Bidspirit auction | Humberto Calzada ”Tyranny of Patience

Humberto Calzada ”Tyranny of Patience II” Painting - Humberto Calzada (Cuban, b. 1944). Acrylic on canvas painting titled ”The Tyranny of Patience II, ” 1989. Signed along the lower right; further signed, titled, and dated along the verso. Gallery labels affixed to the verso. Provenance: Gloria Luria Gallery, Florida; Bliss Fine Art Services, New York; Distinguished Corporate Collection, Minnesota. Please note, documents photographed are copies, originals will not be provided. Print-outs of copies available upon request. Lot Essay: Humberto Calzada is a Cuban-American artist known for his deep engagement with Cuban cultural memory, particularly through the use of architectural motifs. Trained as an industrial engineer, Calzada began his artistic career in the early 1960s with ink drawings that depicted colonial haciendas and mid-century Cuban architecture. These early works hinted at the architectural focus that would define his mature style. He rose to prominence in the Miami art scene around 1975 as part of the “Miami Generation” of Cuban exile artists, including Cesar Trasobares and Maria Brito, who collectively shaped a new movement in Cuban-American art. By the 1980s, Calzada's paintings began to take on surreal qualities - walls and staircases led nowhere, and water and sea imagery became dominant themes. These elements expressed both nostalgia and a conceptual exploration of displacement, memory, and identity. His work increasingly reflected a longing for the homeland he left behind, using architectural details - such as stained-glass windows, panoramic arches, and colorful tiles - as metaphors for cultural continuity. His handling of light and color further elevated these spaces into dreamlike visions, evoking both the lost past and imagined reconstructions of Cuban spaces. Height: 54 in x width: 72 in x depth: 1 1/4 in. Condition: Please email us at condition@revereauctions.com for a condition report or additional photos.