Humberto Calzada
Encyclopedia
Humberto Calzada b. in Havana
, on May 25, 1944, is a Cuban-American Artist living in Miami, Florida since 1960.
shortly after the communist takeover of Fidel Castro
, on October 11, 1960. He attended and graduated from Coral Gables High School
. He would later attend the University of Miami where he graduated as an Industrial Engineering in 1966, and the University of Miami
where he also earned an MBA in Finance in 1968.
Finally, in 1976, Calzada decided to pursue painting as a full-time career. The subject of most of his art is the architecture of Cuba particularly Havana's colonial and neo-classical
architecture.
Calzada's work is in numerous museums as well as in private, corporate, and public collections. In 2006, the Lowe Art Museum
at the University of Miami presented a thirty-year Retrospective of his work titled "Humberto Calzada: In Dreams Awake." Calzada resides in Miami.
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, on May 25, 1944, is a Cuban-American Artist living in Miami, Florida since 1960.
Life in America
Calzada's family left CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
shortly after the communist takeover of Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, on October 11, 1960. He attended and graduated from Coral Gables High School
Coral Gables High School
Coral Gables Senior High School is a secondary school located at 450 Bird Road in Coral Gables, Florida, USA.Coral Gables SHS opened its doors in 1950; its architectural design reflects a Spanish influence with its open courtyards adorned with water fountains...
. He would later attend the University of Miami where he graduated as an Industrial Engineering in 1966, and the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
where he also earned an MBA in Finance in 1968.
Finally, in 1976, Calzada decided to pursue painting as a full-time career. The subject of most of his art is the architecture of Cuba particularly Havana's colonial and neo-classical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
architecture.
Calzada's work is in numerous museums as well as in private, corporate, and public collections. In 2006, the Lowe Art Museum
Lowe Art Museum
The Lowe Art Museum is an art museum located in Coral Gables, Florida, a Miami suburb in Miami-Dade County. The museum is run and operated by the University of Miami and opened in 1950. The museum has an extensive collection of art with permanent collections in Greco-Roman antiquities, Renaissance,...
at the University of Miami presented a thirty-year Retrospective of his work titled "Humberto Calzada: In Dreams Awake." Calzada resides in Miami.
Periods
Humberto Calzada's art can, generally, be divided into phases or categories, but not into periods. They are phases in the sense that, during a specific time he painted primarily that category of painting, though not to the exclusion of all else. But they are "categories" in the sense that, throughout his career, he has produced works that have characteristics of any of the different classifications or will revisit any past phase. The general major classifications are:- 1. The Anecdotal Period paintings. Paintings of a more personal nature painted in a detailed but casual style, based on memories of his home, places he knew and visited in Cuba, and other specific recollections.
- 2. The Surreal Theatrical Scenarios paintings. Extracting elements of Cuban architecture and placing them out of context in an unlikely setting.
- 3. Meta-Art paintings. An extension of the theatrical scenarios but incorporating his past works in the walls as one more element.
- 4. The Gardens paintings. Ruins, incomplete buildings, but still recognizable as Cuban architecture of the neo-classical period.
- 5. St ill Life paintings. Brief period in which architectural elements were arranged as classical still life painting.
- 6. "Years of" Paintings. These are the flooded spaces, which consist mostly of houses in which the ocean waters have entered. It is one of his favorite iconographies because water has a dual meaning: it can mean total destruction, but it can also mean re-birth.
- 7. Tributes to other painters. Paintings which can either be Calzada in subject but another painter in technique or style or a Calzada painting in which the work of another painter is either hung or displayed in the space portrayed.
- 8. The Night paintings. Paintings of architectural and/or landscape themes at night.
- 9. La Hora Azul paintings. Paintings of architectural and/or landscape themes during the dusk hours.
- 10. The swimming pool paintings or Cuba circa 2025 painting. An optimistic assumption that in the not-too-distant futures, Cuba will not only have houses in good repair, but also houses with swimming pools.
- 11. The Reconstructing Havana paintings. A much-enlarged photograph of current private and public buildings in Havana is partially "reconstructed" by painting in what once was and what, someday, could be again.
Solo
The following in list a list which includes all solo exhibits of Calzada's artwork between 1975 and 2006.2006–1990
- Lowe Art MuseumLowe Art MuseumThe Lowe Art Museum is an art museum located in Coral Gables, Florida, a Miami suburb in Miami-Dade County. The museum is run and operated by the University of Miami and opened in 1950. The museum has an extensive collection of art with permanent collections in Greco-Roman antiquities, Renaissance,...
, University of MiamiUniversity of MiamiThe University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, A Thirty-Year. Retrospective", Miami, Florida USA - University of MiamiUniversity of MiamiThe University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, BacardiBacardiBacardi is a family-controlled spirits company, best known as a producer of rums, including Bacardi Superior and Bacardi 151. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year in nearly 100 countries...
