Carmen Herrera (1915-2022) was known for painting canvases with beautiful, abstract shapes. She was an artist for most of her life, but didn’t receive serious recognition until she was 89 years old.
Carmen Herrera (1915-2022) was known for painting canvases with beautiful, abstract shapes. She was an artist for most of her life, but didn’t receive serious recognition until she was 89 years old.
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Hello, from Wonder Media Network, I’m Jenny Kaplan and this is Womanica.
This month, we're highlighting women who've led dynamic lives. Ones that have shifted, evolved and bloomed, often later in life.
Today we’re talking about a woman who was known for painting canvases with beautiful, abstract shapes. She was an artist for most of her life, but didn’t receive serious recognition until she was 89 years old.
Please welcome Carmen Herrera.
Carmen was born in Havana, Cuba on May 31, 1915. She was the youngest of seven children and was born into a wealthy family. Her father Antonio Herrera was the founding editor of El Mundo, a prominent Havana newspaper, and her mother, Carmen Nieto, worked there as a reporter.
Carmen’s childhood was filled with music, art, and literature.
When she was just eight years old, she started taking art lessons with her older brother, Addison, and the artist Federico Edelman y Pinto. They studied sculpture and painting.
Their family’s relatively liberal ideals meant that Carmen also grew up a feminist. She later explained, “I guess I was born a feminist because I always thought I was superior to my brothers.”
After graduating from high school, in Paris, Carmen returned home to Havana. But political turmoil was ripping through the country. The president was forced to step down, and several of Carmen’s relatives were imprisoned for political dissidence.
Despite the political unrest in her country, Carmen was able to attend the elite Instituto de la Habana. She took sculpture and painting classes, and exhibited her work at the Circulo de Bellas Artes in 1933, when she was just 18 years old. She then studied architecture at the University of Havana but dropped out in the thick of Cuba’s political upheaval
In the summer of 1937, Carmen met Jesse Loewenthal, an American teacher visiting Cuba. Born to two Jewish immigrants in New York, he was a polyglot who spoke English, Spanish, German, Yiddish, French, and Italian. Jesse and Carmen’s mutual interest in the arts and literature sparked a romance . On July 11, 1939, the two of them were married and she returned with him to New York.
For a while, the couple lived in Paris, where Carmen pursued her painting quite seriously. Her style began to shift from a more traditional style to more abstract. She exhibited her new work at a few places but never sold a painting
In 1954, she and Jesse returned to New York permanently. It was during this period that her art became more minimalist, and she created many of the paintings she is known for today. Her pieces were huge, with sharp lines, bright colors and strong shapes.
But she was an outsider in the art world. Carmen was Cuban, and she was a woman, and she was a Cuban woman making abstract art. No one knew what to make of her.
But all that changed in 2004, when Carmen sold her first painting. She was 89 years old.. A few years later, she had her first European solo show at Ikon Gallery in Birmingham, England. On her 100th birthday, a documentary about Carmen and her art was released. It was called “The 100 Years Show.”
In 2016, Carmen got a long overdue display at the Whitney Museum of Art. The show was called “Carmen Herrera: Lines of Sight.” It showcased around 50 of her works from the mid-twentieth century.
Carmen was later recognized in a Whitney opening speech by former First Lady Michelle Obama who named her among other timeless artists as inspirations to future generations.
At age 106, she was still working and full of life. In an interview, she said “I cannot walk the length of my studio, but my mind can travel far to places I have been and my imagination to some I have not.”
On February 12, 2022 Carmen passed away in the Manhattan loft where she’d worked and painted for over 50 years. Carmen’s work had been recently acquired by several prominent museums including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the Tate Modern in London.
Carmen, who worked for decades without recognition or sales, is now remembered for her genuine passion for painting. She’s finally getting the honor she deserves.
All month, we’re highlighting dynamos. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to Liz Kaplan, my favorite sister and co-creator.
Talk to you tomorrow!