Cuban-style art is a diverse multi-ethnic coalescence of American, African and European visual design telegraphing the distinct population make-up of the island. Cuban artisans adopted the European modernist movement and the early part of the 20th century witnessed a growth in Cuban modernist movements; these movements were marked by a mixing of contemporary aesthetic styles. Some of the more celebrated 20th century Cuban artists tended to hail from the earlier 20th century (for instance Amelia Pelez).
Arguably the most well-known artwork to hail from Cuba was THAT photo of a certain Che Guevara (shot by Mr Alberto Korda) which ended up being maybe one of the most famous photos of the 20th century.
The local Cuban artist cause amassed momentum after the opening of the art academy (San Alejandro) back in 1818, which was built to live up to the European penchant of the Cuban bourgeoisie. Towards the end of the 19th century, landscape paintings were very popular within the Cuban art movement and classicalism dominated as the main art genre.
Yet, the Vanguardia Cuban contemporary artist of the late 1920s had rejected the academic conventions of Cuba’s national art academy. In their genesis, numerous artists had resided in Paris, where they studied and ingested the tenets of cubism, surrealism and modernist primitivism. Once back in Cuba, they became committed to innovative artistic methods and were keen to merge this new aesthetic persuasion with a Cuban twist. The vanguardia artists achieved international recognition back in 2003 with the Modern Cuban Painting show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
