Korda Y El Espíritu De La Revolución Cubana (Korda and the Spirit of the Cuban Revolution)

The exhibition features a selection of some of the most iconic images that symbolize the ideals of the Cuban Revolution by internationally renowned photographer Alberto Fernando Díaz Gutiérrez, better known as Alberto Korda, or simply Korda (1928-2001). This group of vintage photographs includes one of the most reproduced images in the world—Korda’s portrait of Ernesto “Che” Guevara titled Guerillero Heroíco, 1960. 

Originally part of the photographer’s personal collection, these works are on loan to the JSMA from the Collection of Dr. Steve Pieczenik and Dr. Roberta Rovner Pieczenik and Family, Chevy Chase, Maryland. In the 1950s, Korda excelled as a publicist and fashion photographer at Studios Korda in Havana.

In 1959, he changed his models from glamorous women to revolutionary heroes. In Korda’s last interview, conducted in Havana in January 2001, he stated, “I have loved the beauty of women as much as the beauty of the men who led the Revolution. The beauty of those men is not only aesthetic but also moral.” 

From 1959 to 1968, Korda enjoyed the trust and respect of Fidel Castro, and he accompanied Castro on all his national and international travels, photographing major political events as well as significant stages in the leader’s public and personal life. During this decade, Korda was not a photojournalist working for a publication or for the Cuban government, but an artist committed to his own artistic practice and to the ethics of Castro and the Cuban Revolution.

Also featured in the exhibition are several silkscreen prints published by Havana’s Organization of Solidarity with the People of Asia, Africa, and Latin America (OSPAAAL), a testament to Korda’s enduring influence on artists and other art forms in Cuba. The exhibition is co-curated by Cheryl Hartup, Associate Curator of Academic Programs and Latin American Art, and UO undergraduate history student Savannah Evans.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website