The building was an institution that
fulfilled the function of an art gallery and a private
studio of the Venezuelan painter Carmen Montilla, the friend
of Fidel Castro, where she lived until her death. She
contributed also to the restoration process of the gallery
house that was a part of the historical center of Havana.
This delightful, pink colonial house
with balconies, was rebuilt for a merchant in the 18th
century, and though several subsequent renovations, it
maintained its original structure. In 1980s a fire reduced
it to ruins. After an extensive restoration, it was
inaugurated in 1994.
At the entrance the portrait of
Carmen Montilla is smiling to the visitors. The gallery has
three exhibition rooms in which the surreal and sometimes
morbid paintings of the Venezuelan artist and the works of
some plastic artists from Latin America and Cuba are
displayed. The upper floor is used for transient private
exhibitions.
The building has a beautiful outdoor
courtyard with noteworthy sculptures by various artists;
likewise,
the garden is enriched particularly by the huge mural
ceramic, La Flora y La Fauna, of the prestigious Cuban
painter and ceramist Alfredo Sosabravo (born in 1930).
Carmen Montilla Tinoco (1944-2004) studied
painting at the Escuela de Artes
Plásticas de Venezuela.
Her first exhibition of
painting took place in 1963.
Her works were displayed in
many individual or collective exhibitions in different
countries, such as Japan, Spain, France, Egypt, East
Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Mexico, Peru,
Colombia, Chile and Cuba. She received different awards,
such as the Third Prize of the Venezuelan Institute of
Journalism in 1969 and the Grand Prix Michelangelo in the
IV. Biennale of Cannes in 1975.
She was buried in the
Jardín Madre Teresa de Calcuta
The Galería Carmen Montilla is located
on the Oficios street #162, opposite to the entrance of the
Basilica Menor de San Francisco de Asís.
