Modern Art History: Cuban Artists and Cubism
Cuban artistry is a diverse ethnic fusion of European, North American and African aesthetic design showing the multiethnic demographic of the island. Cuban artists developed European modernism and the 1920-1940 era saw an increase in Cuban modernist movements; these trends were known by a mixture of modern esthetic genres. Renowned Cuban creatives tended to come from the early part of the 20th century.
Perhaps the most well-known art (of sorts) to be produced in Cuba was THAT shot of Che Guevara (photograph by Mr Alberto Korda) which was to become possibly one of the most noted photographs of the 20th century.
The native Cuban art cause gathered momentum after the opening of the San Alejandro academy in 1818, which was built to fulfil the European appreciation of the Cuban bourgeoisie. Towards the end of the 19th century, landscapes dominated Cuban art and classicalism prevailed as the main art style. Nevertheless, the Vanguardia Cuban modern artist of the late 1920s had disapproved the academic orthodoxies of the national art academy of Cuba. During their formative years, numerous artists had resided in Paris, where they learned and absorbed the founding rules of surrealism, cubism, and modernist primitivism. They returned to Cuba committed to new artistic styles and were motivated to integrate this new aesthetic leaning with a Cuban twist. The pioneering Cuban artists achieved world recognition in 2003 with the Modern Cuban Painting show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Such styles have now been made very fashionable through canvas art adorned on walls around the world.
