Exhibition at the National Museum of Fine Arts pays tribute to curatorial work

The National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana is paying tribute to Ramón Vázquez Díaz (Camagüey, 1942), the institution’s curator of modern Cuban art for more than four decades, with the exhibition «El oficio de la mirada,» which opens on Friday, May 10.

The exhibition, located in the lobby of the Antonio Rodríguez Morey Information Center in the Cuban Art Building, will present a bibliographic selection of the work of this valuable specialist. It will also serve as a tribute to his curatorial work as part of the celebrations of International Museum Day.

As a researcher and curator of national visual arts, Ramón Vázquez has organized numerous exhibitions, many of which have been pivotal in Cuban art history: «Víctor Manuel Retrospective» (1969), «Marcelo Pogolotti» (1974), «50th Anniversary of Revista de Avance» (1977), «Carlos Enríquez Retrospective» (1979), «Raúl Milián» (1984), «René Portocarrero» (traveling exhibition through Europe, 1983-1985), «La Vanguardia: Emergence of Modern Art in Cuba» (in collaboration with José Antonio Navarrete), «Amelia Peláez» (Caracas, Bogotá and Guanajuato Cervantino Festival, 1991), «The Cuban Years of Carreño» (Santiago de Chile, 1993), «Centennial of Fidelio Ponce» (1995), «Centennial of Amelia Peláez» (retrospective exhibition, 1996), «Amelia Peláez: The Sign of Mallorca» (Palma de Mallorca, 1999), «Max Jiménez: Oils, Drawings and Prints» (2002) and «The School of Havana: Between Tradition and Modernity» (Zapopan Art Museum, Guadalajara Book Fair, 2002).

Among the publications authored by this critic are notable books such as «Víctor Manuel» (Vanguardia Cubana Editions, 2010) and «Portocarrero» (Cuban Art Foundation, 2015), essential bibliographic sources for scholars of Cuban art. He is also currently supervising the production of a book on Amelia Peláez.

«El oficio de la mirada,» which will remain open until September 15, will effectively reflect all these aspects of Ramón Vázquez’s professional endeavors.

Source: National Museum of Fine Arts

Translated by Luis E. Amador Dominguez