Died 29 May 2000 | ||
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Rita longa
Rita Longa (June 14, 1912, Havana, Cuba—May 29, 2000, Havana, Cuba) was a Cuban sculptor.
Contents
- Rita longa
- La obra de rita longa se alza en importante cruce de la habana
- Las Tunas City of Sculpture
- Taino Indian Village
- Awards and recent exhibits
- References
She first studied commercial art and later briefly attended the ‘San Alejandro’ Academy of Fine Art but considered herself largely self-taught. She worked in bronze, marble and tile.
“Rhythm, movement, grace, refinement and elegance are some of the qualities that define the organic quality of the pieces created by this artist”.
Influenced by Art Deco, Longa created works that have become symbols of the environment to which they belong. Her Los Venados (1947) depicting a family of deer stands at the entrance to the Havana Zoo. The marble Ballerina (1950) presides over the entrance of the internationally known Tropicana Cabaret. A bronze sculpture of the Indian chief Hatuey (1953) became the symbol of Hatuey beer found all over Cuba.
Perhaps Longa’s most well known work is her modernist sculpture Shape, Space and Light (1953) positioned at the main entrance of the National Museum of Fine Arts in Havana.
La obra de rita longa se alza en importante cruce de la habana
Las Tunas “City of Sculpture”
On the initiative of Rita Longa, the city, Las Tunas, in southeast Cuba, which she considered her second home, erected more than 125 public works of art. Her bronze statue of Jose Marti, the ‘Apostle of Cuban Independence,’ situated in the plaza bearing his name, doubles as a solar clock.
Taino Indian Village
The sculptor often visited the Zapata Peninsula home of the Taino, Cuba’s indigenous people. Fascinated by their culture, she created 25 life-size sculptures from marble dust and concrete depicting their daily life. The works are now scattered about a reconstructed Taino village in Guama that she designed with architect Mario Girona.