4 of 40, 21 ½ x 28 ⅞ inches

Exhibited [different number] in Hidden Images. Works on Paper by Contemporary Cuban Artists, Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, 2000.

Exhibited [different number] in Internationale Triennale für Originalgrafik, Grenchen, Switzerland, 2000.

Exhibited [different number] in Los Que Llegan. Exposición Colectiva. Arte Joven Proyecto, Galería de Arte Domingo Ravenet, Havana, Cuba, 2001.

Exhibited [different number] in Confluencias Inside. Arte Cubano Contemporáneo, Palacia Clavijero, November 2006 – January 2007, Morelia, Mexico, and illustrated in the accompanying catalog.

Illustrated [different number] in the magazine La Gaceta de Cuba, no. 1, January – February 2004, Havana, Cuba, pages 70 and 73.

Exhibited [different number] in The Milk of Dreams, Venice Biennale, Main Gallery, Giardini, Arsenale, Italy, April – November, 2022.

172

173

Tomás Esson (b. 1963), Portrait No. 2, (Retrato No. 2), 1994, oil on linen, 68 x 68 inches Provenance: Galería Ramis Barquet, New York Exhibited in Art Miami, Miami, Florida, December, 2011.

174

René Portocarrero (1912 - 1985), Flowers, (Flores), 1968, oil on canvas, 20 x 16 inches

Agustín

(1927 - 2001), Column I, (

I ), 1971,

sculpture, AP, 16 x 3 x 2 ½ inches Exhibited in Art Miami, Miami, Florida, December, 2008. Illustrated in the book La Sculpture de Cárdenas, La Connaissance, 1971, Brussells, text by José Pierre, 1971, no. 240, page 123.

175

Cárdenas Columna bronze

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Juan Gil García (1876 - 1932), Mangos, Coconut, and Carafe, (Mangos, Coco y Jarrón), 1925, oil on canvas, 25 ½ x 37 ½ inches Exhibited in Juan Gil García, The Painter of Flowers, Fruits and Landscapes, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, 2013, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 42. Juan Gil García (1876 - 1932), Roses, (Rosas), 1917, oil on canvas, 14 x 27 ¾ inches Exhibited in Juan Gil García, The Painter of Flowers, Fruits and Landscapes, Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, 2013, and illustrated in the corresponding exhibition catalog, page 32.

Antonio Sánchez Araujo (1887 - 1946), Street Dance, (Comparsa), ca. 1920, oil on Masonite, 13 ¾ x 10 ¼ inches

Painter of admirable composition of folk customs, of strong technique and beautiful coloring; fecund creator of valuable works; Professor of the National School of Fine Arts “San Alejandro”, he was born in Santa Lucía, Oriente in 1887. He commenced his studies in the National School of Fine Arts ‘‘San Alejandro’’, in 1907, later amplifying them freely in Paris, Madrid and Barcelona, since he was pensioned for five years to study abroad by an Act of Congress of the Republic in 1918. In Paris he attended classes in the Académie Colarossi and the Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

Exhibited in the Autumn Salon of Madrid in 1920 and 1921; San Francisco, California, 1925; Philadelphia, 1926; Baltimore, 1930; Seville, 1930; Lyceum Society of Havana, 1932, and the Association of Painters and Sculptors of the capital from 1918 to 1928. He held various personal expositions, among others at: Palace of the Senate, 1918; Layetanas Gallery, Barcelona, 1919; Museum of Modern Art, Madrid, 1921; Salon Bohemia, Havana, 1922; and at the Association of Painters and Sculptors, Havana, 1924.

He won the Bronze Medal at the International Exposition, Philadelphia, 1926; Gold Medal, Seville, Spain, 1930; and Gold Medal Fine Arts Club, Havana. He was Director of the Free School of Plastic Arts of the Association of Painters and Sculptors of Havana from 1926 to 1929. Antonio Sánchez Araujo entered the Faculty of the National School of Fine Arts ‘‘San Alejandro’’ in 1926, occupying the Full Professorship of Ancient Greek Drawing until his death in Oct.13, 1946.

He cultivated landscape painting, portraiture, and popular types fields of art where he was notably outstanding.

Benigno Vázquez Rodríguez, La Pintura y la Escultura en Cuba, Editorial Lex, Havana, 1952, pages 133 - 134.

