Antonio Rodríguez Morey
Period: Early Republic
1874 - 1967

Colonial Patio
Patio Colonial, 1932
oil on wood
10 1/2 x 14 1/4 inches

Antonio Rodriguez Morey (1874- 1967) was born in Havana on March 4, 1874. He studied at the San Alejandro Academy where Valentín Sanz Carta, the celebrated interpreter of the Cuban landscape, was his mentor and teacher. In 1891 he traveled to Europe in order to continue his training in drawing and painting. In 1895 he established residency in Rome where he worked in the studios of several Italian and Spanish painters. During this time he was also a Professor of drawing at the Sacred Heart Institute of Rome. Rodriguez Morey reaped numerous artistic triumphs in the most important cities of Europe and America, among these a Gold Medal Award in San Francisco (1915) and in Seville (1930). In 1911 he was granted the National Award for Best Landscape in Havana.


He was a notorious and fecund Cuban landscape painter. In 1912 he was appointed by the San Alejandro Academy to teach drawing, artistic anatomy and art history, while wholly committing his personal work to the theme of the landscape. In 1918 he occupied the position of Director of the National Museum of Havana. His participation as a Director and Conservator within this institution lasted many years, thus inscribing an important legacy to the development of the arts in Cuba. Rodriguez Morey was also member of several cultural institutions on the national level. Among his most famous artworks are: El Otoño en la Montaña ( Autumn on the Mountain), Crepúsculo en el Valle (Twilight in the Valley), Quietud (Calmness), Amanecer (Dawn), Idilio (Idyll), Cañas Bravas (Fiery Sugarcanes) and Tempestad (Tempest). Antonio Rodriguez Morey passed away in Cuba in the year 1967.