Modern Cuban Painters: From Havana to New York

Published by Fundación Mariano Rodríguez

Original Idea: Alejandro Rodríguez

Editorial Project and Research: Cristina Figueroa Vives

Published by the Fundación Mariano Rodríguez, “Modern Cuban Painters: From Havana to New York,” commemorates the 80th anniversary of both the historic exhibition “Modern Cuban Painters” at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as well as the seminal book “Pintura Cubana de Hoy.” Featuring essays by scholars Elizabeth Thompson-Goizueta and Luz Merino Acosta, as well as curator Susanna Temkin, and a chronology by Cristina Figueroa, this publication examines New York’s role as a cultural hub that welcomed prominent Cuban modernists like Lam, Carreño, Cundo, Mariano, and Amelia into a dynamic space of intercultural dialogue.

In 1942, Alfred H. Barr, the founding director of MoMA, visited Havana for the first time amidst a period of creative splendor, fueled by the work of avant-garde artists. This visit laid the groundwork for “Modern Cuban Painters” (1944), MoMA’s landmark exhibition—the first to showcase the impact Cuba’s Modern Art movement had in the U.S. The exhibition included “Pintura Cubana de Hoy” (1944), an essential text in Cuban modern art history with essays by critic José Gómez Sicre and edited by art patron María Luisa Gómez Mena, an influential but often overlooked advocate of Cuban art.

CONTENTS:

Introduction.

Alejandro Rodríguez

María Luisa Gómez Mena and Modern Cuban Painters (1944): Unheralded Visionary

Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta

José Gómez Sicre and Modern Art in Cuba

Luz Merino Acosta

Modern Cuban Precedents: Cuban art in New York, c. 1939–1944

Susanna V. Temkin

A Decade of Cuban Art in New York (1939–1949)

Cristina Figueroa Vives

Víctor Manuel