Projects

The following examples highlight how materials from the José Gómez Sicre Visual Archive have been used across scholarly, curatorial, and artistic projects. Together, they demonstrate the archive’s ongoing relevance and the depth of insight it brings to the study of Cuban and Latin American modernism, offering researchers a rare opportunity to engage directly with primary sources that continue to shape and enrich the historical record. This page will be updated as more collaborations are completed.

A poster advertising an art exhibition titled 'Modern Cuban Painters from Havana to New York.' The title is prominent in red and white text. The background features vintage newspaper clippings and artwork, including colorful paintings and illustrations of modern Cuban art. The poster mentions the exhibition is curated by Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta and Cristina Figueroa Vives, and includes logos and additional details at the bottom.

2026

Exhibition: Modern Cuban Painters from Havana to New York: The Exhibition

Curators: Elizabeth Thompson Goizueta and Cristina Figueroa Vives

Venue: Bonhams, New York, NY

Dates: February 9th – March 6th, 2026

Support: Fundación Mariano Rodríguez and Bonhams

For the first time, extensive research was conducted directly within the archive, forming the foundation of this landmark exhibition. A significant selection of materials—photographs (both personal and by other photographers), scrapbook pages, museum correspondence, brochures, catalogs, and more, was lent by the José Gómez Sicre Visual Archive, including items never before shown publicly. The exhibition catalog reproduced many of these materials, underscoring the archive’s central role in reconstructing the history of the original Modern Cuban Painters exhibition.

Colorful painting of a woman sitting on a chair, holding a rooster, with a plant and flowers in the background.

2025

Publication: Modern Art in 1940s Cuba – Havana’s Artists, Critics, and Exhibitions

Author: Alejandro Anreus

Publisher: University of Florida Press

This comprehensive study of Cuban modernism in the 1940s incorporated images from the José Gómez Sicre Visual Archive, providing essential primary-source documentation for the book’s historical analysis.

Book cover titled "Democracy and Time in Cuban Thought: The Elusive Present" by Maria de los Angeles Torres. The cover features a watercolor illustration of a person with a frame around the body, sitting amidst stacks of books. There are abstract elements and torn paper with text and a star shape on the upper right corner.

2024

Publication: Democracy and Time in Cuban Thought - The Elusive Present

Author: María de los Ángeles Torres

Publisher: University of Florida Press

The author brings political theory, literature, and visual culture into dialogue to examine how Cubans have imagined and negotiated time across different historical moments. This book includes artwork created using images drawn directly from the José Gómez Sicre Visual Archive. These works function as primary‑source interventions, grounding Torres’s analysis in the material evidence of Cuba’s cultural and political history and expanding the temporal dimensions through which that history can be understood.

A minimalist poster with black and white circular and semi-circular shapes arranged in a geometric pattern. The words "Loló Soldevilla" are written in red across the center, and "Hatje Cantz" is in small black text at the bottom left corner.

2019

Publication: Loló Soldevilla: Constructing Her Universe

Venue: Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY

Dates: September 6th – October 19th, 2019

Produced in conjunction with the exhibition of the same name, this publication includes essays by Rafael Díaz Casas and Olga Viso. A photograph from the archive was reproduced, contributing to the visual and historical framing of Soldevilla’s artistic legacy.

Book cover with gray background and white text in Spanish, titled "Diálogos constructivistas en la vanguardia cubana" by Amelia Peláez, Lolo Soldveila, and Zilia Sánzhez.

2016

Exhibition: Diálogos Constructivistas en la Vanguardia Cubana: Amelia Peláez, Loló Soldevilla & Zilia Sánchez

Venue: Galerie Lelong, New York, NY

Dates: April 28th – June 25th, 2016

This exhibition drew upon a wide range of archival materials: photographs, exhibition brochures, studio portraits, and a 1951 16mm film (transferred to DVD) running 26:52 minutes. The accompanying catalog featured Ingrid W. Elliott’s essay “Between the Real and the Invisible” and included a detailed checklist of the archival materials consulted and reproduced.

A colorful abstract painting of a red flower with green leaves on a dark background, with text overlay about Amelia Peláez and modernity.

2013

Exhibition: Amelia Peláez del Casal: The Craft of Modernity

Curator: René Morales

Venue: Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), Miami, FL

Dates: December 3rd, 2013 – February 23rd, 2014

The exhibition and its accompanying book made use of archival materials, including photographs, exhibition brochures, studio portraits taken by Gómez Sicre and Julio Berestein, and installation views. Essays by René Morales and Ingrid W. Elliott incorporated and reproduced these materials, enriching the scholarly interpretation of Peláez’s work and her place within Cuban modernism.

Cover of a book titled 'Mexican Muralism: A Critical History', featuring a mural painting of workers in dark clothing and hats, working on a building or wall.

2012

Publication: Mexican Muralism – A Critical History

Editors: Alejandro Anreus, Robin Adele Greeley, and Leonard Folgarai

Publisher: University of California Press

Alejandro Anreus’s essay, “Siqueiros’ Travels and ‘Alternative Muralism’ in Argentina and Cuba,” includes a photograph from the José Gómez Sicre Visual Archive depicting David Alfaro Siqueiros in front of his 1943 mural ‘Allegory of Racial Equality and Confraternity of the White and Black Races’ in Cuba. This image provided essential visual documentation for the study of Siqueiros’s work and its broader cultural context.