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Jose Maria Mijares Fernandes was a Cuban artist, little known in the art world as of yet. As with so many Cuban artists, Mijares attended the San Alejandro School of Art in Havana (from 1936). His major influences were Ponce and Romanach. Stylistically his trajectory is familiar: from figurative Modernism through Abstraction, then to a type of Surrealism in the 70s and finally to a kind of decorative Expressionism. Mijares himself defined major influences: "Ponce was my first influence. He, Carlos Enriquez, Rene Portocarrero...(and others) from the generation that preceded mine became known as the Havana School."
His first major exhibition was in Havana in 1944. By the 1950s, artists were doing it tough in Cuba, so he returned to San Alejandro to teach art, resigning when Fidel Castro came to power. In 1968 he migrated to Miami, where he abandoned his geometric style in favor of a fluid decorative one, presumably more in keeping with prevailing taste.
As one would expect, Mijares' abstract period dates from the 1950s, when it was in vogue. Several examples are illustrated below. They are quite various in their approach. |
