Alfredo Sosabravo and the Secret of Eternal Youth

October 27, 2020

Reaching 90 years of age is a challenge for any human being; but doing so with innocence, a sense of humor, inexhaustible creative inspiration and physical and intellectual capacity to realize it, is a miracle. That is the achievement of Alfredo Sosabravo, currently one of the most valuable exponents of the visual arts in Cuba.

Working on new pieces for the exhibition that will inaugurate on the occasion of the celebration of another year of life, to which he has dedicated the months in which the pandemic forced him to stay home, shielding himself from worrying news with the joy of the colorful hues of his works; while the day passes swiftly, brush in hand and dreamlike figures make him smile remembering mischievous deeds.

In that attitude must reside the secret of Sosabravo's enduring vigor, a man of humble origins who, knowing himself destined for art, sought his path in music and literature, until finding the one that would be the reason for his existence in painting, drawing, engraving and ceramics.

Motivated by the work of his fellow countryman, Wifredo Lam, he began a production that has been in constant ascent since the middle of the last century, which was recognized in 1997 with the National Prize for Plastic Arts before the Carro de la Revolución, a mural installed in the mezzanine of the Hotel Habana Libre, his most beloved creation, as he has said.

Possessor of an easily recognizable style within the rich panorama of Cuban visual arts, he has exhibited his works in the main spaces of the country and, since the 1990s, in numerous cities in Europe, where he is also very recognized.

It is an immense pleasure to be able to congratulate Alfredo Sosabravo on his 90th birthday, not only for his essential contributions to our culture, but also for his life lessons.