Toma Sanchez Florida / Cuba (b.1948) Little Red Riding Hood oil on canvas signed with initials lower right. From the Archives of askArt: From his studio in Bal Harbour, Florida, he creates tropical forest scenes, primarily in hues of greens, and has stirred a widespread following that has made him one of the leading Cuban emigrant artists in America. His botanic ally correct paintings, surreal in their symbolism, are of dense growth with gnarled roots, choking moss, and draped vines. He seldom paints from direct observation but from his imagination that does not reflect his native Cuba, a deforested country. He seldom has figures in his landscapes. He was born in the village of Aguada de Pasajeros in Central Cuba and was a sickly youth, spending much time wandering around the local farm land. In 1964, he began two years of study at the San Alejandro School of Plastic Arts in Havana where his training was academic and very conservative. At the age of twenty, he entered the National School of Art in Havana and was much influenced there by expressionist painter Antonia Eiriz, who taught him to focus on what he, not others, saw in nature. In the 1970s, he did expressionist genre scenes of social realism, but from the mid-1970s painted his signature landscapes. He also became quite interested in the Hudson River School painters in upstate New York and spent time in that area. He taught briefly in Cuba at the National Art School, but was expelled because of his devotion to Yoga, something he practices several hours a day and a ritual that was perceived as a threat to Marxism. He then spent time in Europe, Japan, India, Mexico, and the United States, and began earning prestigious recognition and solo exhibitions including one at Weiss/Sori Fine Art in Coral Gables, Florida. In 1998, he had a solo show at the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art. One of the greatest tributes to him is the fact that hundreds of paintings turn up with his counterfeited signature. 23 3/4"H x 35 3/4"W (sight), 30 1/2"H x 42 3/8"W (frame)