12/02/2002
by Fiona Long

In the last 10 years the Cuban art market has jumped to the forefront of visibility in the worldwide art market. The 1980s have been described as a Cuban Renaissance according to the Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science who recently hosted the "Hello Cuba" contemporary Cuban art exhibition in Florida.It was a decade that saw a consolidation of the Cuban contemporary art scene with the establishment of the Havana Bienal in 1984, by the government assisted Wifredo Lam Center in Havana.Coined as the Third World Bienal, it was set up to promote the talents of Cuban artists and Latin American artists at large. There has also been an increasing number of exhibitions on Cuban art in the States as well as the themed auctions of Latin American Art that have been held by Sotheby’s and Christie’s since the 1970s. Sales of works by an artist like Wifredo Lam reach in excess of $1 million (€1,142,000) at auction.

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982), the most prominent of Cuban artists on the International scene, has a large gallery space dedicated to his paintings in Havana's Palacio de Bellas Artes.Current top prices paid for his work may well reflect his association with Picasso (who took Lam under his wing when both artists were working in Paris) and the unique blend of Spanish and African cultures he portrays in the characterisation of his native country. Lam's market is well-established in the US and is gradually finding its place in Europe. His pre-revolution work of the 1940s seems to appear at auction with the highest frequency. In June 1999, Christie’s, New York soldLa Fruta Bomba from 1944 (oil on canvas, 154.7 x 125 cm), which was estimated at $400,000-600,000 (€456,750-685,150) and finally sold at just under a million dollars ($937,500, €1,070,650). His top selling work to date is a painting entitled Ogue orisa (euggue orissa, l'herbe des dieux) from 1943 (181.9 x 125.1 cm), auctioned by Sotheby's, New York on the 25^th of November, 1997 in their Latin American Art sale which eventually fetched $1,322,500 (€1,510,450) against an estimate of $800,000-1,000,000 (€913,600-1,142,000). The latest work to come under the hammer by Lam is Le Corps et L' Ame 1 from 1966 (oil on canvas, 147 x 215 cm), presented in Sotheby’s Contemporary art sale recently held on the 7^th February, which hammered for £245,500 way over its estimate of $143,000-214,500 (€163,400-245,100), pointing to a gradual integration of Cuban Art into London contemporary sales.

With the opening of the Cobre Gallery in New York 's Harlem district last October and their inaugural exhibition featuring the photographs of Casey Stoll, the film-maker who spent years documenting contemporary Cuba, a stronger market is beginning to open up for Cuban artists in the States. The gallery is headed by Geo Darder, an ordained priest of the Afro-Cuban branch of Catholicism and movie producer, who has more recently become an impresario of the Cuban art world. He has facilitated several cultural exchanges between the US and Cuba, working on projects with film-makers and architects.

Gary Nader Fine Art, a Florida based auction house, gallery and art advisory service rolled into one,has championed the market for Cuban art. They have been holding annual auctions of Latin American art since 1994.With forthcoming exhibitions focusing on contemporary Cuban artists such as Julio Larraz, and suitably located in Miami, the gateway to the States from Cuba, where there is a strong Cuban community, Nader has played an important role in nurturing the Cuban culture throughout the Americas. Gary Nader held its annual auction early last month, on the 6^th of January 2002, presenting 109 lots of Latin American Art.The major artists featured in this sale included top selling work by modern and contemporary Cuban artists such as Tomas Sanchez, Julio Larraz, Victor Manuel, Cundo Bermudez and Mario Carreno, Amelia Pelaez, and Mariano Rodriguez.Concentrating on these names, Nader has been a prime location in the promotion of Cuban artists.

The top price of a painting by Victor Manuel, for example, so far realised on the market is $134,000 (€153.000), in a Christie’s NY sale in 1997 for an oil on canvas, entitled Diaspora (94 x 96.8 cm.). His work that comes up for auction is mainly from the 1940s and 1950s.Works by Mario Carreño (1913-99) seem to demand top prices too. Having spent time in Paris like Wifredo Lam, he is amongst the leading figures of early Cuban Modernism, and can command $200-300,000 (€228,400-342,600) for his images inspired by his native tropical island. Interior from 1945was estimated between $120,000-160,000 (€137,000-182,700) by Gary Nader early this year, whereas his top price to date was recorded for Patio Colonial Cubano from 1943 (oil on canvas, 103.2 x 78 cm). Estimated at $180,000-220,000 (€205,500-251,500), it eventually fetched $442,000 (€504.500) at Christie’s New York in May 1997.

These auctions also include works by newly recognised and emerging artists. Auction records established over the last decade by Nader in Miami, as well as Sotheby’s and Christies in New York, since the 1990s for Arturo Cuenca and Jose Bedia, for example, prove that there is a growing market for contemporary Cuban art.Bedia is a native of Havana and trained in the traditional academic style. His more recent work combines elements of the indigenous cultures of Africa and America. It is typical of the new International outlook of Cuban artists and he has participated in major exhibits on Latin American art, particularly the MOMA exhibit of 1993. His top selling work to date at auction has been Debe haber alqun otro sitio from 1998 (oil on canvas, 223.5 x 185.4 cm), which sold for $85,000 (€97,000) at Sotheby’s New York in 1999,only a year after its execution.

Described as a rising star in November last year in view of the results fetched at auction by his work, Tomás Sánchez is associated with the Cuban neo-figuration movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The artist is best recognized for his paintings of carefully detailed tropical landscapes. His twoworks that were auctioned at Christie’s and Sotheby’s respectively last November, both successfully fetched over their pre-sale estimates: Contemplador de la Cascada estimated at $80,000-120,000 (€91,300-137,000), sold for $160,000 (€187,700) at Christie’s on the 19th November, and his Autorietrato en la Orilla, estimated at $120,00-150,000 (€137,000-171,300), far exceeded expectations, selling for $225,750 (€257,800) in Sotheby’s sale of Latin American art on the 20th November.

The market for Cuban artists is still in the developmental stages, although there is an established market for first and second generation artists of the 1960s, 70s and 80s with their modernist and contemporary works selling well at auction. As more galleries begin to support these artists and the market increasingly appreciates the freshness and historical significance of the work of Cuban artists, prices for this work will soon be recognised by the art market outside the States.