To our collector, interior designer and eBay friends worldwide:
In addition to this limited-edition art print, the Cuban Poster Gallery in Washington D.C. is offering a huge selection of handmade Cuban silk-screen posters, many of which work beautifully well together. To view all of the posters, please visit our eBay Store ( stores.ebay.com/CubanPosterGallery ) where new listings are being posted every week in both the Auction and Buy It Now/Best Offer formats.
The Cuban Poster Gallery appreciates your business!
Our regular price for this graphic is $99. Here we are offering CARNIVAL MASK #9, a numbered limited-edition serigraph by famed Cuban artist René Portocarrero (1912-1985), whose prized paintings, graphics and ceramics can be found in major collections, galleries and museums worldwide.
A largely self-taught artist, René Portocarrero won numerous awards in Cuba and abroad. His work focused on several themes, including mythology, religion, the beauty and diversity of Cuban (and island) women, natural elements such as birds and flowers and the masks and costumes used in Cuban celebrations, including the annual carnivals held in several Cuban cities. His easily recognizable drawings are in the permanent collections of museums worldwide, including MoMA in New York.
This screen-print is part of a hard-to-find portfolio that was made (and unveiled) in 2012 to mark the centennial of Portcarrero's birth in Havana on February 24, 1912. Only 50 copies of this serigraph (also known as a screen-print or silkscreen) were made in Havana in the prestigious René Portocarrero screen-print workshop, which was founded in 1984, a year before the artist's death. The screen-prints in this portfolio were authorized by the artist's family.
We must tell you that many René Portocarrero screen-prints work beautifully well together. We invite you to view the several dozen Portocarrero prints in our eBay Store if you would like consider purchasing a collection – however large or small.
The high quality 2012 serigraph in this listing salutes an ink-on-paper drawing that Portocarrero made in 1966. The print we are offering contains the dry seal of the René Portocarrero workshop in the lower left corner, certifying it is genuine. The print is numbered as part of an edition of 50. Because we have acquired several copies of some serigraphs in this portfolio, the number on the print you receive may differ from the one in the photo we have posted. Otherwise, the graphic you receive will be identical to the one in the photo.
CARNIVAL MASK #9 measures approximately 5 x 6 inches (12.7 x 15.2 cm). We call this CARNIVAL MASK #9 because Portocarrero designed other carnival mask-themed graphics that we have listed -- separately -- here in our eBay Store.
Overall condition of CARNIVAL MASK #9 is good, although small imperfections can be expected in this (and many) handmade Cuban screen-prints. Buy with 100 percent confidence; graphics purchased on eBay from the Cuban Poster Gallery can be returned for any reason within 30 days.
About shipping: Buyers with an address in the
TITLE: CARNIVAL MASK #9
DESIGNER: René Portocarrero (1912-1985)
MEDIUM: Serigraph / Screen-print
YEAR PRINTED: 2012, to salute an ink drawing made by Portocarrero in 1966
SIGNED: Yes, as "P" (for Portocarrero), in the plate
NUMBERED: Yes. Only 50 copies exist in this edition.
ORIGIN: Havana, Cuba
A few words about collecting Cuba's silk-screen movie posters, which we also offer here in our eBay Store:
For more than 60 years, the Cuban Film Institute has been designing silk-screened posters for most every movie shown on the island, whether the films originated in Cuba, the United States, Brazil, Japan or Italy. In the midst of the Cold War 1960s and 1970s, many of the subtitled foreign films shown in Cuba came from the island nation's communist allies in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Vietnam and even North Korea.
Unlike in the United States, where movie posters are often dominated by images of Hollywood stars, the Cubans assign a graphic artist to design an original piece of artwork for each film. These posters are widely recognized in graphic design circles as stylish works of art, handmade one color at a time and often under difficult circumstances (at various times, paint and even paper have been in short supply on the island.)
Cuba's silk-screen movie posters are nothing less than museum pieces. But don't take our word for it! Examples of Cuban poster art can be found in the permanent collections of museums across the globe from the Victoria & Albert in London to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as in prestigious institutions such as the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles
Adding to their collectability, Cuba's movie posters are produced in relatively small numbers. Typically, a few hundred copies are made for each film, although the runs have been as low as 50. Responding to demand from collectors, the Cuban Film Institute has re-screened some of its more popular posters. That's why some posters created in the 1960s and 1970s began reappearing on the Caribbean island in the 1990s and 2000s.
Further adding to their collectability, many of Cuba's vintage posters are imperiled. Although a few hundred copies may have been screened originally, relatively few have survived, due to the island's wet and humid climate, inadequate storage facilities in Havana and improper handling in Cuba and elsewhere. To us, these survivors are rare beauties, even those with obvious flaws. We are proud to have rescued hundreds of posters from almost certain extinction by storing them in an air conditioned, acid-free environment.
We at the Cuban Poster Gallery offer both 1st and 2nd Edition posters to our customers on eBay and in our Washington D.C. gallery. We consider both to be collectible, and (in response to a question we often get) all of these posters were legally imported because the U.S. government exempts artwork from its economic embargo against Cuba. While the pricier originals are favored by some collectors, the re-screens are also collectible because they were made in the same Havana workshop as the originals. Note that we never sell unauthorized reproductions that have been cranked out in print shops in the U.S. and Europe. To us, these are utterly worthless as collectibles.
To our eBay customers, we pledge to accurately describe the posters we list and price them fairly based on condition and scarcity. Have a question? Please don't hesitate to contact us.
To view more distinctive Cuban graphics, we invite you to visit the Cuban Poster Gallery's eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/cubanpostergallery