<DIV>&quot;Surely the most complete book on Cuban modernism to be published in English or Spanish. It will be indispensable to both the scholar and the general reader.&quot;--Julio Blanc, art historian</div> <DIV>&quot;The most complete and lucid discussion of the vanguardia painters of the 1920s and 1930s available anywhere.&quot;--Louis A. Pérez, Jr., University of South Florida</div> <DIV>The strong and cohesive artistic avant-garde that emerged in Havana in the twenties was seminal in the evolution of the modern Cuban identity.&nbsp; Born around the turn of the century, the vanguardia painters shared the heady sense of confidence and nationalism that characterized progressive Cuban intellectuals of the time.&nbsp; This book, lavishly illustrated with reproductions of sixty paintings,&nbsp; rediscovers the vanguardia, describing for the first time in English its importance in Cuban history and culture.<br> &nbsp;By 1927 the nucleus of the vanguardia artists (who showed their work that year in a series of exhibitions in Havana) had rejected the academic conventions of Cuba's national art academy.&nbsp; In their formative years, many had lived in Paris, where they studied and absorbed the tenets of surrealism, cubism, and modernist primitivism.&nbsp; They returned to Cuba committed to artistic innovation and eager to embrace the heritage of their island.&nbsp; They increasingly identified with the humble and exploited sectors of society, portraying the peasant--often depicted with a serious, dignified facial expression--and the countryside as symbols of national identity.<br> &nbsp;The vanguardia artists achieved international recognition in 1944 with the Modern Cuban Painting show at the Museum of Modern Art in New York; in 1951 they came full circle to the city where they discovered their artistic vision with the Contemporary Cuban Art show in Paris.<br> &nbsp;For most of this century, support for the Cuban vanguardia artists has been meager.&nbsp; Recently, however, the National Museum of Cuba has actively collected and organized retrospective exhibitions of their work, which is now widely recognized for its historic and aesthetic value.&nbsp; In the United States, the work of the vanguardia is displayed in museums from San Francisco to New York, and major holdings are on display at the Museum of Modern Art.&nbsp; In 1993 the Studio Museum in Harlem featured <i> Wifredo Lam and His Contemporaries </i>as its twenty-fifth anniversary show.</div> <DIV>Juan A. Martínez is assistant professor of art history at Florida International University.&nbsp; He lectures frequently on Cuban art at museums and conferences throughout the United States and he is the author of numerous articles and catalogue essays on Cuban art.</div>