José Martí

Jorge Arche (1905-1956) was a modern Cuban artist. His oil paintings were realistic, but also full of Classical and Expressionist elements. He is considered a forerunner, along with Victor Manuel Garcia, in bringing a modern style to Cuban art. Part of the vanguard movement that took place in Havana beginning in the 1920′s, Arche became one of the first to help define a singular Cuban art. This portrait of Martí, painted in 1943, exemplifies his style - combining classical portraiture with lush and fully developed landscape backgrounds.