Cuban Art in 1940s

Instituto Cervantes and the Cuban Cultural Center of New York will host a conference on January 21, 2026, featuring renowned curator, art historian, and critic Alejandro Anreus, who will present an illustrated talk on his latest book Modern Cuban Art of the 1940s: Havana's Artists, Critics and Exhibitions (University Press of Florida, 2025). This work analyzes Havana’s vibrant artistic scene of the 1940s—a key moment for understanding modernity in Cuban art.

Anreus’s academic career has focused on the role of politics in the modernity of Latin American art, with special attention to muralism and political art of the 1930s. Among his most notable publications are: Ben Shahn and The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti; Orozco in Gringoland: The Years in New York; The Social and the Real: Political Art of the 1930's in the Western Hemisphere; and Mexican Muralism: A Critical History. In 2014. Anreus participated as a panelist in the renowned symposium “Modern Cuban Art in New York: The MoMA Exhibition of 1944,” held at the CUNY Graduate Center.