This piece is an original, signed mixed media on paper by well known Cuban artist, Lourdes Gomez-Franca and depicts the ketch of a woman. It was purchased from the artist sometime between 1970-1980. It is matted, framed and with glass.
Measures 17" wide x 20" tall.
This is a vintage item. It is in good vintage condition. There are some scuff marks along the frame though the frame itself is rustic in nature, Some wear and tear is always expected with vintage items due to their age and use.
Lourdes Gómez Franca, better known simply as "Lourdes", was a Cuban-American painter and poet who was active in Cuba and the United States. Her work was significant in Miami and Cuban art communities of the later twentieth century and covered by many critics and scholars. She was born in Havana in 1933, where she was raised and developed a passion for art early in life. She studied trained as a painter in Cuba and later in France before eventually fleeing to Miami, Florida in 1960 during the Cuban exile following the Cuban Revolution of 1959. She would remain there and paint the rest of her life until her death in 2018. Over the course of her more than fifty-year career, she had occasional exhibitions of her paintings and wrote several poetry collections, including some collaborative works with friend and fellow Cuban artist Pablo Cano. She struggled with schizophrenia for most of her life, a theme explored in a number of her works and interviews.
Stylistically, Gomez-Franca is known for her vivid use of color, heavy impasto, and flowing, child-like Expressionistic imagery. Her subject matter ranged from interpretive portraits of friends to lush landscapes, often rural and tropical, and seasides recalling both scenes of her childhood as well as newfound inspiration from life in Miami. Other common themes and series include still lifes (especially flowers and fruit), animals (especially roosters and fish), and spiritual imagery, such as angels and the Virgin Mary. She left many of her works untitled – even undated in some cases – letting them speak for themselves in her typically pure and straightforward manner; when titles are given, they are likewise simple, unpretentious, and directly descriptive. She usually signed her paintings simply with "Lourdes" and on occasion would leave preliminary sketches on the backside of her canvases. Many of her paintings are introspective and show unique glimpses into her perspective as a female immigrant as well as her life-long struggle with mental illness. As such, she captured the world as she saw and experienced it.