Ernest - Tigre en aguas esmeralda

Ernest M. is a young Cuban artist trained in the city of Manzanillo, Granma, in Cuba’s eastern region. He currently lives and works in Havana, where he continues to develop a steady pictorial production and an artistic career centered, to a large extent, on the investigation of the human figure and its relationship with the aquatic environment.

In recent years, the artist has developed a series dedicated to immersion, water, and the human figure, turning these elements into one of the most recognizable features of his pictorial language. Women suspended beneath the surface, faces pierced by reflections, fish, hair in motion, optical distortions, bubbles, and changes of light repeatedly appear in his compositions, not as mere decorative resources, but as part of an increasingly defined visual universe.

One of the most interesting aspects of his painting is precisely the treatment of water as both pictorial and psychological element. Ernest manages to represent the aquatic surface, reflections, and light-induced distortions with brushwork that oscillates between figuration, expressive realism, and certain moments close to hyperrealism. However, his intention does not seem limited to faithfully reproducing a scene: he uses these distortions to transform the face and the human body, creating images that sit between the real, the dreamlike, and the introspective.

His palette is clearly dominated by deep blues, turquoise, greens, and marine tones, which frequently contrast with reds, ochres, oranges, and warm hues applied to skin, fish, flowers, or reflections. This chromatic opposition gives the works a strong visual presence and makes the figure emerge from the underwater background even when it seems completely integrated into it.

Also characteristic is the way the artist works composition. In many of his paintings, the buoyancy line cuts directly across the face or body of the character, dividing the image into two realities. In others, the viewer observes the scene completely submerged. This choice generates a sense of silence, suspension, and isolation that appears repeatedly in his output. Water thus becomes a boundary, refuge, and space of transformation.

Within the series there are compositions of a more intimate and contemplative nature, while others present a looser, gestural, and expressive painting. This variety allows us to observe the evolution of an artist who continuously experiments within a recognizable theme without being limited to a single formula.

Another notable aspect is the materiality of the works. The photographs allow us to appreciate the overall structure of the compositions and their chromatic richness, but the painting acquires a considerably greater dimension when viewed in person, where the variations in brushstroke, color overlays, texture, and the small changes in light with which the sense of depth is built can be perceived more clearly.

The repetition of certain elements—the feminine figure, the fish, the partially submerged face, the floating hair, the surface reflections, and the intense blue of the water—is helping to shape a recognizable artistic identity. In a young creator, this coherence is particularly meaningful, as it demonstrates the will to build a sustained body of work rather than merely isolated pieces.

Ernest currently maintains active artistic production and continues to develop his career through exhibitions and projects both in Cuba and in Spain and other international contexts. His works have progressively found buyers and collectors outside of Cuba and today form part of private collections and galleries in different countries of Europe and Latin America.

His paintings are also regularly offered at Catawiki auctions, where his work has received a good reception from the public and collectors.

Acquiring a work by Ernest means approaching the work of a young Cuban artist who is still in full growth, but who already possesses especially valuable elements within an emerging career: a clearly identifiable theme, continuity in his pictorial research, growing mastery of color and the representation of water, and above all, the search for a personal visual identity.

His aquatic series currently represents one of the most personal directions of his production and constitutes a good example of how a seemingly everyday motif can be transformed, through painting, into a reflection on the body, identity, silence, beauty, and perception.

Water does not function only as a setting in Ernest’s work: it acts as a second language that fragments, transforms, and reconstructs the human figure.

Artwork by the artist Ernest made in high-quality professional oil-on-canvas technique.
60 x 80 cm painting dimension.
Original edition.
Shipping will be done via United Parcel Service (UPS) for Spain and Europe, and via FedEx for the rest of the world.
The work will be rolled and protected with several layers of packaging, bubble wrap, and placed in a sturdy tube.
Once the work is paid for, three days are required for the packing process and delivery to the shipping company.
The piece will reach you within ten days, depending on the destination country.
This lot contains visuals created with AI. Please check the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the work.

This oil on canvas painting in a figurative realist style captures with notable dynamism the majesty of a tiger swimming freely through crystal-clear waters. The composition stands out for a strong diagonal framing and a hypnotic, penetrating gaze toward the viewer, which balances the force of the great feline with a surprising sense of serenity. The artist demonstrates impeccable mastery of texture in the wet fur and whisker details, as well as in the fluid treatment of water, achieving, through enveloping brushstrokes in emerald green and turquoise tones, the illusion of movement and underwater distortion. Subtle details, such as white flowers floating on the surface and small bright glints, add a poetic nuance that heightens the connection between wildlife and the natural environment.