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For this exhibition, Cernuda Arte has lent and/or procured art works from the gallery’s collection and from the collections of gallery friends and clients by artists: Vicente Escobar (1762-1834), María Ariza (1873-1959), Pastor Argudín (1886-1968), Emilio Rivero Merlín (1890-1977), Ramón Loy (1894-1986), Alberto Peña (1897-1938), Wifredo Lam (1902-1984), Teodoro Ramos Blanco (19021972), Florencio Gelabert (1904-1995), Roberto Diago Querol (1920-1955), Uver Solís (1923-1974), Agustín Cárdenas (1927-2001), Angel Acosta León (1930-1964), and Manuel Mendive (b. 1944).

in the imagination of American and Cuban artists, opens avenues of inquiry about this Caribbean Island, which has played an outsized role in global politics, economics and culture.”

For this splendid exhibition, our gallery has lent works from our inventories and from our family’s collection by artists: Esteban Chartrand (1840-1884), Philippe Chartrand (1825-1889), Augusto Chartrand (1828-1899), Miguel Arias (1841-1915), Eduardo Laplante (1818-1866), Tomás Sánchez (b. 1948) and Lilian Garcia-Roig (b. 1968).

A third distinguished U.S. museum show this year, related to the arts of the island, and currently in exhibition is, Mariano: Variations on a Theme, a one person retrospective dedicated to the extraordinary six-decade career of second generation Vanguardia artist, Mariano Rodríguez (1912-1990). This monumental undertaking was curated by Dr. Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta, and it is currently on display at its second venue in the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), through January 2023.

This extraordinary show is currently in exhibition and will stay open to the public at the Cooper Gallery, Harvard University, until May 2023.

The Frost Art Museum at Florida International University (FIU), Miami, has recently inaugurated the stellar exhibition, In the Mind’s Eye: Landscapes of Cuba, curated by Dr. Amy Galpin, Chief Museum Curator, with the sponsorship of Bacardi International, Terra Foundation for American Art, Artes Miami/ Aida Levitan, PhD, the Ralph and Cookie Gazitúa family, the Jorge Pérez family and Cernuda Arte. The show presents seventy-four artworks of US and Cuban landscape painters from the 1850s to the early 20th century, alongside contemporary artists from both countries currently focused on Cuba’s countryside.

The exhibition is accompanied by a booksize catalog with writings by, Dr. Amy Galpin, Dr. Jorge Duany, Dr. Katherine Manthorne, and a foreword by, Dr. Jordana Pomeroy, the museum’s director. In her writing, Dr. Pomeroy states, “In the Mind’s Eye: Landscapes of Cuba, an exploration of the Cuban landscape

The inauguration of the Mariano exposition was held at the McMullen Museum, Boston College, directed by Dr. Nancy Netzer. The show was accompanied by an outstanding scholarly catalog of book proportions (200 plus pages) with monographs by, Dr. Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta, from Boston College; Dr. Alejandro de la Fuente, from Harvard University and Dr. Roberto Cobas Amate from the National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana. Over one hundred illustrations of artworks are included in the catalog. The exhibition was enthusiastically supported by the Mariano Rodríguez Foundation, led by the artist’s son, Alejandro Rodríguez and daughter, Lolita Rodríguez.

For this exhibition, the Cernuda Arte family participated as sponsors of the show, along with the Scott Hodes and Maria Bechily family and the William Osborne and Karen Bechtel family. Our gallery secured loans from its inventories and the collections of six gallery friends and clients, for a total of twenty-five Mariano artworks for the first venue, and twelve for the second one.

It is important to note that various other museums throughout the world are presently featuring exhibitions of Cuban art, as the artistic output of the island – Classic painters, 20th Century Modern and Contemporary artists, continue to participate and gain prominence in the artistic conversation. We are grateful to these institutions for the guiding role they provide to the art community, and we invite all to support them in their noble endeavors.

Ramón Cernuda

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INDEX

Abela, Eduardo (1889 – 1965) 168

Acosta León, Angel (1930 – 1964) 70 (2), 71 (2)

Alfonzo, Carlos (1950 – 1991) 90, 92

Arias, Miguel (1841 – 1915) 18, 19

Ayón, Belkis (1967 – 1999) 170, 172

Bermúdez, Cundo (1914 – 2008) 54, 55, 56 (2), 57

Besmar, Joel (b. 1968) 146, 147, 148 (2), 149

Calzada, Humberto (b. 1944) 165 (2)

Cárdenas, Agustín (1927 – 2001) 82, 83, 175

Carreño, Mario (1913 – 1999) 52 (2), 53

Carol, José (Ninteeth Century) 15

Chartrand, Augusto (1828 – 1899) 13

Chartrand, Esteban (1840 – 1884) 11, 12

Chartrand, Philippe (1825 – 1889) 14

Crucet, Enrique (1895 – 1979) 20

Darié, Sandú (1908 – 1991) 69

De La Escalera, José Nicolás (1734 – 1804) 6

De La Rosa, Sandro (b. 1972) 162, 163

Demi (b. 1955) 114, 115, 116 (2), 117, 118 (3), 119 (2)

