RENÉ PORTOCARRERO (1912-1985) Santa Bárbara signed and dated 'Portocarrero 69' (lower right) oil on board laid down on board 19 4/5 x 16 in (50.5 x 40.7cm) Painted in 1969 Footnotes: The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the Fundación Arte Cubano. Provenance Father Ángel Gaztelu Gorriti Collection, Miami. Acquired from the above by the present owner. In Santa Bárbara (1969), René Portocarrero presents one of the most enduring motifs of his mature practice: the female figure as a locus where spirituality, popular culture, and ornamental excess converge. Executed during a period of heightened chromatic intensity, the composition is constructed through fragmented planes of color that evoke stained glass, altarpieces, and imagined architectural structures-references that recur throughout Portocarrero's reinterpretation of the sacred. The saintly figure, often read through the lens of Afro-Cuban religious syncretism, is rendered with vibrant tonal contrasts and a restrained yet deliberate gestural language. This balance reinforces a sense of ceremonial stillness, transforming devotion into a pictorial act of exuberance. Religious iconography is not illustrated but reimagined, subsumed into a modern, sensorial vision rooted in Cuban visual culture. Widely regarded as one of the most significant figures of twentieth-century Cuban art, Portocarrero is celebrated for his expressionist language, urban imagery, and his distinctive ability to merge spiritual symbolism with a contemporary aesthetic vocabulary. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing