Transcendence of old masters in anthropogenic global warming

The researcher in charge of the project “The Fidel Micó Catalogue Raisonnée” (FMCR) is please to announce findings of significant evidence on a well-rooted European influence in the painting of the artist under investigation and his sophisticated messages on global warming. Contrary to the most popular believe, Cuban painting was not born in the second half of the 18th century, but in the 16th century when the Council of Havana agreed the acquisition of eight paintings for interior decoration of the city hall to the artist Gaspar de Ávila. In addition, the Cuban painter Juan Camargo received a payment for painting the altar-piece of the parochial church in 1599 (Patrimonio y Desarrollo. April 2011, 5 (II): 7 – 9). These historical facts suggest that the impact of the European painting in the development of the Cuban visual art (although little noted) has been deep and persistent during five centuries, giving rise to generations of artists with abundant knowledge and sensitivity on nature and climate change.

Love to natural landscape seems to be a dominant feature of more than 100 contemporary Cuban landscape painters. The source of this feeling among Cuban artists could be found in the past by studying Cuban old masters. Probably, the most representative landscape painter of the 19th century was Esteban Chartrand y Duboi (1840 – 1882), and his works are highly influential among contemporary Cuban artists. Most of them distinguish the paintings “El día” (58 x 160 cm, oil on canvas, 1873, Museum of the City, Havana), and “La mañana” (58 x 160 cm, oil on canvas, 1873, Museum of the City, Havana) among the best Chartrand’s works. This old master was able to represent the morning light with the particular tone of the 19th century leaving invaluable visual testimonies on the past environment of the island. Some experts have argued on the influence of Barbizón School, Fontainbleau painters, and Hudson River School in the work of Esteban Chartrand, but most of them agree on his ability to translate foreign styles into a national one including local compositional elements in every artwork (Exhibition catalogue, Monastery “San Francisco de Asís”, 2010). This could be the driving force of the current persistence of landscape painting in Cuba as a massive pictorial movement that includes several generations of artists.

Fidel Micó is one of the contemporary Cuban artists that pay careful attention to the heritage of old masters. He has never stopped the study of Chartrand’s work and schools that shaped his style. A painting recently finished by Fidel Micó and sold for 4 800 USD to an USA private collector points to clearer definitions of his pictorial intentions far beyond lessons learned from ancient European influences. In the above mention Chartrand’s paintings, the national tree (Palm) is an ordinary element in the composition, but if we pay attention to position of palms in Micó’s paintings, we will find a growing protagonist role by the time. Palm was the principal character in Micó’s work for the first time in the painting “El Ocaso” (95 x 130 cm, oil on canvas, 2006, unknown location). In this artwork, the national tree is in the foreground, showing its sensual beauty over the painted place. This feature has been getting strength in further works such as “Aguas claras del monte Nº 2” (70 x 53 cm, oil on canvas, 2008, unknown location), “La despedida en la Moca” (120 x 160 cm, oil on canvas, 2008, Russian private collection), and “Donde nace el mar” (80 x 130 cm, oil on canvas, 2015, Mexican private collection) until recently when Micó finished the painting “Interfase” (50 x 70 cm, oil on canvas, 2017, USA private collection).

This time the subliminal cryptography of Micó’s painting dealing with global warming became evident. An apparently common pictorial composition suggests a strong message on the anthropogenic global warming. Micó invented a landscape from his talent and imagination to subtly introduce the viewer into the consequences of human action on nature. Small details in the left foreground could be easily ignored: the absence of four branches in a dry shrub and a dry branch on the ground. In addition, some branches have been cut in the apparently healthy tree behind the shrub. Other plant species seems to be dying in the right middle ground on the other side of the river, but the actual threat was painted in the background. A massive deforestation is clearly visible in the mountains and seems to be coming forward to the river. The origin of this imaginary scenario was confirmed at the artist’s studio when he said: “this landscape is not real, it was invented”.

A similar method was used by Micó in 1999 when he painted “Río de aromas” (50 x 70 cm, oil on canvas, 1999, USA private collector). In this painting, there is a died tree falling into the river in the right foreground, a dry shrub in the left middle ground, and deforestation in the mountains at the background. The river crossing the painted place also suggests hopes. This perception is reinforced by the observation of a different message in many tropical landscapes painted by this artist. For instance, in the painting “La cañada” (100 x 150 cm, oil on canvas, 2005, USA private collector), a landscape with exuberant vegetation around a streamlet, the artist unfolds the beauty of a real place where human action is almost absent. Other exceptional example of hopeful message on the future of the earth is the painting “Higuereta en el bosque” (116 x 160 cm, oil on canvas, 2006, USA private collector). In this artwork, the painted place is plenty of plant species at both sides of a river coming from mountains with abundant vegetation. The same intention may be found in the painting “El salto de la paloma” (200 x 130 cm, oil on canvas, 2006, USA private collector), an invented landscape with more than ten plant species and a waterfall flowing from a rocky mountain as principal element (Art Nexus, 2007, 5 (63): 43).

It is important to note a set of paintings where the message on the protection of our planet was directly represented by Fidel Micó. The most evident examples are the paintings “Otra oportunidad” (100 x 120 cm, oil on canvas, 2003, Collection of the artist), and “El poder de la naturaleza” (100 x 150 cm, oil on canvas, 2005, USA private collector). In both oeuvres, Micó represented his most sincere concern on the anthropogenic global warming, and his authentic commitment with local and international efforts to stop it (Art Documentation, 2015, 34 (2): 349-353). Other two paintings are also remarkable in this sense: “Espíritus del arrecife” (74 x 100 cm, oil on canvas, 2015, Mexican private collector), and “Muerte y Renacimiento” (88 x 116 cm, oil on canvas, 2015, Mexican private collector). In the first one, the sea has engraved animals in the rock to ask for his right to be a healthy environment for all species. The second one is a detailed representation of an unavoidable natural process that should be respected as holy grail of the human existence.

These findings open new research pathways for further investigations on the subconscious intentions of artists in the representation of real and invented landscapes. If we take into account the limited capacity of humans for understand reality, it is easy to imagine both alternative scenarios: i-) subliminal influence of reality on artists, and ii-) subliminal representation of messages to reach wider audience and stronger impact. In addition, if we remember that many human capacities were turn-off during evolution, the contemporary Cuban movement of landscape painting could be a rich source of visual information for comparisons with works of ancient masters, and innovative interpretations of the creation process. The catalogue exhibition of 2010 at the Monastery “San Francisco de Asis”, in Havana, is a valuable document for understanding difference between current and ancient landscape compositions. Although darker, paintings from more than one century ago are plenty of healthy species, and artists showed no concern on the protection of the earth. This notable asymmetry could be subject for further discussions of the broadest interest.

The Fidel Micó Catalogue Raisonné (FMCR) should be understood as an applied research project intended to explore the work and life of the painter Fidel Micó in the last 40 years. This project, submitted to Catalogue Raisonné Scholars Association and International Foundation for Art Research, may encourage current owners of Micó’s works (mostly from USA, Mexico, Italy, and Spain) to supply information and images for provenance research and authentication. We also hope that the FMCR shows a good sense of how Micó’s method and practice has been throughout his lifetime working in different formats, and genres.

Rodríguez Nº 14, entre Maboa y Rabí, apto. 1, Rpto. Santos Suárez, Municipio 10 de Octubre, La Habana, Cuba.

This release was published on openPR.