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Great Masters of Cuban Art 1800-1958/Grandes Maestros del Arte Cubano: Ramos Collection/Coleccion Ramos
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Product Description
Fully bilingual history of 150 years of Cuban art
"The collection is historically significant and underestimated, as the represented artists were major contributors to the cultural life of pre-Castro Cuba. Their memory has been subsequently eliminated and has no place in the Cuba of Today. Through the Ramos Collection, the illusion of a free Cuba lives on."--from the foreword by Wayne David Atherholt, Executive Director, Museum of Arts and Sciences
Published to accompany an exhibition of Cuban masterworks at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, Florida, this volume documents the historical development of Cuban painting from 1800 until the Revolution. Written in both Spanish and English, the essays that accompany the ninety color plates and more than 200 additional images place the paintings in historical context and explain how the collection came to be. Works are divided by subject, including portraits, music, religion, everyday life, landscapes, history, still life, avant-garde, and graphic arts.
In addition to featuring many previously unpublished paintings, the book examines how the sixty-two artists whose work is featured depicted Cuba's diverse society and identifiable culture by illustrating typical personages, magical landscapes, musical scenes, religious practices, and rural and urban realities. It also documents how these artists contributed toward the establishment of Cuba's national identity and its artistic cultural legacy. The Ramos brothers, Roberto and Carlos, built their collection with the intent of preserving an important segment of Cuba's history that otherwise might have been forgotten in the post-Revolution period.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #191164 in Books
- Published on: 2009-03-01
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Hardcover
- 288 pages
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Zeida Comesañas Sardiñas, former program coordinator for the Florida International University Cuban Research Institute, is an author, consultant, and researcher who lives in Miami.
Customer Reviews
History Rescued, Culture Revisited
History Rescued, Culture Revisited
by Clara M. Miranda
A personal review of
Great Masters of Cuban Art 1800-1959, Ramos Collection, authored by Zeida Comesañas Sardiñas
A little girl excitedly attends school for the first time, a tradition is born. Every day upon returning from school her mother sits her down to listen to what her daughter is being taught, and each day the mother exchanges the lies for truth. Each session ends with an admonishment, "Remember we are not staying here and if anyone knows what I am telling you at this kitchen table, I will go to prison".
Years later, the little girl whose heart was seeded at a kitchen table in Cuba has grown into a woman in America, and a young man in Havana is convinced by his brother to help move an elderly man from his apartment to another home. This young man's greatest aspiration is to fight, to emulate Bruce Lee. The elderly man gives the young man a painting by a famous Cuban artist as payment for his assistance in the move. The disappointed young man, naturally ingenious (as those from this island often are) proceeds to find a more gullible person willing to buy this painting that he might earn some cash for his moving endeavor.
"Carlos Sobrino, never heard of him, he's no famous painter", "No, I have never heard of him" the young man's older and wiser brother encourages him to go to the National Library. A few more ingenious moves get the young man an ID card to access the wing of the library closed off to most citizens. The first of many discoveries"...this man was a real Cuban artist, who had won the many national and international awards for his paintings, and had been increasingly recognized in Cuba as well as in Europe"!
A dormant area of the young man's soul awakens.
The young lady's heart begins to sprout, watered and strengthened by encouragement from family and professors. She receives a Masters of Political Science specializing in Latin American Studies. She has within her a desire to give to others the knowledge of the culture which has formed her. She becomes a wife, a mom, she walks her path awaiting an opportunity to bring this culture to life hoping to touch the hearts of those who mourn for their birth place and of those who are simply curious, as well as to others who are partakers of a culture they had little desire to connect with since they've grown up in a foreign place.
The young man is a different man. Reading and studying art have brought quietness to his soul. Bruce Lee is far from his mind. His heart races to embrace the wealth of knowledge he has received over the years. Cuba had magazines, different opinions were expressed publically...it cannot be"" ! More artists discovered and more art breathes upon a now fully awakened soul.
It is time to go.
A boat. Goodbyes. Art work deftly concealed in the roof of the small boat. Rain, Heat. Three days, no food, no water. American Coast Guards "You have the right to remain silent..." the young man sobs "Rights! I have never had rights"! "You must board our cutter; we must sink your boat". NO!!!!!!!!!!"" pleadings, begging, sobbing, pleading. A providential breeze blows and a Coast Guard officer receives permission to tow the boat.
"Work to live, live to study" the young man's mantra shared alongside his brother who had been his support throughout.
"Cuba Nostalgia", cafecito, more art, families of artists come forward, more art, more stories, more cafecito...
The young woman meets the young man...dreams are crystallized, lives once obscured are brought back to their rightful place in history orchestrated by He to whom all History points.
"The History of Cuban Art" is truly born...
I encourage you to seek out this book (Amazon.com would be happy to aid your search). The art work is vibrant; the book is a work of art in and of itself. Those who mourn for a Cuban past will feel their hearts enlarged that they are part of this story, those who want to know because they are seekers who delight to see how the Creator reflects His life and work via cultures will not be disappointed, those of us who wistful at not having embraced the strength and beauty of their connection to their "Cubanness" will surely use this book to assure the following generations will not be so foolish.
Thank You Roberto, Thank you Carlos, Thank you Zeida, Thank you Lord for causing me to see you in all of this, and thank you to all who supported this work by sharing their stories, giving their finances, and opening the doors of their museums...
Highly recommended, especially for public library collections and artbook shelves
Great Masters of Cuban Art: Ramos Collection is a bilingual English/Spanish coffee table book featuring striking, full color reproductions of Cuban painting from 1800 to 1958. The works, selected from the Ramos Collection by the Museum of Arts and Sciences to create an international traveling exhibit, provide a visual catalogue of how Cuban art has evolved over the course of one and a half centuries. A wealth of previously unpublished Cuban art history information, as well as details of how Cuban artists used musical scenes, religious practices, moments from urban and rural daily life, and more to fuel their creations, Great Masters of Cuban Art: Ramos Collection is a stunning and worthy addition to any artbook collection. Highly recommended, especially for public library collections and artbook shelves.
