Ernest - XL - Éter

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 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 cut through by reflections, fish, hair movements, optical distortions, bubbles and changes of light appear repeatedly in his compositions, not as mere decorative resources, but as part of an ever more 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 skin, fish, flowers, or reflections. This chromatic opposition gives the works a strong visual presence and makes the figure emerge from the aquatic 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 crosses directly through 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, refuge, and space of transformation.

Within the series there are compositions of a more intimate and contemplative character, while others present a more free, gestural, and expressive painting. This variety allows us to observe the evolution of an artist who continually 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 observed physically, where the variations of brushstroke, color superpositions, texture, and the subtle changes of light with which the sense of depth is built can be felt more clearly.

The repetition of certain elements—the female figure, the fish, the face partially submerged, 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 especially meaningful, as it demonstrates the will to build a sustained body of work and not just isolated pieces.

Ernest currently maintains an 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 increasingly found buyers and collectors outside Cuba and are currently part of private collections and galleries in various European and Latin American countries.

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 drawing near to 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 search for a distinctive visual identity.

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

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

Artwork by the artist Ernest created in the technique of oil on high-quality professional canvas.
Size: 100 x 70 cm of painting.
Original edition.
Shipping will be carried out via United Parcel Service (UPS) for Spain and Europe, and via FedEx for the rest of the world.
The work will be rolled and will be 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 packaging process and delivery to the shipping company.
The piece will reach you within ten days, depending on the destination country.
This lot contains AI-generated visuals. Please check the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the work.

This fascinating original work, executed with mastery in oil on canvas, immerses the viewer in a universe of serene introspection and liquid beauty where time seems to stand completely still. The composition exquisitely realism portrays the submerged figure of a woman in perfect harmony with her aquatic surroundings, whose forms are subtly blurred by the sway of currents and the rays of light penetrating from the surface to dance on her skin. The artist demonstrates extraordinary command of the color palette, using deep and vibrant blues that contrast sublimely with the golden and warm hues of the upper reflection, while small details such as air bubbles and the presence of fish suspended in the twilight add a poetic and evocative dynamism to the scene. Each brushstroke reveals a deep aesthetic and technical sensitivity, making this piece an exceptional and captivating acquisition meant to enrich any contemporary art collection with its atmosphere of peace and mystery.