Rita Longa Aróstegui

An important Cuban sculptor, considered a leading figure in this art form in the twentieth century. Winner of the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1995.

From a very young age she felt a great attraction to the fascinating world of visual arts, which she was able to develop fully and with great elegance in the creation of her works.

She graduated from high school in 1928 and enrolled in the second year of the San Alejandro Academy. Here she received only two courses with professor Juan José Sicre. Later, during a few months in 1930, she took some classes at the Lyceum in Havana, with sculptor Isabel Chapotín.

Rita always considered herself a creator of basically self-taught formation and tried to instill in her work an air of renewal:
"My first works consisted of games of lines and forms, searches for bold solutions, new expressions, attempts that were acquiring greater confidence"

Initiated into artistic work at the threshold of the 1930s, Rita Longa's trajectory re-enacts the early vocation for change that encouraged a few Cuban sculptors of her time, and led them to lead the plastic renewal movement headed by painting.

At only twenty years old she made her first two submissions to collective exhibitions held in the Cuban capital in 1932; one of them was the work Thirst, displayed at the Women's Hall of the Circle of Fine Arts. Just two years later she presented her first solo exhibition at the Lyceum, which was followed by successful participation in the I National Salon of Painting and Sculpture (1935) where the piece Torso was awarded one of the prizes.

Later, during the XIX Salon of the Circle of Fine Arts (1936), the work Triangle earned the artist a Gold Medal. In the II National Salon of Painting and Sculpture of 1938 she deserved a prestigious Second Prize with the piece Truncated Figure, a work that was also exhibited—and particularly celebrated by American critics—during the collective exhibition of Latin American art organized by the Riverside Museum in 1939.

By that date Rita Longa had already had the opportunity to test herself in other facets of professional performance. During 1937 she participated as a guide at the Free Studio of Painting and Sculpture, an experience that allowed her both to display pedagogical gifts aligned with a type of teaching apart from academic procedure, and to become intimate and share concerns—that went beyond the aesthetic—with other artists who would become, like her, strong bastions of the second Cuban plastic avant-garde.

She also served as Head of the Department of Teaching and Artistic Dissemination of the Department of Culture of the Ministry of Education, and as Executive Secretary of the National Institute of Plastic Arts.

Her work had already circulated within and outside Cuba and was included in the most prestigious state collections.
During her sustained work in the field of salon sculpture, the artist's preference for the treatment of the female figure and work with various materials (plaster, terracotta, marble) stood out, from which she managed to extract textural richness that enhanced the expressive potential of volume, line, and chiaroscuro. Specialized criticism early on noticed the commendable organicity of her poetics based on qualities such as rhythm, movement, grace, refinement, and elegance.

In 1940 architect Eugenio Batista commissioned her to create a Sacred Heart for a private residence that was about to be completed; this was Rita's first opportunity to think the sculptural proposal for a predetermined site and to pose the challenge of harmonious integration of sculpture with architecture. That first sculptural relief with the theme of the Sacred Heart of Jesus became the trigger for sustained interdisciplinary practice that facilitated her training in the treatment of form in intimate dialogue with space, to deepen in the technical domains of her art form and to persevere, with exemplary tenacity, in winning over a clientele reluctant to the sign change that modernity presupposed.

To fulfill the frequent commissions for Mother or Madonnas, of Virgins, and of sculptural representations of the Sacred Heart that the artist received during the 1940s and 1950s, she implemented her own technique and procedure in which she combined the free modeling of heads and hands, then adhered to the wall—of cement or marble—over which, in virtuoso half-reliefs, only the silhouettes, shoulders, veils, sleeves, and tunics of these religious images remained barely suggested, always adjusted in size and proportion to the dimensions of the background wall and to the local architecture.

