Ernest - Ondulaciones de verano

Ernest M. is a young Cuban artist trained in the city of Manzanillo, Granma, in eastern Cuba. He currently lives and works in Havana, where he continues developing a constant pictorial production and an artistic trajectory largely centered on researching 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, movements of the hair, optical distortions, bubbles and changes of light appear repeatedly 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 a pictorial and psychological element. Ernest manages to represent the water surface, reflections and light-induced distortions through brushstrokes that oscillate between figuration, expressive realism, and moments close to hyperrealism. However, his intention does not seem to be limited to faithfully reproducing a scene: he uses those 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 tones applied to the skin, the fishes, the flowers or the reflections. This chromatic opposition gives a strong visual presence to the works and makes the figure emerge from the underwater background even when it seems completely integrated into it.

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

Within the series there are compositions of a more intimate and contemplative character, while others present a freer, gestural and expressive painting. This variety allows us to observe the evolution of an artist who constantly 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 gains a considerably greater dimension when viewed physically, where the variations in brushwork, color superpositions, texture and the small changes of light with which the sense of depth is built can be better perceived.

The repetition of certain elements — the female 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 continued body of work and not merely isolated pieces.

Ernest currently maintains active artistic production and continues to develop his career through exhibitions and projects in Cuba as well as Spain and other international contexts. His works have progressively found buyers and collectors outside Cuba and are currently 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 been well received by the public and collectors.

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

His aquatic series currently represents one of the most personal avenues of his production and serves as a good example of how an apparently daily motif can be transformed, through painting, into a reflection on the body, identity, silence, beauty and perception.

Water does not function solely 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 the oil on high-quality canvas professional technique.
Dimension 60 x 80 cm of painting.
Original edition.
Shipping will be carried out through United Parcel Service (UPS) for Spain and Europe, and through FedEx for the rest of the world.
The work will be rolled and protected by several layers of packaging, bubble wrap and placed in a sturdy tube.
Once the work is paid, three days are required for the packaging process and delivery to the shipping company.
The piece will reach you within ten days, depending on the destination country.
This lot contains visualizations created with AI. Please consult the original photographs to verify the artwork’s real condition.

This oil on canvas work offers a dynamic top-down perspective that immediately immerses the viewer in a summery and relaxed atmosphere. The composition revolves around a back-facing female figure on an inflatable donut-shaped float, whose pink tone contrasts vibrantly with the turquoise water background. The painting stands out for the figurative treatment of human anatomy, highlighting the play of light and shadow on the skin, as well as the fluid and gestural representation of the water waves and the sunlight reflections on the surface. The subtle gesture of the hand brushing the water adds a poetic tension and movement to a scene marked by lightness and visual dynamism."