Libertad, Pecado, Fiesta, Havana - Avril Egan oil painting. Inspired once again by cuban art and culture, focusing primarily on Cuban Art between it's defining years of 1900-1950. Cuban art in the first fifty years of the Republic, it came of age and caught up to the achievements in literature and music. Given the prominent role of music in Cuban culture I felt compelled to pay homage to it's importance in this painting furthermore, holistically speaking it is not surprising that it is a recurrent theme in cuban paintings of the early 20th century. Cuban music, like most the Island’s culture, began to develop in the 19th century while still under Spanish rule. By the 1920s there was a variety of popular music on the scene: Danzón, Son, and Rumba, among others. These musical forms combined European and African instruments and musical elements to create Cuban music. Music and dance were also major ingredients of Afro-Cuban religious practices. At times, the line between the visual representation of popular and religious music/dance is blurred.
artform: painting
theme: street
mood: happy
style: retro
Westmeath
Artist and book illustrator - specialising in landscape, portraiture and still-life. Her art can be seen in Irish publications aswell as British Vogue. "Throughout my artistic life I have taken inspiration from poetry and its vivid imagery to adapt it into paintings. Visually, I am majorly influenced by works from artists such as Frida Kahlo, Van Gogh, Edward Hopper, and Norman Rockwell due to their sensitivity in the portrayal of human nature and their ability to depict the human condition on canvas through colour and perspective. My works depict scenarios such as feeling lost, decision making, feeling overwhelmed, feeling vulnerable, strained relationships, loss of faith, the power struggle between fate and faith and ultimately the strength in being an individual.” – Avril Egan