Cuban artist (1918–2011)
Manuel Carbonell (October 25, 1918 – November 10, 2011) was a Cuban Contemporary and Modern artist, regarded as among the greatest Cuban sculptors of his generation. He was part of the generation of Cuban artists that includes Wifredo Lam and Agustín Cárdenas, that studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro", Havana, Cuba. Carbonell's inexhaustible vision and his ever-changing style is the product of a brilliant talent with an academic background. Ceaselessly searching for the essence of form and the absence of details, he empowered a sense of strength and monumentality to his work. Until the age of 92, he had continued to work daily in his studio.
Childhood.
Carbonell was born on October 25, 1918, in Sancti Spiritus ("Holy Spirit"), Cuba. He had two sisters: the older was Josephine and the younger Angela. His father came from a family of 18 brothers and sisters. The family history has its roots in early sugar farming, from the early 1800s.
At an early age the family moved to the city of Cienfuegos and Carbonell went to study at "Monserrat" a primary school in the city. This proved to be the beginning of many lasting friendships. Since his early childhood he was recognized for his interest in drawings and carvings. Continuing on to his more formative academic years, in Havana he attended El Colegio de Belen, a Jesuit preparatory school, where he excelled in the classes involving art and history.
Creativity.
Carbonell first realized he wanted to be a sculptor when he was eight or nine years old. He was always making little figures with clay and whenever he found a piece of paper, he would doodle little figures on it. His harshest punishment as a child was when his mother took away his pencils and paper. Having the understanding that a piece of paper could be torn apart and disappear, ingrained in him that permanence could be achieved better by sculpting. Depression would set in when he was not involved in the process of creation. Quoting him, "Something curious happens to me when I sit down to begin the process of translating the images in my imagination into this third dimension. I see the whole piece finished, actually totally finished, in my minds eye, even before I begin. But, as we all know, imagination can be very treacherous."
Education.
In 1937, he wanted to learn about art and found out about "San Alejandro", the renowned Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Academy of Fine Arts) in Havana. When he arrived, they asked him what previous training he had had. Explaining, he told them he had none. The school wanted him to go through a preliminary process for two years prior to attending, however he managed to prove himself with a clay carving that he had made that following weekend and they accepted him as a student on the spot. Carbonell was 18 years old and barely beginning at San Alejandro when he fell down some stairs. The injury was very severe; one of his kidneys had ruptured as a result of the impact. He spent nearly one year partly paralyzed, unable to move easily. He could not attend classes of course, the despair he felt, lying there, all that time was immeasurable. But little by little he learned to walk again, he just stubbornly refused to give up, finally able to return to San Alejandro. At the Academy, Carbonell studied under the guidance of Juan José Sicre, a former student of Antoine Bourdelle, Rodin's favorite disciple. In 1945, at the age of 27, Carbonell graduated with the title of Professor of Drawing and Sculpture. Carbonell met and worked alongside some great artists, Fidelio Ponce, Victor Manuel, Amelia Pelaez,Roberto Estopiñan and many others. At San Alejandro, artistic excellence meant one must measure up to maximum standards or smash it into pieces and start again, that was the norm.
Beginnings as a sculptor.
His classical and religious period developed between 1945 and 1959 some of his many important commissions included the stone carvings as bas-reliefs of the Twelve Stations of the Cross, along with The Last Rites located at Las Lomas Del Jacan in San Miguel de los Baños, Matanzas province. Last Rites, was exhibited at the National Capitol in Havana. He also sculpted a statue of the Virgin Mary for the Association of Catholic University students in Havana. A life size wood carving of a crucifixion for the chapel at the Covadonga sugar mill in Las Villas, Cuba.
Carbonell's work received immediate recognition. Dr. Roberto Lopez-Goldaras, the art critic of Havana's Diario De La Marina, in Havana, said in 1951 about his work, "We foresee for the young and distinguished sculptor Manuel Carbonell a great future; (he) who had been able to conceive a sculpture like "Eternity", will without a doubt, earn himself a glorious name, which is already a euphoric name, accredited among the literary and artistic names of Cuba."
Carbonell participated in numerous national competitions and was the recipient of many awards. The life-size stone carving Fin de Una Raza (End of A Race) earned him his first international award in 1954, for the III Bienal Hispanoamericana de Arte, in Barcelona, Spain. The sculpture became part of the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts in Havana; it appeared on the cover of Reader's Digest magazine in May 1956.
Professional journey.
For the first commercial television broadcast, "Union Radio Television", Carbonell was the host and interviewer for a weekly television program where he interviewed artist as his topic of discussion, to include Wifredo Lam, among others. He worked in various aspects of television and production whereby he won an award in set design for the "Union De La Cronica Tele-Radial Diaria" in the second festival.
By 1954 Carbonell left for Europe visiting countless museums with the goal of experiencing for himself the opportunity to stand in front of great masterpieces to appreciate them and learn. He was able to explore countries such as Spain, Italy, France and England and understand their unique cultures. Europe proved to inspire Carbonell as he studied the art of the Impressionist and Abstract artists, which inspired a change in direction to give form a sense of movement.
In addition to his accomplishments as a sculptor, he owned an operated his own interior design business "Carbonell Studio". Here he designed from French to Modern furniture, incorporating his other beloved interest of creating an environment. He also had a high-end luxury boutique of decorative objects, which ultimately provided him with an ulterior motive of a purchasing trip, he was granted a visa to travel to the United States. The perfect opportunity for defecting and leaving his homeland.
