Cuban Artists (Portraits)

Guillaume Francois Colson (1785-1850)

Was born in Paris and arrived in Cuba in 1830.He had been a disciple of Jacques Louis David and had acquired a solid reputation as a painter of large historical compositions. He was considered the most renowned painter have lived in Cuba during the first half of the nineteenth century , he served as director of San Alejandro Academy between 1836-1843. His monumental work , "Entry of General Bonaparte in Alexandria" on July 3,1798 is on exhibit at the Musée National du Château.

Miguel Melero Rodriguez (1836-1907)

The first Cuban director of the San Alejandro Academy (1898-1907). Art critics, such as : Guy Perez Cisneros (1915-1953), credited Melero with the introduction of European academic art principles at the Academy, because he promoted the combined use of neoclassic, romantic,historical , and mythological themes in artistic composition, His portraits were realists, given his ability to capture his subjects with amazing precision. The artist was commissioned to undertake the portraits of high colonial officials.One of his most historically significant policies was that during his tenure, the Academy accepted the first woman into their student body . Melero's position as a guiding force over an entire generation of Cuban artist and his educational efforts as director of the Academy established him as an extremely influential artist in the historical development of Cuban Art.

Guillermo Collazo Tejada (1850-1896)

His paintings are an interpretation of the elegant life of the Cuban aristocracy  at the end of the nineteenth century and it was affluent setting that his creator, Guillermo Collazo was raised. The sea is a recurring theme in collazo's paintings, suggesting that during his exile in New York, the artist missed his home. The second son in a family of eight, Collazo developed a great ability for drawing at a young age. It was also during his youth that his family began to actively participated in the independence struggle and it was to save him from political persecution that his parents decided to send him to New York City in 1868. Collazo resided at the Bowery and was employed for three years at the portraiture studio of artist, Napoleon Sarony (1821-1896). Around 1880, he met Cuban independence leader Jose Marti(1853-1895), who wrote favorable reviews about Collazo's works. By this time, he had already established himself in his  own studio, and had also become the vogue portraitist  of the New York aristocracy. In 1883, He returned to Cuba, where he developed pictorial maturity, and created his most notables works. Among these,was La Siesta(1885), which is part of the National Museum of Fine Arts Collection in Havana . In 1888 he traveled to France and established a studio in Paris. The studio became a meeting place for the Cuban exile community. In Paris, he collaborate with Parisian publications who sympathized with the Cuban independence movement. Collazo is one of the most important Cuban artist of the Colonial era.

Leopoldo Romañach Guillen (1862-1951)

Romañach is respectfully regarded as The Father of Cuban Painting since he mentored a great number of artists while he directed the colorist department at the San Alejandro Academy. He also influenced the artists who undertook the art renovation movement known as the Cuban avant-garde .He was born in Sierra Morena , a small village of the province of Las Villas , Cuba. His first contact with the world of Fine Arts took place in the city of Barcelona during his student days , when he was taken by his school Director to visit an exposition of the celebrated Catalonia's artist FortunyHis monumental painting Lady of 1850 represents a hallmark in Romañach's works since it blends his interest in both, landscapes and portraits. influenced by color use of the French impressionists  , this work is the benchmark of the new era for the artist.

Aurelio Meleros (1870-1929)

Entered the San Alejandro Academy at the early age of eight. He studied architecture, but abandoned those studies in favor of developing his painting skill. In addition to becoming a prestigious portraitist , he was regarded as an outstanding landscape painter. Art critics welcome his landscape , because of the quality of their lines and his use of color stains. In 1916, along with Federico Edelma y Pinto and other artists, he founded the Circle of Fine Arts and help to organize the First Annual Fine Art Salon in Havana. Melero was an illustrator at the El Figaro magazine. He also helped to found the Village Drawing and Painting Academy in 1906. Aurelio Melero enriched the Cuban portraits genre and He also promoted and contributed to increasing the popularity of visual arts in Cuba.