ABSTRACT
The early 1950s witnessed the beginnings of a much greater synthesis of the arts in Cuba. In 1952, the Cuban artists Sandu Darie, Luis Martinez Pedro, and Mario Carreno founded the journal Noticias de Arte in which they advocated for a union of architects and artists in generating more integrated projects. By the late 1950s, Estrella and Felipe would own several properties in the capital. One of these was an apartment on the sixth floor of the recently completed Edificio Almar by the architect Antonio Boada (1953), in the Alturas de Miramar neighborhood. Emilio produced a series of drawings and watercolors in the Pinar del Rio province, capturing tobacco warehouses, farmer’s houses, and country stores, filled with ordinary dry goods for sale. Sanchez also had the opportunity to study the natural countryside around Cienfuegos, particularly the flora at the Atkins Botanical Garden.
