Part of the Cuban vanguardia (or vanguard movement), René Portocarrero broke with the academic style of art that prevailed in Cuba in order to create a modern visual language that expressed his cultural identity. Born in Havana on 24 February 1912, René Portocarrero was one of the great second-generation artists of the Cuban avant-garde movement. Multi-talented, he was a painter of easel pictures, ceramicist, illustrator, muralist and set designer. Portocarrero’s early works were expressionist in style and explored a varied body of subject matter that was inspired by his native country.