Modern Cuban Painters from Havana to New York

Curated by Elizabeth T. Goizueta and Cristina Vives-Figueroa, this exhibition revisits a pivotal moment in 1944, when Cuban modern art entered the U.S. cultural landscape through the Museum of Modern Art’s first exhibition dedicated to Cuban painting. The exhibition reexamines the role of New York, Alfred H. Barr Jr. (MoMA’s founding director), and the surrounding galleries in promoting Cuban modernism during the 1940s, and brings together paintings, drawings, archival materials, and historical documents that reflect the movement at its peak. Featured artists include Mariano Rodríguez, Mario Carreño, Carlos Enriquez, Roberto Diago, Cundo Bermúdez, René Portocarrero, Wifredo Lam, Fidelio Ponce, and Amelia Peláez—key figures of Cuban modernism whose work helped shape the island’s modern artistic identity and expand its international visibility during the mid-twentieth century.

Image caption: Mariano Rodríguez, El desayuno (The Breakfast), 1943. Oil on canvas, 30 ½ x 41 inches. © Mariano Rodríguez Estate. Photo: Cora Jean Rafe.