Cuban Artists

Discover contemporary Cuban artists. Why not begin your journey to discovering Cuban artists with a look at Diana Rosa. Diana’s large-scale acrylic paintings fuse the figurative with the fantastical to create vibrant and dynamic works of art. Cuban heritage plays an important role in Diana’s work, and she has been influenced by the rhythm and colour of Cuba, as well as the island’s tropical landscapes. In true Cuban style, Diana combines her heritage with a look outside of her home-country, with a nod to Matisse, Gaugin and Rousseau. However, it was her great-grandfather, a Cuban musician and music teacher, who truly inspired Diana to become an artist. Find out more about Diana Rosa’s approach in our article From Cuba With Love, where we profile the artist.

A Brief History of Cuban Artists

Throughout history, art has been a key part of Cuban culture. Merging influences from Africa, South America and Europe, Cuban artists have always had a unique eye when it comes to the visual arts.

Up until the 20th century, Cuban artists sought to echo the European style of painting, depicting romantic settings and domestic life in Cuban landscapes. However, with the turn of the century, artists rebelled against tradition, and engaged with avant-garde movements such as Cubism and Surrealism, as well as the reintroduction of primitivism to champion a new type of art.

Collected and exhibited around the world, contemporary Cuban art made its way to the forefront of the international art scene in the 1940’s. Cuban Modernism caught the eye of some of New York’s most prominent art galleries, and by 1944 MoMA held the seminal exhibition, Modern Cuban Painters. The show cemented Cuban art in contemporary culture, and led to its enhanced global recognition.

Since then, the interest in Cuban art has endured and only increased with the rise of the Latin American art scene in the 1980’s. With the recent shift in relations between Cuba and the US, the possibilities and opportunities available to Cuban artists has opened up and brought about an exciting new chapter in the future of Cuban art.