The tenacity of the effort allowed Rita Longa to undermine from the root the academic norm by subverting the most orthodox models. The Santa Rita of Casia bears witness to this, conceived by the author in 1943 for the church of the same name in Miramar, and which was placed, removed, and relocated—again and again—at the high altar of said temple. For its part, the so-called Virgin of the Road (1948), transgressive and sensorial in the paganism of its pedestal and in the excesses of its voluptuous femininity, requested through its author the intervention of the Court of Rites of Rome so that the popular devotion that its image awakened would be declared legitimate and so that it would be crowned by ecclesiastical authorities as "protective mother of the pilgrim traveler".

The religious theme in Rita Longa's work reaches its culminating point in La Pietá, a majestic marble that the artist created in 1957 by commission of architect Elena Pujols for a tomb in the "Cristóbal Colón" cemetery of the Cuban capital.

To the tireless constancy that characterized the sculptor is juxtaposed that sui generis condition that frequently converts her sculptures into landmarks—if not symbols—of very broad popular consensus. In this direction, to the already mentioned Santa Rita of Casia and The Virgin of the Road one would have to add—in the 1940s itself—the Family Group (1947) that was placed in the Zoological Park of Havana, closely followed by the Ballerina (1950) that was located at the entrance of Cabaret Tropicana, by the work Form, Space and Light that since 1953 presides over the main facade of the building of the National Museum of Fine Arts (Cuba), and by many other more recent works, equally rooted both in the physical environment that belongs to them, and in the collective imagination.

Emblematic within the aspect interested in the pre-Hispanic past is the Fountain of the Antilles, inaugurated in the city of Las Tunas in 1977. Deployed over a pond with sinuous contours—twenty-two meters in length—the ensemble evokes the Taíno legend about the origin of the sea; the figures modeled in clay and later cast in a hybrid mixture of cement, marble dust, and sand (which retains the copper tone related to the aboriginal reference) form a beautiful metaphor of Caribbean geography in which water becomes a plastic element of essential prominence in the interconnection of forms.

At the opposite extreme in terms of stylistic registers is the Clepsydra, that other sculpture-fountain that in 1997 was placed in the lobby of the Hotel Habana Libre, under the superb crystal dome that shelters the central courtyard of the installation. Unlike the solution adopted for the piece from Las Tunas, here the artist opted for the deployment in height, raising—to reach eight meters—a geometric framework, in spiral, of twelve fountain vessels made of steel and glass.

Special mention deserves, for what it contributes to the renewed conception of the commemorative monument in the field of Cuban sculpture, The Forest of Heroes, a work created by Rita in close collaboration with architect Manuel González, which was erected on the central Avenue of the Americas in the city of Santiago de Cuba in 1973, dedicated to the memory of the men of the guerrilla commanded by Che Guevara, who fell in Bolivian lands. The monument is presided over by a complex structure of dozens of rectangular sheets (of white marble) that articulate, one with another, forming an elegant weave of interlocking geometric configurations whose forest reminiscence was completed with some cypress trees planted within the sculptural structure.

The most striking aspect of the ensemble, beyond the plastic beauty of the resulting form, is the conception of a monument intended not to be admired from afar but to be traversed by the public: access to the slight elevation of the terrain where it was located is made through lateral staircases and an paved ramp that runs from the edge of the avenue to the very nucleus of the piece; a path that bifurcates into sinuous routes alluding to the uncertain course of a stream that seems to be born within the framework of marble forms.

Thus, the incidence—programmed or open—of natural elements, of the sound complements of the plastic proposal, of the lighting system, of the landscape treatment of the surroundings—assumed, in each case, according to the specific weight that may correspond to them in a project of integrating will—and almost always in interaction with architectural solutions that consider respectful dialogue with the plastic arts, are the keys that shape, in sum, the sculptural concept that Rita Longa advocated. The defense of this cardinal transdisciplinary presupposition was verified not only through her vast personal work but also from the commendable work she displayed as a promoter of sculpture, at the head of the governing entity of the art form in the Cuban institutional sphere.

From 1959 onwards Rita Longa served as Executive Secretary of the Board of Fine Arts and as founder and Director of the Guamá Workshop where she created, among many other sculptural works, the twenty-five pieces that make up the famous ensemble Taíno Village, conceived for the Guamá tourist complex in the Zapata Swamp.

