Cuban Vanguardism Movements and Modern Art
Art originating from Cuba is a distinct ethnical fusion of American, African and European aesthetic design mirroring the multi-ethnic population make-up of the island. Cuban artists took onboard European modernism and the 1920-1940 era witnessed an increase in Cuban vanguardism movements; these movements were characterized by a diversity of contemporary artistic styles. Some of the more celebrated 20th century Cuban artists tended to hail from the earlier part of the 20th century.
Possibly the most celebrated artwork to come out of Cuba was THAT photo of a certain Che Guevara (photograph by Mr Alberto Korda) which was to become arguably one of the most identifiable photographs of the 20th century.
The indigenous Cuban artist cause accumulated momentum after the opening of the the art academy (San Alejandro) back in 1818, which was constructed to fulfil the European taste of the Cuban bourgeoisie. Towards the end of the 1800s, landscapes were very popular within the art movement of Cuba and classicism dominated as the main art style.
Nevertheless, the pioneering Cuban modern artist of the 1920s had rejected the academic orthodoxies of the national art academy of Cuba. In their formative years, numerous Cuban artists had lived in Paris, where they studied and ingested the founding rules of cubism, surrealism and modernist primitivism. They returned to Cuba committed to ground-breaking artistic styles and were keen to combine this new artistic tendency with a Cuban influence. The pioneering Cuban artists accomplished worldwide recognition only as recently as 2003 when the MOMA presented the the Modern Cuban Painting show.
