Havana Cuba. – On June 14, 1912, Rita María Longa Aróstegui was born in Havana, the most fruitful and renowned of Cuban and, probably, Latin American sculptors. In 1928, after finishing high school, she entered the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts, where he received classes from the master sculptor Juan José Sicre for two years. Immediately afterwards, in 1930, he began taking lessons from the sculptress Isabel Chapotín at the Havana Lyceum.
Restless, sensitive and daring in her aesthetic projection, the young Rita personified the innovative character of the artistic avant-garde of the 20th century in her sculptural production. More self-taught than academic, she was interested in experimenting with shapes and shapes, revealing an exquisite technique and a lot of imagination.
His style was unique, noticeable in the diversity of materials with which he worked, mainly marble, wood, bronze, and occasionally plaster. His creations can be appreciated today in the National Museum of Fine Arts, but also in parks, cemeteries and enclaves of tourist interest.
In the 1930s, she participated as a counselor in the Estudio Libre de Pintura y Escultura, together with the artists Eduardo Abela, René Portocarrero, Mariano Rodríguez and Domingo Ravenet. There she taught ―for the first time in Cuba― techniques to carry out direct carving.
Among his many works are especially known Family group (popularly called The deers either The Deer)at the entrance of the Havana Zoological Park; piety, in the Colón cemetery; the muses the old Payret cinema-theater; The Virgin of the Way; The Fountain of the Martyrslocated in the park located in Prado and Cárcel (Old Havana) and The Taino Village in the Ciénaga de Zapata.
During her long and prolific career, Rita Longa had the opportunity to exhibit in New York, Europe and Caribbean countries. In 1947 his relief science and faith, carried out on the façade of the old League Against Cancer -today the Oncological Hospital of Havana- obtained the Gold Medal of the Architectural League of New York. Rita Longa received the Cuban National Plastic Arts Award in 1995.
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