René Portocarrero


René Portocarrero was a Cuban visual artist known for paintings, murals, ceramics, and works on paper. He is associated with Cuban modernism and the second generation of the Cuban vanguardia. His work was shown internationally, including in the landmark 1944 exhibition Modern Cuban Painters at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Some sources list his birth year as 1914 rather than 1912.

Early life and education

Portocarrero was born in the El Cerro district of Havana. He attended the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts but did not complete formal training and is frequently described as largely self-taught.
His first solo exhibition was held at the Lyceum of Havana in 1934.

Career

According to El País, Portocarrero first exhibited outside Cuba in 1945 at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York. He was among the artists included in the Museum of Modern Art’s 1944 exhibition Modern Cuban Painters, an early major U.S. presentation of modern Cuban art.
By the early 1940s he developed series that became central to his reputation, including Interiores del Cerro and other bodies of work that drew on Cuban interiors, popular festivities, and ornamental form.
In 1951 he received Cuba’s National Painting Prize for Homenaje a Trinidad, which the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes describes as a precursor to later Havana-themed landscapes.
A major retrospective opened in December 1984 at the Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo, drawing on collections from Cuba’s Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes; it remained on view into early 1985.

Style and themes

Museum and curatorial sources describe Portocarrero’s practice as spanning painting and works on paper, often characterized by dense ornament, vivid color, and recurring motifs linked to Havana’s architecture, interior spaces, and festive or popular imagery.

Murals, ceramics, and illustration

Portocarrero also worked in public art and applied media. The Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes lists major murals including works for the Havana prison and the Parish Church of Bauta, Historia de las Antillas for the hotel now known as the Hotel Habana Libre, and a large ceramic mural for the Palacio de la Revolución.
Around 1950 he began working with ceramics at the Taller Experimental de Santiago de Las Vegas.
He also produced book illustration and published small artist’s books, including Las máscaras and El sueño.

Exhibitions and recognition

El País reported that in 1963 his series Flores y color en Cuba received the grand prize at the VII Bienal de São Paulo, and that he was later honored at the Venice Biennale as an invited artist.

Collections

Portocarrero’s work is held by museums in Cuba and internationally, including the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de Cuba and the Museum of Modern Art. Works by Portocarrero are also in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

Death

Portocarrero died in Havana on 7 April 1985. El País attributed his death to renal and pulmonary complications in the context of fragile health. A Reuters report stated that relatives suggested his death may have been related to burns from a kitchen accident about a week earlier.