The Internet Travel Guide "Getting to Know Cuba"

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The Colonial Period (especially the 18th and 19th centuries)

In the colonial period, (which historically spans four centuries), only the 18th and above all the 19th centuries are significant in terms of the creation of Cuban art. Francisco Javier Báez is the first Cuban graphic artist who, in addition to religious themes, also designed drawings for tobacco and cigar brands in xylography (a technique which was introduced to Cuba in 1723). Foreign graphic artists and illustrators, above all French, came to the island and depicted landscapes, customs and places in the form of albums. The graphic arts, besides their artistic value, were the only means of honestly depicting the events and their consequences, including folklore. The first graphic document on the Toma de la Habana (The capture of Havana) by the English was made by Dominique Serres in the year 1762. The lithographic publication was made one year later in France. The six views of the town, realized by the North American Elías Durnford between 1764 and 1765, form the precursors of the Cuban Scenes by foreign artists in the 19th century.

Autor: J.B. Vermay Títel: "Familia Manrique de Lara" Technic: óleo / tela 190 x 150 cm

Towards the end of the 18th century the Cuban cultural panorama changed as a result of developments achieved so far, which were mainly due to the growth in the sugar industry, which was decisive in the involvement of the country in industrial capital. These were the times of enlightenment.... The Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País (Economic Society of the Friends of the Country) was founded, schools and universities multiplied, the public library was expanded and advertisements by teachers of art and portrait painters appeared in the press. In its origins, painting bore a mystical and religious character before it became aristocratic or popular. It was regarded as a profitable activity, as a profession. The artists were mulattos or blacks - self-taught people who exchanged lessons with each other; they were regarded as craftsmen. José Nicolás de la Escalera y Domínguez is the first Cuban painter, with the exception of Tadeo Chirino from Santiago, who, although sixteen years younger, developed a work with more inaccuracies and primitivism. Escalera painted the picture of a negro slave in the mural paintings of the church of Santa María del Rosario for the first time. The native painters and pre-academicians, Juan del Río and Vicente Escobar y de Flores, favored religious and portrait painting (Captain Generals, aristocrats), in the style of European and above all Spanish paintings, which are based on callowness, great coldness and courtly stiffness. Escobar, the mulatto, who bought his title as a white man and was appointed royal Court Artist by the Spanish Queen, characterized the transition from the 18th to the 19th century.

This last century is characterized by the boom in the sugar industry and the growing slave trade, combined with the concomitant rise of the native bourgeoisie and their search for representative appearance. The number of portraits commissioned, which displaced the earlier aristocratic portraits, increased. In about 1805 the bishop, Juan José Díaz de Espada y Landa, patron of science and art, entrusted the Italian, José Perovani, one of the foreign artists, who influenced Cuban art, with the frescoes of the Cathedral of Havana. This cleric and the intendant Alejandro Ramírez were the protagonists of the greatest cultural events of this period. In 1818 they founded the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes, in order to win back painting from the hands of blacks and mulattos. This, the second academy in the Americas, after San Carlos in Mexico, had as its first director the Frenchman and pupil of the Master David, Juan Bautiste Vermay, who came to the country to continue the work of Perovanis. His main artistic work was the creation of the paintings in Templete. These represent the first Mass celebrated on that spot, the first Cabildo (local council) and the consecration of the small temple. The style of painting taught on the island reflected European trends which were already decades old. The Academy proposed a method of representation, a particular ideal of beauty, a range of subjects. It supported the hedonistic sense of art, mimesis, and timelessness and in addition carried responsibility for the public, state and social orientation of culture. The realization of these ideals was far removed from contemporary reality, which only allowed representation with non-dominant discussions, as for example by means of caricature and illustration. Neoclassicism, the first form of expression adopted, lent the pictures a historical, mythological and allegorical context. Oil painting, the most traditional of all artistic techniques, was moderately cultivated. After the death of Juan Bautiste Vermay, the Academy was headed for a short time by the Cuban, Camilo Cuyás, the foreigners, Guillermo Francisco Colson, Juan Bautista Leclerc de Baume, Pierre - Frederic Mialhe Toussaint, Hércules Morelli, Augusto Ferrán, Fracisco Cisnero Gerrero and then the Cuban Miguel Melero Rodríguez.. There followed mainly a French-Italian sequence of successors until the permanent presence of Meleros, the first Cuban Director in the last five years of the century, which coincided with the halcyon days of the Academy in Cuba. From this time onwards the directorship was to remain firmly in Cuban hands. This is the starting point for continuity in national painting. New initiatives and changes, such as the admission of women to the Academy, for example, at a time when no other institution offered this opportunity, first appeared under the leadership of this master. Besides his many paintings, he created the picture on the main altar of the chapel at the Cementerio Colón (cemetery). In this century graphic art is represented by Leonardo Barañano, Hipolito Garneray, Eduardo Laplante and also Federico Mialhe , whose three albums "Scenic Walk ", "Picturesque Island of Cuba " and "The Island of Cuba" form the most complete graphic report. Small lithographic editions, linked to trade and advertisements, appeared from 1822 onwards following the founding of a workshop The brand bands of cigarillos and cigars were produced with great figurative display using lithography. They were the main driving force behind the development, growth and boom in this technique.




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