José Villalta Saavedra

Statue of José Martí in Parque Central, Havana, sculpted by Villalta Saavedra in 1905. José Villalta Saavedra (born January 27, 1862, Havana, - died March 16, 1912, Rome) was a Cuban sculptor. One of the first native Cuban sculptors, Villalta was a mulatto born in Havana. Thanks to private patrons, he was able to train in Europe, first in Canarias (Spain) and then in la Reale Accademia di Belle Arti di Carrara. He worked in Italy and Cienfuegos.

Works Villalta created several important Cuban monuments and statues, including the statue of José Marti located in Havana's Parque Central (Central Park) (dedicated February 24, 1905) and the monument to Cuban engineer Francisco de Albear. Villalta completed the Albear statue in Florence, Italy in 1893. The sculptor won a national competition to create a memorial to eight Cuban medical students executed in 1871 by Spanish colonial troops. It was completed in 1889, and it was the first monument made in Cuba by a Cuban artist. Cubans come to her grave every day to ask for children or love affairs. Villalta carved the sculpture out of one piece of Carrara marble, and he finished the work in 1902.

In his last years, he made the marble monument of Joaquín Albarrán, in Sagua La Grande, in 1910 and the monument dedicated to the martyrs, located in the Martyrs Park, in the city of Cárdenas, Matanzas Province, Cuba. The last one was placed in 1912, shortly after Villalta's death.