René Portocarrero

RENÉ PORTOCARRERO (Havana, 1912-1985).
"Girl with pamela".
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Measurements: 40 x 40,5 cm; 46 x 43 cm (frame).

"Muchacha con pamela" is a paradigmatic example of the vitalist and expressive style of the famous René Portacarrero, whose pictorial themes were related to the Afro-Cuban tradition, which he approached from a poetic perspective. These anonymous and schematic portraits emerged from the vibrant cultural fabric of Havana. He used explosive colors, and freely mixed surrealism and expressionism, cubism and fauvism. He imaginatively created voluptuous forms and fantastic cityscapes that evoked a tropical and sensual atmosphere. His art radiates intense emotion, capturing the soulful spirit and rhythmic rhythm of his homeland.

René Portocarrero was a Cuban painter. He is currently considered one of the most outstanding figures of Cuban plastic art and one of the main artists of the 20th century in Cuba. He had more than 20 personal exhibitions and 60 group exhibitions. In 1943 he taught free drawing at the Havana Prison, where he painted a mural with a religious theme. During these years he also began cycles of works, with titles such as Interiores del Cerro, Festines and Figuras para una mitología contemporánea (Figures for a contemporary mythology). In 1944 he exhibited his works in New York at the Julian Levy Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art. He later became interested in Cuban popular festivals, a subject to which he dedicated a series of pastel paintings. Towards 1950 he began to work in the decoration of ceramic pieces, in the Experimental Workshop of Santiago de Las Vegas. With this technique he painted a large-scale mural entitled Historia de las Antillas (History of the Antilles) for the Habana Hilton Hotel (today Habana Libre). In 1951 he received the National Painting Award for his painting Homenaje a Trinidad (Homage to Trinidad), currently in the Museo de Bellas Artes de Cuba, which represents the beginning of a series of landscapes inspired by the Cuban capital, the so-called "Paisajes de La Habana" (Landscapes of Havana). In 1962, he inaugurated the exhibition "Color de Cuba", on Afro-Cuban Santeria motifs. The Cuban carnival was the theme of another of his series of paintings, "Carnivals" (1970-1971). He participated in the São Paulo Biennial in 1957 and 1963, and in the Venice Biennial in 1952 and 1966. Portocarrero lived openly in a relationship with another painter, Raúl Milián, for decades. Throughout his career, René Portocarrero received numerous awards and distinctions. Among them are the International Sambra Prize, awarded during the São Paulo Biennial in 1963; the Order of Culture of Poland; the Order of Cyril and Methodius, granted by the government of Bulgaria in 1976; the Félix Varela Order of the Republic of Cuba in 1981; and the Águila Azteca, the highest decoration granted by the Republic of Mexico (1982).