After the birth of the first Cuban Republic, Modern Art flourished in the artistic scene of Havana. The Vanguardia painters- previously discussed here- used Modern Art as the progressive wagon carrying the new ideals of the young republic. As in most beginnings, the art was primitive and raw; full of uncontrolled expression and unanswered questions. Following their footsteps, the 1940s generation looked to transform the raw and primitive into the exquisite and intricate.
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| Amelia Peláez, Hibiscus 1943 |
The evolution of modern practices brought from Europe to the island reached its pinnacle with the work of the second generation. Amelia Peláez, one of the most celebrated artists of the 1940s, developed a system on which she represented the Cuban identity through form rather than content. Similar to Michelangelo preceding the Baroque in The Last Judgment, Peláez's work open the doors of barroquismo before any literature was written on the subject.
Tired of the previously exploited iconography- the guajiros, mulata, and the Cuban landscape- the 1940s generation used barroquismo as an medium of recuperating an identity based on the creole colonial Cuba. The architecture of the time housed a medley of different art forms, as well as the Cuban nature surrounding it.
Interesting enough, Cuban colonial architecture had minimal elements of Baroque architecture itself, however, the eclectic mixture of styles, colors, and over ornamentation of the Cuban home composed a rich, unique style which, for lack of a better term, is refereed to as Baroque.
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| Peláez's Still Life, 1958 |
Peláez's Still Life (left) is a magnificent example of how artists translated the colonial aesthetic language into modern painting. The bold black lines resemble the arabesque qualities of colonial ironwork, the vibrant yellows, blues and reds are products of the harsh tropical sunlight, trespassing the color arrangements of stain-glass windows. In addition, the painter concerns herself with every space of the canvas, as if it is not sufficient for the abundance of iconography. Peláez also includes flowers and fruit arrangements in many of her works. This iconography formed part of a long artistic tradition on which Cuban artists portrayed the land of plenty. Besides portraying abundance, these center pieces are often symbols of femininity, with fruits and flowers forming abstract expressions of female sexual organs.
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| Cundo Bermudez, The Balcony 1941. |
Another prominent artist of this decade was Cundo Bermudez. The Balcony painted in 1941(right) marked Cundo's career with respect to treatment of color and self portrait. This work provides a great example of Cundo's use of barroquismo, present in the architecture and color, as well as his Mexican muralist influences shown in the treatment of the figures. He paints a colorful Cuban home indicated by the stain glass windows, rocking chairs, and El Morro Castle in the background. The figures seem to be lost in their gaze, almost not aware of each other's presence. Cundo aimed to represent his sexual struggle by portraying himself on both the female and male figure. Cundo never abandon his self portraits, which evolved with him throughout the years.
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| Mario Carreño, Sugarcane Cutters, 1943 |
If I was to honor an award to a modern Cuban painter for his prolific production, I would have to nominate the next two artists. Mario Carreño, and René Portocarrero painted using numerous styles and techniques, producing series of works which riddle the most acute connoisseurs of Cuban Art. Undoubtedly, their most famous works were produced under the aesthetic domain of barroquismo. Carreño's Sugarcane Cutters (left) painted in 1943, exhibits the technical skill of a classical painter, the Mexican Muralists treatment of figures, mixed with the Cuban light and color. The quality of this work is reminiscent of Baroque masters. With this work Carreño attempts to become the Rubens of Cuban Modern Art.The extreme foreshortening of the figures, the dramatic movements and the curvilinear nature of the work are all elements of 17th century painting.
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| René Portocarrero, Interior, 1943. |
Rene Portocarrero, on the other hand, did not follow the classical order but his pictures bleed barroquismo like no other painter. The extreme profusion of the canvas, the contrasting innate colors, the mixture of architectural elements and home decor, and the distortion of the human body all collided to create the emotionally charged/dynamic style created by the artist. Portocarrero painted a series which he called Interiors, where he expressed the great accumulation and overlapping of the inside decor the Cuban home. Portocarrero's canvases incorporate the residents with the interior making them one more elements of the Cuban barroquismo.
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| Wifredo Lam, La Jungla , 1943. |
One of the major Cuban artists of this decade was Wifredo Lam. He was the son of a Chinese father and a partly Congolese mother. Lam traveled to Europe with the Vanguardia generation, however, he never associated himself with any Cuban painter or movement. In Paris, he became friends with Picasso and Andre Breton, who later invited him to join the Surrealist Movement. His work however, reached maturity with his return to the island in 1941. In 1943, he painted his most renowned work La jungla. Here Lam presents the African identity with a violent approach. Lam did not try to seduce the viewer with primitivism, instead he imposed the African deities with knives, scissors, a their respective masks. The year of 1943 was fruitful for Cuban painting, particularly in its color theory. Full flesh barroquismo invaded the zeitgeist of the time and made its way to Lam. La jungla presents a one of the most profuse and intense color palettes in Lam's career. The collision of the Cuban montes with the sugar cane fields, the African deities, the profusion of the canvas, and the tropical sunlight were all symptoms of the fervent artistic current of early 20th century Cuba.
