Yuni R. P (XXI) - ​Velas al alba

YUNI R. P.’s painting is shaped by a direct, physical relationship with the material. Working primarily in oil on canvas and favoring the palette knife over the brush, the artist develops a painted surface in which color does more than describe the image: it acquires volume, direction, and movement.

The palette knife allows the artist to apply, drag, and layer the oil paint with broad, decisive gestures. This process gives rise to surfaces of considerable textural and chromatic richness, where colors meet on the canvas while retaining some of their individuality. This is one of the most distinctive features of the artist’s visual language: intense blues, turquoise, sunlit yellows, oranges, reds, and whites appear in contrast and intermingle in a highly luminous palette.

Although the artist’s work encompasses landscapes, gardens, figures, and urban scenes, the sea has become one of the central themes of the paintings in recent years. Sailboats, harbors, coastlines, reflections, and horizons appear repeatedly, transformed by a perspective that favors sensory experience over meticulous description. The artist’s residence in Havana and daily proximity to the coastal landscape are naturally reflected in this imagery.

Formally, the work engages with certain principles of Impressionism and Post-Impressionism: capturing changing light, fragmenting color, and conveying an impression rather than creating a photographic reproduction of the subject. Some of the seascapes even reveal an affinity with the luminist tradition of Joaquín Sorolla, particularly in their interest in the water’s radiance and in the way whites, blues, and yellows turn the sea’s surface into a space of light. This is not imitation, but an affinity within a long tradition of artists fascinated by the relationship between the sea, color, and luminosity.

YUNI R. P., however, takes this tradition in the direction of a more emphatically textured style of painting. The marks left by the palette knife remain visible, turning each plane of color into a small structure. Seen up close, the painting can verge on abstraction; from a distance, those marks and strokes come together again as sails, reflections, vegetation, figures, or horizons. This tension between abstraction and representation is one of the most compelling aspects of the artist’s work.

Photographs can do little to convey this character fully. In front of the canvas, the relief of the oil paint and the changes created by the shifting light give the works a presence and depth that go beyond the two-dimensional image. The result is immediate, vibrant, and distinctive painting, characterized by powerful chromatic energy and a deeply optimistic vision of the landscape.

Yuniesky Rodríguez Peña’s public career includes solo and group exhibitions in Cuba, and his work is held in international private collections. His work has also been promoted internationally through platforms and organizations dedicated to contemporary art. His works are collected in several European countries by both private and institutional collectors.


Artwork by the artist Yuni, created using oil on high-quality professional canvas.
Painting dimensions: 73 x 52 cm.
Original edition.
Shipping will be handled by United Parcel Service (UPS) for Spain and Europe, and by FedEx for the rest of the world.
The artwork will be rolled, protected with several layers of packaging and bubble wrap, and placed in a sturdy tube.
Once the artwork has been paid for, three days are required for packaging and handover to the shipping company.
The piece will arrive within ten days, depending on the destination country.
“This lot contains AI-generated visualizations. Please consult the original photographs to verify the actual condition of the artwork.”

This magnificent oil-on-canvas work captures the majesty of sailing at sunset with sublime delicacy. The composition is dominated by an imposing sailboat in the foreground, its elegant mast and golden sails catching the radiant light of the sky, while other vessels in the distance add depth to the scene. The artist deploys a dazzling palette, contrasting the violet and sky-blue tones of the firmament with the yellow glow and fiery red of the horizon. The richly impasted, palette-knife brushwork gives the waves a vivid texture, reflecting glimmers of light across the deep waters of the sea. This piece evokes an atmosphere of profound serenity, elegance, and poetic inspiration, making it an exceptional opportunity for collectors and contemporary art lovers seeking to add a work of expressive power and warmth to their collection.