Mario Carreño
La espera - The wait, 1970
Mario Carreño, was born in La Habana, 1913. "Like so many
other artists, I studied in San Alejandro, but when I left for
Spain in 1931, I wasn't able to dedicate myself immediately to
painting. Graphic design allowed me to earn a living in those
difficult years which were prelude to the Spanish Civil War. In
1935, I left for Mexico, where I met and worked with the great
muralists. But it was in Paris, between 1937 and 1939 that I
began to exhibit with some success. The artistic environment was
excellent; my circle was the same as that of Picasso and Lam.
During the 40's I moved to New York and began to do abstract
painting, which was in vogue at the time. I would often return
to Cuba. In 1957, I came to Chile, at the urging of someone who
was already a great friend, Pablo Neruda. He was always in awe
of Cuba, of its climate, its beaches, its seashells (especially
the polimitas). For me Chile was a sort of paradise, in contrast
to the overly fastpaced reality of New York. I realized that
it offered a different kind of life, more attuned to the rhythm
of human beings, and that's what impelled me most strongly to
stay.
When I returned to Paris in 1962, I found a great
preoccupation, a terrible anguish over the possibilities of an
atomic war. For a long time, I was traumatized by a fear that
pervaded all of Europe. From this experience emerged the series
'The Petrified World', my protest against war, against human
suffering. In recent years I have had a great desire to feel
the warmth of Cuba, to be in Cuba, and this has led me again to
the theme of 'Antillanas.' I have not returned to Cuba since
1957."