Arts and Literature of Cuba

realism, whose express purpose was to further the goals of com- munism. In a representational if idealized manner, socialist realism depicted leaders or ordinary people (often farmers or factory workers) resolutely and happily working to build or defend socialism. Many established artists left Cuba in the early years of Castro’s revolutionary govern- ment. Some who remained continued to work in avant- garde styles (like abstract art), but they were mostly ignored. From the 1960s into the 1980s, much of the art pro- duced in Cuba carried pro-revo-

Under the Castro regime, artists and writers were funded by the government. Those who portrayed the regime in a negative light were often arrested and their works banned.

lutionary and pro-regime messages. There was some socialist realism. But stylistically, pop art was a bigger influence. An art movement that arose in the 1950s in Great Britain and the United States, pop art found subject matter in everyday objects and popular culture, and it characteristically used flashy color and bold lines. It was seen in part as a reaction against the pre- tensions of “high art.” In Cuba, however, artists repurposed the style of pop art for political purposes. Especially common were colorful posters, depicting Castro or other heroes of the Cuban Revolution or showing the progress of socialism.

Painting and Sculpture 57