Since its founding in 1980, and until her physical disappearance, she presided over the Commission for the Development of Monumental and Environmental Sculpture (CODEMA), which became the National Advisory Council for the Development of Monumental and Environmental Sculpture of the Ministry of Culture. As admirable as her artistic work was her promotional management bringing together wills, making brave decisions in a field as committed as commemorative production and fighting countless battles against all kinds of setbacks, always in favor of the growth and dignity of Cuban sculptural art.

Work
Deer from the Zoo of 26.
Her high imaginative flight was poured into the monumental representation of the family group of deer that can be observed at the entrance of the Havana Zoological Park; also in the famous dancer of the internationally known Tropicana cabaret; in the image of the so-called Virgin of the Road, which today is the symbol of the capital municipality of San Miguel del Padrón, or the Taíno village of Guamá, in the Zapata Swamp, south of Matanzas, to mention only some of the most well-known.

Throughout her prolific 88 years of life, the sculptor participated in more than ten collective exhibitions in New York and also in other countries of Europe and the Caribbean, in addition to various solo exhibitions organized in Cuba from the end of the 1920s until 1997.

Solo Exhibitions
1934

Rita Longa Exhibition, Lyceum, Havana.
1944

Rita Longa Exhibition, Lyceum, Havana.
1966

Guamá Workshop, Havana.
1982

Rita Longa. 50 Years of Sculpture, vestibule of the Avellaneda Room, National Theater, Havana.
Sculptures by Rita Longa. Servando Cabrera Moreno Gallery, Havana.
Rita Longa. 50 Years of Sculpture in Small Format, Amelia Peláez Gallery, Havana.
Rita Longa. Monumental and Environmental Sculpture, Habana Gallery, Havana.
Rita Longa. 70th Anniversary, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana.
1992

Rita Longa. Tribute Exhibition for the 80th Anniversary of the Sculptor and 60 Years of Artistic Life, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana.
1996

The Magic of Volume. Rita Longa. Agustín Cárdenas, Che Guevara Room, House of the Americas.
Collective Exhibitions

1933

Self-portraits, Circle of Fine Arts, Havana
1955

Permanent Room of Plastic Arts of Cuba, Palace of Fine Arts, Havana.
Sculpture for Outdoors, Lyceum, Havana.
1956

Tribute to Martí, Lyceum, Havana.
1959

5 Sculptors, Nuestro Tiempo Gallery, Havana.
1970

Salon 70, National Museum, Havana.
1979

National Salon of Plastic Arts UNEAC'78, Havana.
1980

20 Years Guamá Workshop, Havana Gallery, Havana.
1983

Sculpture in the Revolution, National Museum, Havana.
1988

Salon of Plastic Arts UNEAC'87, Cuba Pavilion, Havana.
Sculptural Works

Cry, plaster, ca. 1933
Self-portrait, ca. 1933
Torso, patinated plaster, 89 x 20 x 41 cm, 1935, National Museum collection, Havana.
Awakening, ca. 1936
Figure, cement, 1938
Nun, marble, 1955
Majagua II, 1967, National Theater collection, Havana.
Siboney I, marble, direct carving, 1.20 x 0.58 x 0.27 m, 1970, National Museum collection, Havana.
Martí, bronze, 1973
Splendor.
Works Placed in Cuba

