The images and information presented below are for the instruction of students and scholarly research.
Victor Manuel Garcia
(1897-1969)
Victor Manuel Garcia is considered by
many as being the father of the Golden Age in Cuban
painting. His methods and simple styling have made him a
leader in the Vanguard era, and his art has inspired
generations to paint Cuban themes.
From a very early age, Manuel showed talent in art. He
enrolled at the San Alejandro School in Havana as a
child, and by the time he was 16, he was unofficially
named the professor of elemental drawing.
Though an extremely talented artist, he did not really
recognize his own talent until much later on. His first
exhibit was in 1924 in Havana, and a year later, he
traveled to study in France. He also made trips to Spain
and Belgium to study old masters, new techniques and
primitive styles.
It was while he was studying and painting in France,
that he became friends with the Impressionists. They
encouraged him to sign his work “Victor Manuel” and to
drop the “Garcia,” which he began doing from then on.
After his brief stay abroad, Manuel returned to Cuba and
taught painting to artists free of charge for a couple
of years. He was very involved in the idea that painting
was not an outlet for emotion, but rather an expression
of the artist.
Most of Manuel's paintings are of feminine figures,
landscapes and country scenes. However, his paintings
always had a fiercely Cuban theme.
One of Manuel's best-known paintings is “La Gitana
Tropical”, which translates into “The Tropical Gypsy.”
La Gitana
Tropical, 1929
“La Gitana
Tropical” is regarded by the Cuban art community as one
of the defining piece of the Vanguard era. In this
painting, Manuel has combined his knowledge of European
methods with primitive styling and Cuban culture. This
is typical of his paintings as can also be seen in his
landscape scenes such as “Parque de la Habana”.
Parque de la Habana, 1940
In the 1940s and 50s,
his work began to take on a very distinct style of its
own. The women in his paintings began to take on a
similar look in their eyes, and had very stylized
eyebrows and almond shaped eyes. This look is very
different from “La Gitana Tropical” and is typical of
the style he uses in his portrait “Joven”.
Joven, 1955
Toward the end of his
career, his work became even more different and even
leaned towards the abstract. He began to paint in
gouache, almost cubist portraits of women. This would
definitely make it hard to recognize one of Manuel's
works from his last few years.
Another interesting aspect of Manuel is that he had
absolutely no consistency when it came to signing his
work. Sometimes it would just say “VICTOR MANUEL” in all
caps in the bottom right hand corner. Other times he
would sign in big swirly script, slanted. Other times,
there would be no trace of a signature on the front at
all. He also signed a different name for the first
fifteen or so years of his career as an artist. This may
make authenticating a piece of work from Manuel a very
interesting and tricky process.
Today, Victor Manuel's work is housed in Cuba as well as
in private collections. He was a teacher to many of the
great Cuban artists in his lifetime, and helped to begin
the national trend of painting in the spirit of Cuba.
