Humberto Calzada

Humberto Calzada (born May 25, 1944, in Havana) is a Cuban-American artist living in Miami, Florida, since 1960.
Life in America
Calzada's family left Cuba shortly after the communist takeover of Fidel Castro, on October 11, 1960. He attended and graduated from Coral Gables Senior 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.
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.
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:
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.
The Surreal Theatrical Scenarios paintings. Extracting elements of Cuban architecture and placing them out of context in an unlikely setting.
Meta-Art paintings. An extension of the theatrical scenarios but incorporating his past works in the walls as one more element.
The Gardens paintings. Ruins, incomplete buildings, but still recognizable as Cuban architecture of the neo-classical period.
Still Life paintings. Brief period in which architectural elements were arranged as classical still life painting.
"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 rebirth.
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.
The Night paintings. Paintings of architectural and/or landscape themes at night.
La Hora Azul paintings. Paintings of architectural and/or landscape themes during the dusk hours.
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.
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.
Exhibitions
Solo
Solo exhibits of Calzada's artwork between 1975 and 2006.
2006–1990
Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami, A Thirty-Year. Retrospective", Miami, Florida USA
University of Miami, Bacardi Gallery, "Cuba: La Hora Azul", Miami, Florida USA
Galeria Arteconsult, "Cuba y la Noche II", Panama City, Panama
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 City, Panama
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 City, Panama
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 City, Panama
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 City, Panama
1990–1975
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 City, Panama
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 City, Panama
Forma Gallery, Coral Gables, Florida USA 1978/79/80/81/82
Galería Coabey, San Juan, P.R.
Bacardi Art Gallery, Miami, Florida USA
Collective
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 Museum, "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 Art, 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 Art, 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," Medellín, Colombia
Moss Gallery, "Contemporary Cuban Painting," San Francisco, California USA
1980–1970
"The Cuban Exhibition," De Armas Gallery, Editorial America, Miami, Florida USA
Lowe Art Museum "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
Bibliography
"Humberto Calzada" El Nuevo Herald, November 17, 1990, pp. 1D, 4D
"Las Imágenes Diversas," El Nuevo Herald, June 24, 1992, p1 D, 4 D
"Calzada: Edificaciones con Arte en el Arte," El Nuevo Herald, February 17, 1993, p. 4D
"Calzada, Cada Vez Mejor," El Nuevo Herald, Seccion Viernes de Galeria, October 7, 1994, p. 29D
"Exposicion de Humberto Calzada," El Nuevo Herald, Artes y Letras, AprIL 25, 1999, p. 2E
"El Universo Fantastico de Humberto Calzada" El Nuevo Herald, Artes y Letras March 19, 2000, pp. 1E-2E
"Humberto Calzada: Cuba y la Noche," El Nuevo Herald, Artes y Letras, March 18, 2001, p1-E.
"Humberto Calzada: La Casa Ideal Para lo Cubano", El Nuevo Herald, Artes y Letras February 16, 2003, p. 1E
"Humberto Calzada: Desde La Luz Azul", El Nuevo Herald, Artes y Letras, November 2, 2003, p. 1E
Documentaries
References
1944 births
Living people
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
Cuban painters
Cuban emigrants to the United States
20th-century American male artists