Bust of Martí, Hershey Central, Matanzas, 1939.
Bust of María Teresa García Montes, Auditórium Theater, Havana, 1940 (destroyed).
Sacred Heart, stone, country residence of the La Salle Brothers, Havana, 1942.
Santa Rita, plaster with patina, Church of Santa Rita, 5th Avenue and 26, Miramar, Havana, 1943.
The Good Shepherd, stone, gardens of the Good Shepherd seminary, Havana, 1944-1945.
Science and Faith, relief on the facade of the former League Against Cancer (Oncological Hospital), Havana, 1946.
Fountain of Martyrs (Architect: Honorato Colette), Prado Promenade, Havana, 1947.
Family Group, bronze, National Zoological Park, Havana, 1947.
Foresight and Cooperation, La Tabacalera building, Havana, 1948
Sacred Heart, Surgical Medical Center, Havana, 1948
Virgin of the Road, San Miguel del Padrón park, Havana, 1948.
Tobacco Frieze, La Tabacalera building, Havana, 1948
Monument to Mothers, Batabanó, Havana, 1949
Memorial to Rosario Dubrocq, bronze and marble, Orthopedic Hospital, Havana, 1949
Illusion, bronze, Payret Theater, Havana, 1950
Exchange, aluminum, Continental Bank Havana, 1950
Muses (ensemble of 9 pieces), Payret Theater (Architect: Eugenio Batista), Havana, 1950
Ballerina, Cabaret Tropicana, Havana, 1950
Form, Space and Light, white marble from Isle of Pines, National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana, 1950-1953
Sugar Triptych, Continental Bank, Havana, 1951
Progress, bronze, Continental Bank, Havana, 1951
Fountain, artificial stone, country residence of Miguel Ángel Quevedo, Wajay, Havana, 1951
Frieze of the Caravels, Continental Bank, Havana, 1951
The Fountain of Virtues, Provincial Hospital of Santa Clara, Las Villas, 1952
Piety, tomb of the Aguilera family, patinated plaster, 45 x 23 x 42 cm, Colón Cemetery, Havana, 1957
Death of the Swan, capellania stone, National Theater, Havana, 1959
Taíno Village (ensemble of 25 sculptures) (Architect: Mario Girona), cast stone (marble dust, sand, cement), Guamá Tourist Center, Zapata Swamp, Matanzas, 1961-1964
Monument to Solidarity, cast stone, Bentré, Bauta, Havana, 1969
Memorial to Marcelo Salado, Jaimanitas stone, Swimming School, Havana, 1971
Forest of Heroes (Architect: Manuel González), marble, Avenue of the Americas, Santiago de Cuba, 1973
Monument to Martí, International Center of Pioneers, Tarará, Havana, 1973
Fountain of the Antilles (Architect: Joaquín Venegas), cast stone, Las Tunas, 1977
We Shall Overcome, bronze, OSPAAAL, Havana, 1981
The Rooster of Morón (Team: Armando Alonso. Architect: Manuel González Suárez), bronze, 2.5 m, Morón, Ciego de Ávila, 1982
Arabesque, Ballet of Camagüey, 1987
The Legend of Canimao, copper, 7 m, km. 4 of the Matanzas-Varadero road, Matanzas, 1995
Martian Plaza (Architect: Domingo Alás), bronze, Las Tunas, 1995
Clepsydra, crystal, Hotel Habana Libre, Havana, 1997
Sculpture, marble, International Financial Bank, Havana, 1999
Awards

Rita's works made her worthy of numerous awards. The accolades awarded to her are endorsed, above all, by the criticism and admiration of the public.

For her long and successful career, which left reflected in an extensive artistic work of great quality and creative beauty, Rita Longa Aróstegui received multiple recognitions, among which the National Prize for Plastic Arts in 1995 stands out.

1935

Award, National Painting and Sculpture Exhibition. College of Architects, Havana
1936

Gold Medal, XVIII Salon of Fine Arts, Circle of Fine Arts, Havana.
1937

Gold Medal, XIX Salon of Fine Arts, Circle of Fine Arts, Havana.
1938

Award, II National Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Castle of Force, Havana.
1945

Second Prize, Spring Salon, National Society of Fine Arts, Havana.
First Prize, Contest for Monument to the Soldier of the Wars of Independence, Havana.
1949

First Prize, Contest for Fountains for Residences, Pan-American Congress of Architects. Havana.
1951

Award, Gold Medal Exhibition, Architectural League, New York.
1953

Award, Architectural League, New York.
1982

"Alejo Carpentier" Medal.
1995

National Prize for Plastic Arts.
1996

"Félix Varela" Order.