For Sale: Moncada - COR

Here's a very simple poster celebrating the 18th anniversary of the attack on the barracks at Moncada by the Cuban rebels on 26th July 1953, dating it to summer 1971. I don't know any other details about the poster other than it was produced for COR, the Comisión de Orientación Revolucionaria. This example has a water stain which adds to the charm.

This poster is for sale. See the sidebar for details.

Sao Paulo Sociedad Anonima - Oliva 1968

One of my favourite Cuban posters, Sao Paulo is for a classic of the Brazilian new wave. The film depicts an anonimous and difficult city life in Sao Paulo and paints a grim picture of life there. Thanks to Oliva's superb graphics which imitate Roy Lichtenstein's cartoon style this ICAIC poster is garish and dramatic, and it probably had a hard time conveying the negativity of the film.

Here's the opening scene:

Screenprinting at the ICAIC

I came across this short video of silkscreen poster production in progress at the ICAIC's facility in Havana.

Tricontinental magazine - images of Che

Here's a sweet little booklet from OSPAAAL's Tricontinental magazine with around 25 posters featuring Che Guevara. Printed in Cuba, the paper is thin, the printing is a bit rough but as usual the images are great.

Elevando la Conciencia - 1974

This 1974 poster for the COR celebrates the anniversary of the triumph of the revolution with the famous image of the revolutionaries holding their weapons aloft against the Cuban flag, and a Soviet star.

Solidarity with Puerto Rico - Cordoba 1976

This great OSPAAAL poster by Rolando Cordoba is an example of the more funky Cuban pop art, borrowing its style from Western sports and pop music graphics. Puerto Rico's independence from the US was dealt a blow in the early 1970s as America took possession of more land and asserted its authority. Meanwhile the political struggle for independence continued with little success. This simple image of freedom for the common man illustrates Cuba's solidarity with the anti-imperialist movement.

Festival Internacional del Cine Joven - Reboiro 1970

Here's a nice simple poster from Reboiro making good use of his trademark geometric patterns and iconic blooming plant for a poster to promote the ICAIC's festival of children's cinema.

El Corte Verano - Azcuy 1968

El Corte Verano (Short is the Summer) is a Swedish love story set in the wilderness of Lapland. Various characters participate in love, jealously, tragedy and betrayal. I don't know the significance of Azcuy's psychedelic framing of the central character but it adds a very sixties twist to this unusual Cuban poster.

Cine Movil - Bachs 1969

A classic of classics of Cuban posters, this 1969 poster for the ICAIC's Cine Movil (Mobile Cinema) project is simplicity itself. Charlie Chaplin on wheels represents the mobile cinema - a lorry that travelled into the Cuban interior to show films to the campesinos. Bachs' poster for the ICAIC is great. Confident, fun and nicely childish. As a designer Bachs' preferred to produce posters for childrens' films and this is typical of his cheeky design ideas.

El Viento Distante - Bachs 1970

A Mexican experimental film with three directors and three parts sounds like a wacky idea but Bachs' poster for the ICAIC is restrained and formal with a proper typeface and simple three column layout. Once again his trademark use of simple colours and shapes define characters and make great use of silkscreen printing.

Nosotros - Reboiro 1977

Nosotros is a 1977 Cuban documentary by Luis Felipe Bernaza about the Cuban poet Regino Pedroso who I believe wrote a poem entitled The Freedom Train. Reboiro used a lot of technical drawings in his posters and this is typical of his mixture of the traditional and modern, mixing geometric shapes, bold colour and fine line drawing.

La Primera Carga al Machete - Oliva 1969

La Primera Carga al Machete (The First Charge of the Machete) is a Cuban documentary by Manuel Octavio Gómez that tells the story of the 1868 uprising against Spanish colonials. Although the message of the film is serious it uses cinematic experimentation and playful techniques to bring contemporary film making to the 19th century battle. It also uses wild hand held camera shots and an abstract style that can be hard work to watch.

Oliva's poster steals heavily from the San Francisco scene of the late 60s. Although American poster art was not officially available in Cuba the Cuban artists got hold of various publications that were passed round and appropriated. In this case Oliva's poster may have been a little bit too American in style as another version of this Cuban poster exists to promote the film in France. This is great though and its wild style really waves two fingers at the authorities.

