Sugar Cane and Fruit Sellers in Cuba

Born in 1828 in Santiago de Cuba, Federico Martínez received his early artistic training in Havana, at the Academy San Alejandro, now the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. Shortly after completing his studies, he travelled to Florence to hone his painterly skills. Upon his return to Cuba, Martínez established his studio and workshop and dedicated himself to painting and teaching. The onset of the war in 1868 forced Martínez, along with many other artists, to leave Cuba and emigrate to New York. Martínez arrived in the U.S. around 1870, where he dedicated himself to portrait painting until his death in 1912. The Museo Nacional de Bellas Arts in Havana houses three of Martínez’s works in their permanent collection, including a portrait of María Wilson y Mijares, painted in New York in 1881, as well as a portrait of fellow artist Víctor Patricio de Landaluze, executed in 1879. Although best-known for his portraiture of Cuba’s new elite creole class, the present work instead depicts a scene of everyday life on the island, drawing close parallels to the Costumbrismo of Landaluze. Here, Martínez portrays two peasants engaged in conversation; at their feet, a bounty of tropical fruits, and behind them a bundle of sugar cane—Cuba’s largest export in the 19th century. Dating to 1871, the work was most likely painted shortly after Martínez arrived in New York; indeed, amidst the hustle and bustle of the big city, his homeland must have seemed a distant memory.