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A painter, sculptor, draftsperson, printmaker, novelist, teacher, and host of an influential salon in Havana, Cuba, Soldevilla created and powerfully advocated for concretismo, or “concrete” art—defined as art with no basis in the natural world or symbolic content. Nevertheless, the title of this painting, perhaps a twist on the Cole Porter song “Night and Day” (1932), suggests the phases of the sun and the moon. The limited palette and range of triangular and circular shapes may also evoke the notes of a rhythmical composition, the call and response of song or the contrasting loud and soft sounds of music. The visual rhythms and shifting shapes that characterize such works became part of a national narrative of freedom in the era of the Cuban Revolution.
Image Copyright Restricted
Día y noche (Day and Night)
Loló Soldevilla (Cuban, 1901–1971)
1955
Object Place: Havana, Cuba
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height x width: 80.5 x 80.5 cm (31 11/16 x 31 11/16 in.)
Credit Line
Anonymous gift in memory of Antonio F. Cao
Accession Number2017.4435
CollectionsContemporary Art, Americas
ClassificationsPaintings
A painter, sculptor, draftsperson, printmaker, novelist, teacher, and host of an influential salon in Havana, Cuba, Soldevilla created and powerfully advocated for concretismo, or “concrete” art—defined as art with no basis in the natural world or symbolic content. Nevertheless, the title of this painting, perhaps a twist on the Cole Porter song “Night and Day” (1932), suggests the phases of the sun and the moon. The limited palette and range of triangular and circular shapes may also evoke the notes of a rhythmical composition, the call and response of song or the contrasting loud and soft sounds of music. The visual rhythms and shifting shapes that characterize such works became part of a national narrative of freedom in the era of the Cuban Revolution.
Signed
Signed on back of canvas in paint: “Loló – 55”
ProvenanceAcquired directly from the artist by Carlos Puebla (b. 1917–d. 1989), Havana, Cuba [see note]; gift of Puebla to the mother of Jorge González, Havana; by descent to Jorge González; November 9, 2011, sold by González to the artist’s daughter, Magaly Barba Soldevilla (deceased), and granddaughter, Martha Flora Carranza Barba, Havana; 2016, sold by Martha Flora Carranza Barba to an anonymous donor; 2016, gift of anonymous donor to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 14, 2017)
NOTE: Singer Carlos Puebla was a friend of the artist. A photograph, probably from the late 1960s or 1970s, shows Puebla playing a guitar in front of the painting.
NOTE: Singer Carlos Puebla was a friend of the artist. A photograph, probably from the late 1960s or 1970s, shows Puebla playing a guitar in front of the painting.