Exile to New York City.
In 1959, Carbonell fled Cuba where he could no longer live under a totalitarian regime. Leaving behind his wealth, his established positions, his sculptures, and most importantly his family. He arrived in New York City with only his tremendous talent and $200 in cash and initially took up residency at the YMCA.
Carbonell moved away from his classical and religious period, in Cuba in the late 1940s and 1950s through the commencement and development of his modern expressions of the 1960s.
Although at the beginning deeply depressed, this new trajectory first moved him to a unique form of figurative abstraction where the anatomy was subjected to the anatomical elongation of the subject matter.
Carbonell's new career in America started almost haphazardly and by chance. As payment to his then public relations manager Ted Materna and Associates he provided one of his first sculptures in clay that he had created. A very prominent doctor, Paul Henkind, then Chief of the Department of Ophthalmology at Monte Fiore Hospital, NYC, noticed the incredible sculpture and stated to Mr. Materna "I didn't know you owned a Rodin"? Which was actually a Carbonell. He insisted on meeting Carbonell to see his work and showed up unannounced at his studio in SoHo, that same evening with his wife they purchased their own Carbonell and became long lasting patrons.
Shortly after in 1961, Manuel Carbonell was introduced to Dr. Fred Schoneman, the influential and renowned gallery owner, who was impressed with what he saw of Carbonell's work, and invited him to become the gallery's first and only sculptor and he is quoted saying: "He is indeed, as the critics have acclaimed and posterity will confirm, one of the Masters of Sculpture of our times." The gallery exhibited Carbonell's sculptures alongside European Masters and French Impressionist paintings of the 19th and 20th centuries, such as Braque, Chagall, Monet, Degas, Pissarro, Picasso, Gauguin, Renoir and others. Professional artistic success came with his new figuration sculptures when in 1963, he celebrated the first of his several "One Man Show" at the renowned Schoneman Gallery, Madison Avenue, in New York City, and collaborated in One Man Shows with other galleries, exceeding ten years, until Dr. Schonemans' passing.
For his first exhibition at Schoneman Galleries, Carbonell departed from clay and plaster forms and worked in hammered metals. During this time, one sensed the influence of Pablo Gargallos' figurative abstract modern sculptures. In 1967 he extended his frontier to include another one-man show in San Francisco at the Maxwell Galleries. By 1971, Carbonell held two exhibitions, one again at Schoneman and the other at the Bacardi Galleries in Miami, Florida. At this time, Carbonell moved from his previously acclaimed hammered metals and bronze finishes to high-polished bronzes sculptures. This new work took on a completely different aesthetic, becoming more abstract. Rounded volumes replaced the elongated anatomical shapes, present in "Lovers", "Madonna of the Moon" and "Figurative Form". During an exhibition at Galerie Moos, in 1972, in Montreal, Canada, the artist unveiled new subject matters through his high-polish bronze sculptures of "Sea Horses, a Sea Lion, Snail and Mermaid".
Renamed as Randall Galleries, a former employee of Schoneman Galleries took control over the gallery in 1973, while Carbonell was preparing an exhibition that would pay tribute to dance. The dancer series was a means to show his appreciation of dance as an art form, embracing the two art forms. The delicate lines of the ballet dancers are executed from a single point of balance. The graceful forms portray the excitement of their movement and beauty which is captured in reflective golden bronze. The opportunity to amplify this series turned into a benefit for The City Center in New York City to have an exhibition titled "Homage to Ballet" in 1974.
Reuniting with family.
In 1960, Carbonell took in his two nephews, Ricardo aged 15 and Luis aged 13, to live with him in New Jersey to save them from being inducted into Castro's military army. Soon enough, nine months later his father Manuel and his sisters Angela and Josefina with her two-year-old daughter, Clara, were able to leave Cuba and come to Miami. After so many years living apart Carbonell was anxious to rejoin his family, he moved his studio to Miami in 1976. Keeping a much lower profile he continued creating and selling his sculptures and concentrated on important private commissions. During 1977 Carbonell was given the challenge to construct the "Virgin of Fatima", for the Blue Army Shrine, in Washington, New Jersey. The 26-foot, 12,000 pound bronze sculpture was placed on top of a 150-foot shrine, considered one of the largest sculptures cast in America in the 20th century. His first commissioned bronze monument in the United States: A special and personal monumental sculpture during this same time was a composition of a 10-foot in height horse and rider, balanced on two points, which was commissioned by Burt Reynolds of himself for the entrance of the Burt Reynolds Jupiter Theatre, Jupiter, Florida. The two men had a very fond and enduring friendship.
The awards formally presented by The South Florida Entertainment Writers Associations (SFEWA), an organization of major media theater critics from Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties, on November 15, 1976, they selected Carbonell as the namesake. He was the creator of the award and The Estate of Manuel Carbonell continues to be the major benefactor of the "Carbonell Awards". They represent the highest achievement awards that annually recognizes and honors excellence in South Florida theater. The organization considered this tribute to Carbonell, as he signified and represented one who devotes his life to art.
In 1976, Carbonell held a monographic exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum and Art Center, in Miami, Florida, on view at the opening