Arts and Literature of Cuba

Key painters in the second-generation Vanguardia included René Portocarrero (1912–1985), Mariano Rodríguez (1912–1990), Mario Carreño (1913–1999), and Cundo Bermúdez (1914–2008). The cohort also included two important sculptors. Rita Longa (1912–2000), known for the grace of her statues, was masterful at creating a sense of movement. She worked pri- marily with marble, bronze, and tile. Much of Longa’s most celebrated work was commissioned for outdoor spaces. For the Fuente de las Antillas (Fountain of the Antilles) in Las Tunas, Longa created a bronze of a reclining woman in the

shape of the island of Cuba. In the same city, she incorporated a bronze of José Martí into a sundial. Her modernist marble statue Forma, espacio y luz (Form, Space and Light) adorns the entrance to Havana’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Museum of Fine Arts). The work of Alfredo Lozano (1913–1997) was more abstract. Lozano, who worked primarily in wood and stone but also experimented with steel, tin, and terracotta, exe- cuted a number of pieces for churches in Havana.

Diablito (Little Devil) by René Portocarrero is on display in the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana.

Painting and Sculpture 51