Tuesday 13th March 2012
The Heiko by Heiko Lecture
Art and Architecture of Cuba
Presented by Dr. Mervyn Miller Ph.D.,B.A.,Bachelor of Architecture
Cuba’s popularity as a holiday destination increased in the 1990s, when the Castro government identified tourism as a means of attracting foreign currency to stave off economic collapse, once Russian financial support diminished.
The rich, diverse architectural and cultural heritage spreads across five centuries, following the Spanish Colonization in 1512. Old Havana was laid out to a sophisticated plan, with a grid of streets, spacious plazas, grand buildings with central courtyards and arcades. European Baroque and Neo-Classical styles were overlaid with Latin exuberance.
Cuba struggled but was granted independence from Spain in 1899, but the settlement of the Spanish-American War in 1902, brought in strong American influence as the price for establishing the Republic. Art Deco skyscrapers and hotels were typical of the 1920’s, and Cuba remained popular for Americans even after the 1929 Wall Street Crash.
Development and investment peaked in the 1950’s but coincided with the corrupt Battista government, and growing guerrilla activity, encouraged by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. The 1959 Revolution brought hard-line communism, backed by Russia for 30 years – health and education progressed, but at the cost of precious personal freedom.
Cultural triumphs included the National Ballet, with Covent Garden superstar Carlos Acosta. Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982. Training of conservation craftspeople matches standards found in the west, but given economic poverty, the challenge remains enormous.
About Dr. Mervyn Miller
Architect, town planner, historian; President of Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust, Architectural Adviser to Lutyens Trust. Vice President RIBA 1993-5, with Education Portfolio, Executive Secretary Hertfordshire Building Preservation Trust 1987-92. Visited Australia (1998). 1998 Awarded Visiting Fellowship at Oxford Brookes University.
Tuesday 27h March 2012
The Futura Hearing Centre – Arroya de Miel Lecture
Joachin Sorolla “The Artist Who Dipped His Brush In Sunlight”
Presented By Liz Cochrane
Joaquin Sorolla was born in 1863 in Valencia. He received his initial art education, at 14 under teachers including Cayetano Capuz & Salustiano Asenjo. At 18 he travelled to Madrid, studying master paintings in the Museo del Prado. At 22 Sorolla studied painting in Rome.
A sojourn to Paris in 1885 provided his first exposure to the modern painting of of Jules Bastien-Lepage and Adolf von Menzel. Back in Rome he studied with José Benlliure, Emilio Sala, & José Villegas.
In 1888, Sorolla returned to Valencia to marry. In 1890, they moved to Madrid, and for the next decade Sorolla’s efforts were focused on the production of large canvases of orientalist, mythological, historical, and social subjects.
Sorolla’s work is represented in museums and private collections throughout Spain (including the Museo Sorolla), America. His works were exhibited at the Petit Palais in Paris alongside those of John Singer Sargent, a contemporary who painted in a similar style. In 2009, there was a special exhibition of his works at the Prado in Madrid and in 2010, an exhibition at the Oscar Niemeyer Museum in Curitiba, Brazil.
About Liz Cochrane
Scottish but moved to Spain 20 years ago. Former art teacher, then head teacher of a school in a remote part of the west highlands. Was married to a Spanish painter. They had a successful small gallery in Scotland. Since 1998, has given many talks & lectures on Art History for U3A in Fuengirola & Marbella and to NADFAS. Hobbies and interests – insatiable reader, also writes articles & one published novel – a thriller set in the Tour de France, (being a fan of road cycling!)
For further information please telephone Ali Durston (Nerja) 95 253 3373