Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1915, Carmen Herrera moved frequently between France and Cuba throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Having studied architecture at the Universidad de La Habana, Havana, Cuba (1938–39), she trained at The Art Students League of New York (1942–43), before exhibiting five times at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and at Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France (1949–53). She settled in New York in 1954, where she continues to live and work.
Now at 106 years old, Ms. Herrera will be honored at The League’s Gala held in the Museum of Modern Art here in New York City.
Central to her painting is a drive for formal simplicity and a striking sense of color. A master of crisp lines and contrasting chromatic planes, Herrera creates symmetry, asymmetry and an infinite variety of movement, rhythm and spatial tension across the canvas with the most unobtrusive application of paint.
Check out The League’s info on honoree Ms. Herrera at their Gala here.