Mario Carreño (1913-1999) Bajo el Sol, 1951 Oil on canvas 31 x 41 inches (78.7 x 104.1 cm) Signed and dated upper right: Carreño · 51 PROVENANCE: The artist, Havana, Cuba; Arthur and Renate Soybel, New York, acquired from the above, 1953; Sotheby's, New York, May 7-9, 1981, lot 72; Rafael Tudela, Caracas, Venezuela, acquired from the above; By descent to the present owner. EXHIBITED: Venice, XXVI Bienal, 1952. LITERATURE: Noticias de Arte, "Pintura Cubana en la Exposición Bienal de Venecia," vol. 1, no. 1, 1952, illustrated. NOTE: We thank Ramon Cernuda of Cernuda Arte, Coral Gables, Florida, for kindly confirming the authenticity of this lot. According to Mr. Cernuda, Under the Sun is a major artwork in Carreño's oeuvre, a transition painting in 1951 from the figurative to the abstract. Mario Carreño was one of the leading figures of Cuban modernism, and Bajo el Sol, painted in 1951, dates from a particularly important turning point in his career. During the 1940s, Carreño had become known for colorful figurative compositions inspired by Cuban and Afro-Cuban life. By the beginning of the 1950s, however, recognizable figures and landscapes were increasingly giving way to simplified forms, stronger geometry, and abstraction. Bajo el Sol captures this transition beautifully. The warmth and intensity suggested by the title—"Under the Sun"—remain connected to the Caribbean landscape, yet Carreño no longer describes that world in a conventional way. Forms are simplified and organized into broad areas of color, allowing the experience of sun, land, and atmosphere to become increasingly abstract. His exceptional sense of color provides the connection between the visible world and the geometric language he was beginning to explore. The year 1951 was pivotal for Carreño. Following an extended period in New York, where he encountered international modernism firsthand, he returned to Cuba and soon became one of the leading advocates for geometric abstraction there. Bajo el Sol, therefore, stands at a fascinating crossroads: the warmth and identity of his earlier Cuban imagery are still present, while the structure and abstraction of his important work of the 1950s are already emerging. Rather than abandoning the Caribbean world that had inspired him, Carreño found a new way to express it. In Bajo el Sol, color and geometry begin to carry the memory of landscape—a transformation that would become central to his contribution to Latin American modernism. HID12401132022 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Venice, XXVI Bienal, 1952.

The artist, Havana, Cuba; Arthur and Renate Soybel, New York, acquired from the above, 1953; Sotheby’s, New York, May 7-9, 1981, lot 72; Rafael Tudela, Caracas, Venezuela, acquired from the above; By descent to the present owner.

Unlined. Presents very well. Scattered areas of faint craquelure. Small linear abrasion in upper right region. UV examined: no apparent in-paint. A few scattered points fluoresce white.
Framed Dimensions 39.5 X 49.5 Inches