Los Vengadores Incapturables - Bachs 1968

Edmond Keosaian's 1966 Soviet western Elusive Avengers (Неуловимые мстители) is a colour cult classic featuring a gang of four protecting a village from bandits. Working with silkscreen printing creates major limitations for artists, who find that having to stick to flat colours and simple shapes can be restrictive. As the Cuban poster artists grew into the medium they started to create work that made the most of the limitations. In this poster Bachs has used very simple shapes to create a vibrant image to represent the simple peasant dress of the film's characters. The artistic style and shape of the text is Bachs' trademark.

 

Here's the opening five minutes, courtesy of YouTube:

Christ Guerrilla - Rostgaard 1969

This OSPAAAL poster by Alfredo Rostgaard is unusual for a number of reasons. It is originally a painting that mimics religious iconography through its use of classical and renaissance artistic techniques. This is Christ, framed with a gold leaf halo, carrying a rifle - the ultimate revolutionary, a true believer. What is a surprise is the use of Christ as an icon for the Cuban revolution. Castro and the Cuban Government were very anti-religion, even banning the celebration of Christmas day from 1969. Once again though this is a very confident graphical statement and a great poster.

Brigade Venceremos - Reboiro 1969

This is a very rare poster designed by Antonio Reboiro in 1969 to promote the Brigade Venceremos in the US. The Brigade Venceremos - "young Americans sharing the life and work of revolutionary Cuba" - was part of the Cuban effort to find sources of labour. Reboiro designed this poster to look like an American hippie poster. He succeeded in capturing the psychedelic style but again this is typically Cuban. This poster was produced in very small numbers to be distributed in the USA. Venceremos means "we will be victorious".

Solidarity with Africa - Forjans 1969

Another African statue by Jesus Forjans for OSPAAAL. This striking image of powerful traditional warrior is set against a background of modern weapons. Another dramatic OSPAAAL poster and typical of the late 1960s as Cuban artists moved away from photography based posters to a vibrant and very confident style.

Solidarity with Zimbabwe - Forjans 1973

This is a great image and a nice mixture of the traditional and the modern. Here Jesus Forjans' african statue is equipped with an AK47, the symbol of revolutionary freedom, set against the OSPAAAL logo. At its best, Cuban poster art uses some of the simplest ideas to create some of the most striking designs. This is economic in its message but very powerful. The statue represents the power and tradition of the Zimbabwean people in the struggle for independence from Great Britain.

Nixon in Vietnam - Mederos 1971

René Mederos has combined playful graphics, photo montage and an element of surrealism to create this sinister, dramatic image of Nixon as a bird of prey ripping the heart out of North Vietnam and Laos. The bird has the look of a Nazi-era eagle.

Go American GI - Rostgaard 1971

Mad pop art stylings from Alfredo Rostgaard make this poster one of my favourites. His crazy use of cartoon graphics and colour bely the seriousness of the message. The monstrous American GI is controlled by the capitalist. 1971 is the mid-point of the Vietnam war and a time when the American war machine was in overdrive. Massive spending and major escalation was becoming less focused and more desperate. I have included detail of the face below. As you can see, this poster has heavy creasing.

El Salvador - Luisvega 1973

The film El Salvador (The Saviour or Le Sauveur) is French, set in 1943 and features a young girl who harbours a foreign solder who she thinks is English. On being captured by the Nazis she discovers that the soldier is actually German. The film plays out the corruption of innocence against a backdrop of World War II. The half tone head and bright halo are nice touches of colour in this otherwise stark black poster.

Primero Dejar de Ser - Mederos 1968

This is a text only poster by artist Rene Mederos. Although stylistically this is very simple it still manages to look good. Translation: Better not to be, than not to be revolutionary.

Mas Revolucion

Mas Revolucion (More Revolution) is a text only poster proclaiming war on a variety of imperialist traits - vice, egoism, exploitation, individualism, etc. Compared to a lot of Cuban posters this is very restrained but it still makes great use of scrapbook style cartoon font - once again a playful and fun style for a serious message.

I don't know the date, the agency that issued this or the artist. I suspect Bachs but similar font style turns up in posters by a number of artists.

OSPAAAL - The Art of Solidarity

OSPAAAL The Art of Solidarity is my research bible. It lists every OSPAAAL poster, many of them in colour, by year and with details of the artists where they are known. The book was published in Italy with help from Dan Walsh and Lincoln Cushing of the Cuba Poster Project and assistance from the Havana National Library and Editora Politica. A vital book, a great reference tool, and a collection of beautiful images. A classic book for Cuban posters.

