First published: Spring 2025
Decades ago, two men strove to uncover the creations of ordinary Cubans, from peasants to accountants, laying the foundations for the island’s art brut today
The earliest references to self-taught art in Cuba can be traced back to a movement initiated separately, and then in parallel, by two Cuban intellectuals: Samuel Feijóo (1914–1992) and José Seoane (1936–2008). Feijóo – a self-taught artist with an extensive oeuvre in both the visual and literary arts – was an important researcher of Cuban folklore, especially in rural, peasant areas. From the mid-1930s, he embarked on a series of tours around the remote countryside and mountains of the central provinces of Cienfuegos and Villa Clara, in search of people who were expressing themselves through art. He wanted to find an authentic, meaningful representation of the Cuban peasant whose intellectual identity he could defend. This type of art was ignored by a Cuban cultural establishment that insisted on following European theories and rules without considering the socio-cultural factors of the island.
Isabel Alemán, Untitled, n.d., tempera on paper, 19.5 x 27.5 in. / 50 x 70 cm
In his quest, Feijóo discovered remarkable talents among tobacco and sugar workers and other labourers, and collected examples of the art of this hitherto excluded and stigmatised rural class. One such artist was Benjamin Duarte whose drawings Feijóo included in the first publication based on his findings, published in 1947.
Américo Cruz, Yu Suy Asi, n.d., coloured pencil and crayon on found paper, 7 x 13 in. / 18 x 33.5 cm
Twenty years after Feijóo began his research, Seoane began identifying and promoting artists who lived in the city of Santa Clara and who had no education in the visual arts, nor any cultural pretensions. He had trained as an agricultural engineer but had become a self-taught artist and ethnologist. When selecting subjects for his project, Seoane looked for town dwellers with traditional and peasant roots, and – although he included both men and women – he had a strong interest in female artists, so that the group was made up of housewives, as well as engineering students and accountants.
Dubuffet’s work published in Signos in 1971
By DERBIS CAMPOS HERNÁNDEZ
This is an article extract; read the full article in Raw Vision #122.