Gallery, "Cuba: La Hora Azul", Miami, Florida USA - Galeria Arteconsult, "Cuba y la Noche II", Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... - Jose Alonso Fine Arts, "Cuba y la Noche," Miami, Florida USA
- Jose Alonso Fine Arts, "Humberto Calzada: New Collection of Graphic Work," Miami, Florida., USA
- Corbino Galleries, "Sanctuaries for the Spirit" Longboat Key, Florida, USA
- Galeria Arteconsult, Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... - Museo Ixchel, Ciudad Guatemala, Guatemala
- Galería Amalia Mahoney, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- Galería Acquavella, Caracas, Venezuela
- Freites-Revilla Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
- Galería Arteconsult, Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... - Galería Forum de Las Artes, San Juan, P.R.
- Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, Florida, USA
- The America's Collection, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
- Freites-Revilla Gallery, Boca Raton, Florida, USA
- Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, Florida, USA
- The America's Collection, Coral Gables, Florida, USA
- Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... - Kennesaw State College Art Gallery, Marietta, Georgia, USA
- Galería 1.2.3, San Salvador, El Salvador
- Bass Museum of Art, "Fifteen Years Retrospective," Miami Beach, Florida USA
- Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, Florida., USA
- Fred Snitzer Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida., USA
- Gloria Luria Gallery, Bay Harbor Islands, Florida USA
- Galería Arteconsult, Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
1990–1875
- Galería 1.2.3., San Salvador, El Salvador
- Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, Florida USA
- Galería 9, Lima, Peru
- Park Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA
- Galería 1.2.3., San Salvador, El Salvador
- Galería Acquavella, Caracas, Venezuela
- Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, Florida USA
- Galería Arte Actual, Santiago, ChiLe
- Corbino Galleries, Sarasota, Florida USA
- Gallery Camino Real, Boca Raton, Florida USA
- Gutierrez Fine Arts, Key Biscayne, Florida USA
- Galería Etcetera, Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... - Galería 1.2.3., San Salvador, El Salvador
- Galería 9, Lima, Peru
- Baumgartner Galleries, Washington, D.C USA
- Forma Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida USA
- Galería 1.2.3., San Salvador, El Salvador
- Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, Georgia USA
- Galería Coabey, San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Galería Etcetera, Panama CityPanama CityPanama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...
, PanamaPanamaPanama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The... - Forma Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida USA 1978/79/80/81/82
- Galería Coabey, San Juan, P.R.
- Bacardi Art Gallery, Miami, Florida USA
Collective
The following in list a list which includes all shared exhibits of Calzada's artwork between 1978 and 2010.2010–2000
- Beaux Arts Gallery, Miami International Art Fair, Miami Beach, Florida USA
- Beaux Arts Gallery, Art Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Florida USA
- Polk Museum of Art, Works by Artists of Cuban Ancestry From the Permanent Collection, Lakeland, Florida USA
- Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery, Co-Sponsored by The Holy Cross Latin American and Latino Studies Concentration, "Layers: Collecting Cuban-American Art."
- Boca Raton Museum of Art, "Masters of Latin America: Selections from the Joan and Milton Bagley Collection, Boca Raton, Florida
- Cuba Art New York, New York "A Sense of Space: Cuban Artists and Architecture"
- University of Buffalo Art Gallery, Center for the Arts, ""Layers: Collecting Cuban-American Art"
- Miami Art Central, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, "Hope and Glory: The Enduring Legacy of Oscar B. Cintas"
- King Fine Arts "Three Cuban Masters, Three Visions of One Reality," New York
- Kendall Campus Art Gallery, MDCC, "Art Trends: Miami's Trek III: A Decade of Art in Miami", Miami, Florida
- Lowe Art MuseumLowe Art MuseumThe Lowe Art Museum is an art museum located in Coral Gables, Florida, a Miami suburb in Miami-Dade County. The museum is run and operated by the University of Miami and opened in 1950. The museum has an extensive collection of art with permanent collections in Greco-Roman antiquities, Renaissance,...
, "From Modern to Contemporary: Cuban and Cuban- American Art From the Permanent Collection," Coral Gables, Florida - Galería Arte Consult, "Memoria: Veinte Años," Panama, Republic of Panama
- Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, "Images and Reflections," Springfield, Illinois.
2000–1990
- "Breaking Barriers: Contemporary Cuban Art" Art Museum of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
- Tampa Museum of ArtTampa Museum of ArtThe Tampa Museum of Art is located in Downtown Tampa, Florida. The museum exhibits 20th-century fine art, as well as Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities. It opened in 1979 on the banks of Hillsborough River.- Museum History :...
