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Afro-Cuban issue in the Ritmos exhibition by Jaime Valls
29September
News

Afro-Cuban issue in the Ritmos exhibition by Jaime Valls

By: Adalys Pérez

 

An exhibition titled Ritmos by Jaime Valls who is considered the forerunner of the Afro-Cuban issue in the plastic arts in Cuba is taking place at the Museum of Colonial art, in Havana from October 29 and until November 15. As an additional piece of information, Jaime Valls was the draftsman for the La discussion newspaper, whose publishing company used to lie in the Museum of the Colonial Art during the beginning of the Republic.

 

Ritmos exhibition by Valls of Spanish origin is comprised of 26 works covering drawings and advertisements created by Valls. The oldest one dates back to 1919, when he addressed the theme related to the black people.

 

As many of his colleagues, after travelling to the old continent, Jaime Valls tried to apply what he had observed from the avant-garde European painting. So, at the end of the 20s and the beginning of the 30s, he entirely dedicated himself to reflect other edges of our society and customs barely known at that time. 

 

On the other hand, the anatomical characteristics of the black people and the richness of the cultural expressions that became established in Cuba, were useful for Walls to capture the sensuality, elegance and the synthesis of the line, something distinctive in his work.

 

This exhibition, which has been materialized thanks to the collaboration of the National Museum of Fine Arts –to where the pieces belong-, corresponds to the thesis that Yenisel Osuna carried out for the degree course in art history, and now she works as a specialist for the Museum of Colonial Art and she is the curator of such proposal.

 

Since Valls successfully exhibited his Dibujos y costumbres afrocubanos or Afro-Cuban drawings and customs exhibition in 1930, despite the racial prejudice at that time, this is the first exhibition of the artist focusing on this topic. Sponsored by the Office of the historian of the city, other two exhibitions were dedicated to Jaime Valls work as a publicist, which has been the most known and praised so far.

 

Source: Cubarte