Diago, Roberto (1920 – 1955) 50, 51

Diago, Juan Roberto (b. 1971) 126, 127 (4), 128 (2), 129, 130 (3), 131, 132 (4), 133 (2), 134 (2), 135 (2), 136 (2)

Echevarría, Giosvany (b. 1971) 152 (2), 153 (2)

Eiriz, Antonia (1929 – 1995) 74, 75 (2)

Escalante, Gonzalo (1865 – 1939) 21 (2)

Escobar, Vicente (1757 – 1834) 4

Esson, Tomás (b. 1963) 173

Fabelo, Roberto (b. 1950) 94, 95, 96 (2), 97

Fernández, Agustín (1928 – 2006) 80, 81

Florido, Miguel (b. 1980) 120 (2), 121, 122 (3), 123, 124, 125

Fong, Flora (b. 1949) 112 (2), 113 (2)

García, Víctor Manuel (1897 – 1969) 41, 42, 43 (2)

García-Roig, Lilian (b. 1966) 102, 103, 104, 105 (2), 106 (2), 107

Gelabert, Florencio (1904 – 1995) 168

Gil García, Juan (1876 – 1932) 176 (2)

Gómez Peralta, Ismael (b. 1967) 164 (2)

González, Carmelo (1920 – 1990) 64, 65

González, Dayron (b. 1982) 166 (2), 167

González, Irina Elén (b. 1978) 160 (2), 161 (2)

Guillén, Nicolás (1938 – 2003) 154 (2)

Hernández, Vicente (b. 1971) 155, 156, 157, 158 (2)

Lam, Wifredo (1902 – 1982) 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 (2), 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 (6), 40 (2), Back Cover

Landaluze, Víctor Patricio (1828 – 1889) 8, 9 (2), 10 (2)

Llinás, Guido (1923 – 2005) 66 (2)

Martínez, Raúl (1927 – 1995) 65, 67 (2)

Martínez Pedro, Luis (1910 – 1989) 63 (2), 68 (2)

Méndez, Danuel (b. 1989) 140 (2), 141, 142 (2), 143, 144 (3), 145

Mendive, Manuel (b. 1944) 84, 85 (2), 86 (2), 87 (2), 88 (2), 89

Menocal, Armando (1863 – 1942) 16, 17 Mijares, José M. (1921 – 2004) 72, 73 (2)

Oliva, Pedro Pablo (b. 1949) 93 (2)

Peláez, Amelia (1896 – 1968) Cover, 22, 23 (2), 24 (3), 25 (2), 26, 27

Pellón, Gina (1926 – 2014) 76, 77 (2), 78, 79

Ponce De León, Fidelio (1895 – 1949) 44, 45 Portocarreo, René (1912 – 1985) 46, 47, 48, 49 (2), 174

Rodríguez, Arturo (b. 1956) 138, 139 (2)

Rodríguez, David (b. 1956) 137 (2)

Rodríguez, Mariano (1912 – 1990) 58, 59, 60, 61 (2), 62 Romañach, Leopoldo (1862 – 1951) 2

Sánchez, Tomás (b. 1948) 98, 99, 100, 101 (2)

Sánchez Araujo, Antonio (1887 – 1946) 177

Santos, Jorge Luis (b. 1973) 150 (2), 151 (2), 159

Sobrino, Carlos (1909 – 1980) 169 (2)

Soriano, Rafael (1920 – 2015) 69

Catalog Coordinator: Diana Benitez • Photography: Diana Benitez Layouts: Nico Hough, Daniel Ferrer & Alejandro Rodriguez • Proofreading: Nercys Cernuda • Printing: Bellak Color

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This painting was reproduced in The New York Times, Friday, November 14, 2008, page C24.

This artwork is accompanied by a Photo-Certificate of Authenticity signed by Lou-Laurin Lam, dated October 7, 2008, no. 08-21.

Cernuda Arte

3155

Ponce de León BouLevard, coraL GaBLes, FL 33134-6825

3155 Ponce de León BouLevard, coraL GaBLes, FL 33134-6825

TeL: (305) 461 1050 FaX: (305) 461 1063 e-MaIL: cernudaarTe@Msn coM WWW.cernudaarTe coM

180

Wifredo Lam (1902 - 1982), Femme Cheval, (Woman Horse), 1959, oil on canvas, 31 ¾ x 23 ½ inches Illustrated in Wifredo Lam: Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume I, 1923-1960, Acatos, Project Director: Eskil Lam, page 476, no. 59.17.