The Painter of Melancholia

       Humberto Calzada is one of the outstanding artists I have met working at the Frost Art Museum. More than a well established painter, Calzada is a humble man who is not afraid to share his ideas of success with his audience. During this blog I will provide a timeline of his work and progression as a painter. Subsequently on my next blog I will talk about his later work which was exhibited at the FIU Frost Art Museum recently.
       Calzada was born in Havana in 1944. His family left Cuba shortly after the Castro regime took over the island in 1959. In Miami, his new home, Calzada obtained and MBA in Finance from the University of Miami in 1968. Attracted by the creative outlet painting provided him, Calzada became what he refers to as a " Sunday painter."

                                          La Primera Casita .1972
Here in 1972 Calzada started producing representation of the architecture that marked his childhood. The work explores Caribbean color combinations, that of Cuban modern art.

Another of Calzada's work as a Sunday painter was Catedral of 1973. The Cuban cathedral has been the subject and inspiration of many painters over the centuries. The iconic baroque structure stands today as one of the symbols of cubanidad. 

                               Space, the Text of Memory 1987.
Calzada's career as a painter shifted from "Sunday" to full time in the mid 70s when he exhibited in the Bacardi Gallery in Miami FL. The giant of the alcohol industry has supported his career ever since. During the 80s, Calzada leaves behind the abstract background, in contrast he paints remains of Neo-Classical architecture predominant in Havana. As the title subjects these are not fragments of real architecture but of memories, a mind-scape where broken columns are pristine and fallen stained glass is intact.

                              Still Life with Stained glass 1986

Another interesting phaset of work from 80s was his still life series. As a painter of architecture, Calzada places a broken column, corinthian capital and the colorful stained glass extremely popular in Cuban architecture.

                   Remains of a Legacy: Homage to Amelia Pelaez 1994 

During the 90s Calzada explored further into the spaces he creates. In this work he pay homage to the notable modern painter Amelia Pelaez, whose painting hangs on the wall, and blends it in with his series of innundados( flooded spaces).

                              

                 Penúltima Morada, Homenaje a Lydia Cabrera 1, 2003.
As the new millennium awakened, Calzada painted scenes of morning, dust and evening. In this work the spectator witnesses a desolated mansion of a once Cuban aristocracy, this intimate yet isolated view strikes down on the melancholy of an exile who looks back at their past through a window of memories.