Alfredo Rostgaard - Wikipedia

I wrote a short bio on Alfredo Rostgaard, a key Cuban poster artist, for Wikipedia. Here's the original text which I'll try to improve once I have more time.

Alfredo Rostgaard is a Cuban graphic designer and artist. He is one of the leading designers of revolutionary Cuban film and political posters through his work for the Instituto Cubano de Arte e Industria Cinematográfico, Organisation for Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America, Casa de las Americas, Comisión de Orientación Revolucionaria and other Cuban agencies. Rostgaard's work has been exhibited worldwide and he has received a number of awards and recognition for his designs. Referencing pop art and psychedelic poster art, Rostgaard's work also includes figurative painting and Warhol-esq commercial graphics. The majority of his designs are playful and fun, a product of the artist's ability to incorporate a sense of humour into sometimes very serious subjects. He is one of the most prolific of the revolutionary designers that contributed to Cuba's massive output of posters during the mid 60s to mid 70s. Born in Guantanamo in 1943 Rostgaard studied at the Jose Joaquin Tejada school of art in Santiago de Cuba. In 1963 he was appointed artistic director of Mella, the magazine of the union of young communists. He also acted as caricaturist for the magazine where he learnt to mix humour and politics. After arriving in Havana in 1965 he began designing posters for the ICAIC and became artistic director of OSPAAAL in 1966 where he resided for nine years. From 1975 he worked for UNIAC, the Union of Cuban Artists. As well as posters he has also designed book and magazine covers and layouts. Rostgaard's work has been widely exhibited and he has won a number of awards for his designs. Rostgaard died in Havana on December 27 2004.

Solidarity with Japan - Menéndez 1969

Here's a great design for OSPAAAL from Guillermo Mendéndez for a poster for the day of solidarity with the Japanese people. It's a busy but stunning design using both photography and an unusual collection of shapes and colours. August 6th is the day of the bombing of Hiroshima. This is a rare Cuban poster.

Illuminacion Intima - Nico 1968

Illuminacion Intima (Intimate Lighting or Intimni Osvetleni) is a classic of the Czech New Wave from 1965 and focuses on life in a small village where music is a preoccupation. Through a number of loosely connected comedy scenes the men of the film neglect their wives due to their obsession with music. This is another confident and colourful silkscreen from Nico.

Golgota - Nico 1968

Golgota is a Romanian film from 1966. And that is all I know about it. Nico's 1968 poster for the ICAIC is great but doesn't give much away about the film.

El Gran Robo del Tren de San Trinian - Bachs 1968

El Gran Robo del Tren de San Trinian (The St Trinians Great Train Robbery) is a 1966 British comedy about the pupils of a girls school who thwart the attempts by the great train robbers to recover the loot from their heist, which happens to be stashed in the girls' school building. Bachs' 1968 ICAIC silkscreen poster is a classic with simple but effective cartoon graphics and his trademark homemade text.


This poster is printed on brown paper rather than the usual white.

1 Mayo - Dimas 1973

This 1973 poster for the ICAIC is unusual in that it is not for a film but for the 1 May celebrations - Labour Day and a celebration of the revolution marked by long speeches, revolutionary songs and a parade in Havana and other Cuban towns and cities. This is a simple and fun poster by little know artist Dimas.


Here's a YouTube clip of the recent 1 May celebrations in Havana:

El Azote de Dios - Bachs 1968

El Azote de Dios (God's Whip or Bicz Bozy) is a 1967 Polish comedy. Regular ICAIC designer Bachs has gone for a very crazy cartoon style with this poster with the text at jagged angles and a lot of playful graphics.



Here's the original Polish poster for comparison:

Apartheid - 1967

Another early poster from OSPAAAL, in this case raising awareness of the cruelty of South Africa's Apartheid movement. The stark black and white image is highly appropriate for the black and white politics of the regime. Cuba is a long supporter of Mandela and since the early days of the revolution has called for the end of Apartheid.

