While in the nineteenth century Spanish, French or Italian masters dominated the local panorama, in the turn of the nineteenth century and early twentieth, artists like Leopoldo Romañach and Armando Menocal would be among the most prolific. An avant garde in Cuban arts was inaugurated by Víctor Manuel García when he painted his famous Tropical Gipsy in 1927.
From then on, a golden period would take place with the masterpieces of Wifredo Lam, Eduardo Abela, Carlos Enríquez, Amelia Peláez, René Portocarrero, Cundo Bermúdez, Mario Carreño, Marcelo Pogolotti, Mariano Rodríguez and other relevant artists.
Monumental sculptures have been an integral part of many public spaces since the
Colonial times. Significant examples like the nineteenth century Carrara marble
Fountain of the Indian, the Fountain of Lions or the Fountain of Neptune, the
three of them in Old Havana, the huge Statue of the Republic in the 1928 Capitol
or the beautiful Alma Mater at the entrance of Havana University or the
magnificent ensemble of the Colón Cemetery are all worth of praise.
Sculptures like the delicate couple of bronze "Deers" by the late Rita Longa in the Zoological Park or those at the Havana Riviera Hotel by López Dirube and Florencio Gelabert´s monument to National Hero José Martí are just a few among the many contemporary exponents of these artistic field. Younger generations, mostly trained in the Cubanacan Schools of Arts, have played an important role in the current development of Cuban visual arts.
Landscape master Tomás Sánchez, Nelson Domínguez, Zaida del Río, José Bedia, Roberto Favelo, Cosme Proenza or Arturo Montoto are among the most recognized Cuban artists nowadays.
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