The art of the Cuban culture goes back to prehistoric times when the first traces were found in caves. This type of art was later labeled as "folk art" because of its nature and craftsmanship. During the 15th and 16th centuries, the island was full of poverty and not much art streamed out. Painters from foreign countries flooded into Cuba saying it was the "key to the new world." The Cubans came back in the 17th and 18th centuries when artists flourished and art became prominent, mainly through Francisco Javier Baez. In modern times there are 3 artists that are believed to be the most influential: Wifredo Lam, Victor Manuel Garcia, and Amelia Pelaez.
             Wifredo Lam was born in Havana, Cuba in 1887. In his early days as an artist, his subject matter revolved around still lives and landscapes of the places he traveled to with the Association of Painters and Sculptures of Havana. When he moved to Spain in 1923 his style shifted from realism to cubism and then to surrealism. He had his first exposition in 1939. His style in that exposition consisted of simplified shapes influenced by cubism and African sculpture. From the 1950s on he started focusing his art on graphic design and ceramics. The major features of his mature art are refined and bold designs, with sensual violence and a personal vision of the primitive poet. In his last 30 years, Lam has been the focus of a lot of retrospective expositions, and his work is framed in tons of art galleries around the world. Once he moved to Paris, his focal points changed and he started painting women and women with their children, hinting into the era of feminism. Eventually, his art was used to influence the practitioners of Santeria. Once he had been painting for many years, he started using dark, bold colors and his painting turned more erotic than before and more abstract.
             Victor Manuel Garcia was born in Havana, Cuba in 1897. Although he first started working with art that resembled po...