CubaPLUS Magazine

It is in a place that was previously far from the hustle and bustle and then gained the city in its unstoppable urbanizing pace. We are talking about the Hurón Azul House Museum, which from Havana neighborhood of Párraga, exists as that character since 1987 in which It was the home and workshop of the Cuban painter and novelist Carlos Enríquez, for many the best exponent of the avant-garde of the XX century.

The renowned artist had his unique home built on a farm of the capital, inherited through paternal means. He lived there since 1939 and since then he anchored himself in the place, where he used to invite a large representation of his friends, almost all intellectuals and artists irreverent, anti-academic and bohemian like himself. Although it was a kind of very notable and booming Adelantado.

They say that it was the place of the most lively gatherings, in which he talked about art and everything, in a free and unprejudiced way, at the same time that the host entertained with creole dishes and rum from the patio. His full surname was Carlos Antonio Esteban Enríquez Gómez, and he had a strong personality that was noticed very quickly. According to testimonies from family and friends, he designed his original housing modeled after a train station in Pennsylvania, that had impressed him during his stay in the United States, where he studied commerce to please his father.

Today, that house, also declared a National Monument, treasures the value added spirituality of being the place where the famous painter lived the last 18 years of his life, from 1939 until his death in 1957. His friends were many in good times for him, who In addition to the tasty meetings, they enjoyed his library, well endowed with works of current literature of its time, especially on the theme of surrealism and its impact.

,Four rooms store personal objects and works of the artist, for example, The mural of the bathers, striking for its voluptuousness direct and without modesty. It is a fact that Carlos Enríquez painted many of his works in  Blue Hurón. Among these, they achieved national and international awards. Two Ríos in 1939, Combate and La Arlequina, in 1941. Although we cannot deny that for compatriots to say Carlos Enríquez is to visualize with delight the famous Abduction of the Mulatto Women, conceived there in 1938.