Art in Cuba

A panoramic exploration of Cuba’s most extraordinary art world, including exclusive interviews with thirty-five of the island’s most influential artists and photography by Camilo Guevara.

Retracing the vibrant history of Cuban art from 1900 onwards, this book provides an overview of Cuban cultural and artistic development across a number of mediums, including painting, drawing, sculpture, installations, and the visual arts. Together, long-time friends and authors Gilbert Brownstone and Camilo Guevara visited and interviewed Cuba’s thirty-five most important and internationally acclaimed artists, who talk openly about their education, influences, and the role of art in Cuba.

Art has always been at the heart of the Cuban cultural identity, and the island is home to major artists across the spectrum of artistic disciplines. Yet while culture thrived both in the provinces and in Havana throughout the twentieth century, it was with the advent of the revolution and rise of Fidel Castro that free education and widespread access to the arts became top priorities, giving the underprivileged access to the artistic realm that had once been a domain of the elite.

Both an invitation into the world of the dynamic Caribbean island and an overview of the Cuban artistic heritage, this book is not to be missed by anyone with an interest in contemporary art and culture.

About the Contributors

Gilbert Brownstone is an art historian and exhibition curator. In 1999 he created the Brownstone foundation, which promotes social justice through cultural development.

Graziella Pogolotti is a historian and Cuban art critic.

Camilo Guevara, photographer, teaches at the Havana School of Photography and runs the Che Guevara Studies Center, dedicated to his father.