Fernando Tarazona

Fernando Tarazona was a Spanish-born painter who lived much of his life in exile, in Cuba. He was one of the first painters in the world to focus on Afro-Cubans as his principal subject matter. Many of these works depicted magical realism and spirituality. He also painted landscapes and portraits.

Tarazona was a Spanish Republican who was exiled from Spain following the Spanish Civil War. He was good friends with his fellow Republican sculptor Manuel Madridejos Borrachero, and showed much of his art in double-exhibitions with him. Teatro Lutgardita, 1994. The panoramic mural that wraps around the front of the theatre is by Tarazona. In 1932, Tarazona painted the large panoramic painting in the Teatro Lutgardita (now known as the "Teatro Sierra Maestra," or "Cine Sierra Maestra" ), depicting Central American landscapes. The Sierra Maestra Cinema is Cuba's only atmospheric style cinema, and after a couple of decades of disuse, was remodeled in 2007. Tarazona also collaborated in the interior design of the theatre. Some historians of Afro-Caribbean culture write that Tarazona's interpretation of these religions incorrectly propagated stereotypes about these religions, especially those paintings such as La Ahijada del Santo (The Saint's Protégé), from 1936, which depicts Afro-Cuban men dressed in toga-like clothing playing tribal drums in a religious ceremony, bringing a nude woman to a spiritual ejaculation and climax through prayer and song. This indicates to some historians an evolution in his understanding of Afro-Cuban culture.

In 1951, Tarazona was requisitioned by the family of the Count of Rivero to paint the posthumous portrait of José Ignacio Rivero Alonso that appears in the Museo de Arte Moderno in Madrid.

In October 1937, Tarazona exhibited at the Paul Reinhardt art gallery in New York City.

Many of his works are in the Museum of Guanabacoa, including El Juramento.