Mid-Century Cuban Abstract Art from the Paul and Maggie Cauchi Collection: Los Once (1953-1955) and Diez Pintores Concretos (1959-1961) will represent two of the most groundbreaking artistic movements from the 50s in Cuba.
Los Once embraced abstract art, rejecting academic canons. They subverted the themes and language of Cuban artistic vanguards from the 1930s, advocating for creation free from formal and conceptual constraints. While without an official manifesto, the common traits among the members included a commitment to non-figuration, a preference for informalism, rejection of static academic norms, and opposition to the manipulation of culture for political ends. They believed in the freedom of creative expression through gestural brushstrokes in painting or the execution of essential volumes in sculpture. Los Once was the first group of creators in Cuban art history to identify as a collective. Their synthesis, creative freedom, and experimentation achievements marked their legacy as avant-garde artists.
Los Diez Concretos emerged in 1959, formalizing as a group with their inaugural exhibition at the Color-Luz Art Gallery in Havana. Co-founded by Loló Soldevilla and Pedro de Oraá in 1957, the group aimed to promote abstract art. Influenced by European and South American abstract movements, they created geometric works that surpassed the political tactics of previous Havana expressionists. Seeking a universal and utopian aesthetic, Los Diez Concretos engaged in non-representational compositions based on intellectually formulated constructions. Following a smooth relationship with Batista's regime, the 1959 Revolution led by Fidel Castro made abstraction suspect, prompting artists to flee. The group dissolved in 1961 after its last exhibition in Camagüey, profoundly impacting Cuban art history and the international trajectory of 20th-century abstraction.
