Date: 2008
Size: 24 x 36 inches
Artist: Jorge Arche (after)
This striking poster advertises the exhibition "¡Cuba! Art et Histoire de 1868 a Nos Jours" ("¡Cuba! Art and History from 1868 to Today") held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 2008. The exhibition shed light on the nation's vibrant and extensive visual culture, featuring over 400 pieces which provided a panoramic scan of Cuban history through music, paintings, and moving pictures. Divided into artistic and historical periods, the exhibition explored national sentiment, the avant garde, the revolution, and the individual.
Jorge Arche was a modern Cuban artist before his time. His oil paintings were realistic, but also full of Classical and Expressionist elements. He is considered a forerunner, along with Victor Manuel Garcia, in bringing modern styling to Cuban art. Part of the vanguard movement that took place in Havana in the 1920s, Arche became one of the first to help define Cuban art. A fine example of Arche's portraiture is "The Picture of Mary" (1938) - the image used for this poster. Similar to the style of Surrealist Salvador Dalí, Arche's subject, Mary, is almost illuminated from behind. Also like Dalí, the background treatment has a whimsical and dreamlike feel. The perfect image to embody an exhibition on Cuban art!
This beautiful poster is in good condition and is ready to be framed, a perfect addition to an office, a study space, or an artist's studio.