Carlos Mérida – The Eighth Heaven (1961)

With his extensive travels through Europe and the Americas, Carlos Mérida was lucky enough to experience two very different approaches to painting. On one hand, there was the European avant-garde with the likes of Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró and Paul Klee who were moving towards an abstraction of art. On the other hand, there was…

Ángel Zárraga – Futbolistas en el llano (1922)

Having not missed a World Cup since childhood, I’m still amazed by how much power this poor man’s sport has in bringing people together. Unless you’re hiding away in a cave, there is no way you won’t get sucked into endless conversations about the game, be it with your friends, partner, family, coworkers, neighbors and,…

Tomás Sánchez – Man Crucified in a Dump (1992)

He is arguably Cuba’s most prolific contemporary painter, enchanting his fans with his idealized depictions of luxuriant vegetation, imbued with a sense of meditation and perfect stillness. Just like Russian realist artist Ivan Shishkin, Tomás Sánchez searches for spirituality in his nature-inspired artworks, with the distinction that he often recreates landscapes from his own memory…

Alfredo Ramos Martínez – Juanita Amongst the Flowers

As a young Mexican artist, Alfredo Ramos Martínez had spent almost a decade in Paris at the turn of the 20th century, bathing in the light of Impressionism and being hypnotized by the vibrancy of Van Gogh’s and Gauguin’s works. While he never joined the French avant-garde circles, his stay in Paris turned fortuitous when…

Emiliano Di Cavalcanti – Woman with a Bird (1961)

A pioneer of Brazilian modernism, Emiliano Di Cavalcanti’s ideal had always been to capture the essence of his country without the influence of European art. It was, foremost, an issue of national pride, magnified by the fact that Latin Americans everywhere were searching for their own voice. This conviction was certainly strengthened by his years…

Julio Galán – He Who Comes Must Go (1988)

Julio Galán has often been compared to Frida Kahlo, for they both hailed from Mexico, painted Surrealistic works and chose deeply personal subjects and symbols for their art. There was a big difference though. While Kahlo’s sensitivity and pain shone through as the essence of her art, with Galán you get the impression that he…