MANUEL MENDIVE
HAVANA, 1944
Needless to say that master Manuel Mendive Hoyo is today, and has been for several years now, one of the most important artists in the history of Cuba. A direct witness of what the figure of Wifredo Lam meant in the island’s culture, and later in the international avant-garde art, Mendive and his art stand as a guide for several of the subsequent generations of Cuban creators.
The year 2014 marked the 50th anniversary of his artistic career. A creative period full of milestones and significant dates, since he won the Morinaga Society Prize for the Exaltation of the Mother by UNESCO in Tokyo at the age of 11, the Adam Montparnasse Prize at the 24th May Salon in Paris in 1968 and the National Prize of Plastic Arts of Cuba in 2001. Countless awards are part of his record and accompany the countless number of solo and group exhibitions around the world, as well as presence in the most important international contemporary art fairs such as ARCO Madrid, which he has attended since 1996, Art Miami or Pinta in London and New York, he is also a regular signature in the major auctions of Latin American art.
Very important collections and museums around the world gather works by Manuel Mendive. The National Museum of Fine Arts of Havana, PANARTE (Museum of Modern Art of Panama), CAAM (Atlantic Center of Modern Art of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), George Pompidou Museum of Paris, The John F. Kennedy Center of Washington, United States, or the Jose Luis Cuevas Museum of Mexico are some examples.