, Tampa, Florida. USA - Galeria 1.2.3., "Latin American Art Biennial," San Salvador, El Salvador
- Miami University Art Museum, "Changing Images from the Americas," Oxford, Ohio
- Museum of Art, "Cuban Artists of the Twentieth Century," Ft Lauderdale, Florida USA
- Museu de Arte Moderna, "Eco Art," Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- "CUBA - U.S.A.: The First Generation"
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Illinois USA
- Fondo del Sol, Washington, D.C. USA
- Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul, Minn USA
- The Museum at Florida International University, Miami, Florida USA
- Museum of Art, "South Florida Invitational," Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA
- Northwood Institute, "Leading Hispanic Artists of South FLorida," West Palm Beach, Florida USA
- Main Library, Metro-Dade Cultural Center, "Miami Artists—Fifty Years of Collecting," Miami, Florida USA
1990–1980
- "MIRA! Canadian Club Hispanic Art Tour III":
- Art Museum of the Americas, (OAS, Organization of American States) "Hispanic-American Artists of the United States," Washington, D.C. USA
- Municipal Art Center, Los Angeles, California USA
- Meadows Museum and Sculpture Court, Dallas, Texas USA
- Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida USA
- Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, Illinois USA
- Museo del Barrio, New York USA
- Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, "Acquisitions from the Last 10 Years," Santiago, República de Chile
- "Latin American Artists from the Southeast Coastal Region": Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, Louisiana USA
- The Art and Culture Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, Florida USA
- National Library of Canada, "Cuban Artists in North America," Ottawa, Canada
- "Outside Cuba/ Fuera de Cuba": Jane Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey USA
- Museum of Contemporary Hispanic Art, New York USA
- Miami University Art Museum, Oxford, Ohio USA
- Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, Puerto Rico
- Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida USA
- Atlanta College of ArtAtlanta College of ArtThe Atlanta College of Art , established in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1905, was the first non-profit college of visual art in the Southeastern United States....
, Atlanta, Georgia USA - Georgia State University Art Gallery, "Visual Arts: the Southeast Atlanta, Georgia USA
- Stedman Art Gallery, "Rutgers National 85/86, Works on Paper," Rutgers University, Camden, New Jersey USA
- Thomas Center Gallery, "Expatriates:Paintings by 15 Young Latin American Artists," GainesvILle, Florida USA
- Instituto Cultural Domecq, "V Bienal Iberoamericana de Arte," Mexico D.F., Mexico
- South Campus Art Gallery, "American Artists of Cuban Origin,"Miami-Dade Community College, Miami, Florida
- Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture, "The Miami Generation," Miami, Florida USA
- Meridian House International, Washington, D.C. USA
- The Balch Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA
- "VI Latin American Graphics Biennial Exhibition" San Juan, Puerto Rico
- North Miami Museum and Art Center, "Five in FLorida Plus Two," North Miami, Florida USA
- Museum of Art, "Hort Memorial Exhibition," Fort Lauderdale, Florida USA
- Gallery Camino Real, "Five Contemporary Realists," Boca Raton, Florida USA
- Art Museum of the Americas (OAS, Organization of American States) "Recent Acquisitions," Washington, D.C. USA
- "IV Biennial Art Exhibition of Medellín," MedellínMedellínMedellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...
, ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the... - Moss Gallery, "Contemporary Cuban Painting," San Francisco, California USA
1980–1970
- "The Cuban Exhibition," De Armas Gallery, Editorial America, Miami, Florida USA
- Lowe Art MuseumLowe Art MuseumThe Lowe Art Museum is an art museum located in Coral Gables, Florida, a Miami suburb in Miami-Dade County. The museum is run and operated by the University of Miami and opened in 1950. The museum has an extensive collection of art with permanent collections in Greco-Roman antiquities, Renaissance,...
"Latin American Artists of the Southeastern United States", Coral Gables, Florida USA
Public and Corporate Collections
- Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery, University of Texas at Austin, Texas
- Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Art Museum of the Americas, Organization of American States (OAS), Washington, D.C.
- Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida
- Centro de Arte Fundacion Ortiz-Guardian, Granada, Nicaragua
- Lehigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
- Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida
- Meadows Museum and Sculpture Court, Dallas, Texas
- Miami University Museum, Oxford, Ohio
- Museo de Arte Contemporaneo Maria Zambrana, Velez-Málaga, Spain
- Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Panama, Republica de Panama
- Museo de Arte de Ponce, Ponce, PR
- Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Santiago, Chile
- Norton Gallery & School of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida
- Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida
- St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Missouri
- The Museum at Florida International University, Miami, Florida
- The University Museum, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois
- Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Florida International University, Primera Casa, Miami, Florida
- University of Miami, Goizueta Pavilion, Coral Gables, Florida
- Miami-Dade Community College South Campus Art Gallery, Miami, Florida
- Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs, Art in Public Places Collection, Miami International Airport, Miami, Florida
- Cintas Foundation, Institute of International Education, New York
- Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, Miami Branch Office
- Gulf & Western Industries, La Romana, Dominican Republic
- Banco de Viscaya, Miami, Florida