An in-depth look at the art and career of Conrado W. Massaguer by foremost Massaguer collector Vicki Gold Levi. Massaguer was a dominant force in graphic arts and popular periodicals in Cuba and abroad from the 1910s through the early 1960’s. During his long career, Massaguer created and published a number of magazines, including the highly influential Social and the widely popular Carteles.
Citing Charles Dana Gibson and James Montgomery Flagg as influences, Massaguer developed a distinctive visual style in illustration and caricature, creating an instantly identifiable modernist look in his magazine covers and ads whose impact spread across Latin America. His sense of style extended to layout and content, modernizing and updating the Belle Epoque aesthetic previously dominant in Cuba. He was a founding member of the influential association of artists, writers, and theorists, the Grupo Minorista, whose Saturday lunches drew leading national and international artists and intellectuals. In addition to his activities in Cuba, Massaguer was famous internationally as an illustrator and caricaturist, publishing caricatures and illustration in Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, and other American publications, along with French and German magazines.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A with the audience via Zoom.
TO ATTEND, CLICK HERE ON THE SCHEDULED DATE AND TIME:
https://youtu.be/nxHTWnqZ_vQ
To participate in the Q&A via Zoom, click here:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89526024766
This event is part of our CreateNYC Language Access Series on Cuban History, Art, and Literature. It will be held in English and will be streamed through our YouTube channel.
Vicki Gold Levi hails from New York City and is an author and collector of Cuban memorabilia. She is an Advisory Board Member of The Wolfsonian Museum/Florida International University in Miami Beach, and has donated over 2,000 Cuban items to the museum. These items were the bases of four exhibitions on Cuba, including the art of Cuban publisher and illustrator, Conrado Massaguer. Currently, her new exhibit, Turn the Beat Around, shines a light on Afro-Cuban music and its impact on US films, popular music, jazz and dance. This exhibition, featuring Vicki’s collection, will be on display from now till end of April. Along with Steven Heller, Vicki co-authored Cuba Style, Graphics from the Golden Age of Design and the Wolfsonian Museum published the book, Promising Paradise on her earlier Cuban exhibition of the same name. For five years, Vicki was an historical consultant on HBO’S Boardwalk Empire. Vicki has lectured on Cuba and Conrado Massaguer at the Wolfsonian Museum, the Billdner Center at CUNY Graduate Center, Florida International University, Art Deco World Congress in Cuba and Buenos Aires, and the Art Deco Society in New York City.
This event is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
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This event is a complementary presentation of our XXI Congreso Anual, this year titled La historia del periodismo en Cuba, to be streamed online on our Vimeo channel on Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 of December, 2022.