Day of the Heroic Guerrilla - Serrano 1968

In Cuba 8th October is the Day of the Heroic Guerrilla and commemorates the revolutionary life of Che Guevara, executed by the CIA on October 9th 1967. This poster is vibrant, dramatic, colourful and celebratory. Che had only been dead a year and already he was becoming an icon, a symbol of the revolution and deified as the romantic freedom fighter. This is an early example of the use of Korda's famous cropped photograph of Che. Designer Elena Serrano has used pop art stylings to merge the legend with the Latin America that the Cuban leaders believed would eventually succumb to similar revolutions.

Solidarity with Laos

Another photography-based and very early OSPAAAL poster highlighting the plight of Laos as it was caught up in the Vietnam conflict. The USA began bombing the country and supported the South Vietnamese army's invasion that led to a series of coups. This poster was issued before the US started a massive bombing campaign in the early 70s.

Congo L - Forjans 1968

In 1960 the Republic of Congo achieved independence from Belgium and began a move towards socialism. In the mid-sixties Prime Minister Patrick Lumumba became involved in a struggle with the chief of the armed forces Joseph Mobutu. With the military receiving funds from the US and Belgium Mobutu had the strength to mount a coup. Lumumba was eventually executed. This a dramatic photographic image of a fighter. Typical of OSPAAAL posters this 1968 poster romanticises armed struggle in the name of socialism. Congo-L refers to Congo-Léopoldville - the name of the territory once ruled by Belgium.

Day of Solidarity with Zimbabwe - 1967

This is a simple poster from OSPAAAL highlighting Zimbabwe's struggle for independence from Great Britain. At the time the country was called Rhodesia so OSPAAAL's use of its African name is significant. Artist unknown.

Nixon - Rostgaard 1972

Here's another nice folding poster from OSPAAAL, again designed by Alfredo Rostgaard. In this case the subject is Nixon, depicted as politician on one side of this poster. When the poster is folded out Nixon, the key protagonist in the escalation of the Vietnam war, is revealed as a vampire. This is a very wild and colourful poster, referencing the psychedelia of Peter Max and the pop artists.

Black Panther - Rostgaard 1968

This very rare OSPAAAL folding poster designed by Alfredo Rostgaard once again uses playful graphics to highlight a very serious issue. The Black Panthers were clearly bulletproof and would fight back if attacked. A simple message of support for the Black Panthers from the Cuban government. The poster opens and unfolds to reveal the panther's roar.

Cinameteca de Cuba - Morante 1985

Cinemateca de Cuba is the Cuban film festival. For the twenty fifth anniversary of the first event in 1960 the original poster was re-issued with subtle differences. Chaplin in red and the script in silver ink. Rafael Morante is the artist and his use of Chaplin, the island's icon of film, depicted in the simplest of shapes is restrained and classy.

Tierra En Trance - Reboiro 1968

I love this ICAIC film poster. It is erie and unusual. Reboiro's mysterious halftone print eye creates a very different mood to most Cuban film posters. Tierra en Trance (Earth Entranced or Terra em Transe) is a Brazilian film about bourgeois corruption. It tells the story of a conflict between popular governor and right wing dictator in Eldorado using wild camerawork.

Here's a YouTube clip of the film:

Hotel Para Extraneros - Niko 1969

Niko's colourful ICAIC poster for the Czech film Hotel Para Extraneros (Hotel for Strangers or Hotel Pro Cizince) features a troubled character injured and crying out. The film reconstructs the diary of a murdered man using fantasy, symbolism and shifting time. Typical of the Czech new wave the film examines the pressure on an individual that does not conform and which ultimately leads to death.

El Quid - Rostgaard 1967

El Quid (The Quid - English slang for a pound or The Knack (UK title)) is a British film about picking up hip chicks in swinging 60s London. Rostgaard nailed the design, which is simple and cool with just a hint of raunchiness.

Here's the original trailer on YouTube:

El Hijo Prodigo - Bachs 1969

A poster from Bachs that references the style of Polish movie posters, El Hijo Prodigo (Return of the Prodigal Son) is feature examining the soul of a man who attempts suicide. Bachs Cuban poster for the ICAIC centres on the man and his desire for flight or escape represented by the butterfly. The Polish poster featured below has almost the same visual idea of a dark character with bright colourful wings.

Viento Negro - Bachs 1968

With lots of bold colour and a very confident cartoon style this is typical of Bachs style in the late 60s. This ICAIC silkscreen is for a Mexican film about a group of men trying to prevent the railroad being built in the desert. The main character is the mayor played by David Reynoso is depicted in the poster.