Waldo Díaz-Balart y Gutiérrez (born February 10, 1931) is a Cuban painter and sculptor currently living in Madrid, Spain.

Biography

Born in

Banes, Cuba Banes is a municipality and city in the Holguín Province of Cuba. Banes was an important area for the native Taino people before the conquest by Columbus. The town of Banes is visited by tourists from Guardalavaca as it is the nearest town to ...

, Díaz-Balart is the son of the mayor of Banes,

Rafael José Díaz-Balart Rafael José Díaz-Balart (c. 1899 – 1985), was a Cuban politician and mayor of the town of Banes. With his wife América Gutiérrez, he was the father of Rafael Díaz-Balart and progenitor of the Díaz-Balart family, an American political fami ...

. Díaz-Balart studied accounting and political science and economics in Havana before moving to New York City to pursue art studies in 1959. From 1959 to 1962 he studied art in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York. In 1967 he became a lecturer in many cultural centres and universities of the United States, Poland, Spain, Germany and Netherlands. He acted in two movies by

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

, ''

The Life of Juanita Castro ''The Life of Juanita Castro'' is a 1965 American underground film directed by Andy Warhol, filmed in March 1965. Plot A playwright (Ronald Tavel) taunts a number of actresses into improvising a play on Fidel Castro and his family, at a time when ...

'' (1965) and ''The Loves of Ondine'' (1968). He was friends with fellow artist Andy Warhol actor

Louis Waldon Louis Waldon (December 16, 1934 – December 6, 2013) was an American film actor, whose career spanned nearly 45 years. He was born in Modesto, California. Waldon began his acting career in 1965. He was best known for his collaboration with Ameri ...

. Díaz-Balart lectures frequently and his work – explorations of color and light in geometric paintings and light sculpture – has been widely exhibited. In 1966 the Studio Gallery in Washington, D.C. presented an individual exhibition. In 1967 he presented an exhibition in the

Iris Clert Gallery The Iris Clert Gallery (''Galerie Iris Clert'' in French) was an art gallery named after its Greek owner and curator, Iris Clert. The single-room gallery The Iris Clert Gallery (Galerie'' Iris Clert'' in French) was an art gallery named after its ...

in Paris. In 1967 he joined Mass Art Inc. in partnership with Sujan Souri, Dorian Godoy, and Philip Orenstein. The company manufactured the first inflatable chair designed by Philip Orenstein which is now included in the permanent collection of the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

in New York. In 1998 he showed "Waldo Balart. Black Painting" in Galería Edurne in Madrid. In 1964, he exhibited in the

Pan American Union Building The Pan American Union Building is the headquarters for the Organization of American States. It is located at 17th Street N.W. between C Street N.W. and Constitution Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C. History On the former site of the John Pete ...

in Washington, D.C. and in 1968 in the Gallery of Modern Art, New York. In 1970, he participated at the first

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...

Bienal del Grabado Latinoamericano (Biennial of Latin-American Engraving) at the

Institute of Puerto Rican Culture The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture ( es, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña), or ICP, for short, is an institution of the Government of Puerto Rico responsible for the establishment of the cultural policies required in order to study, preser ...

in Puerto Rico. He had his first major exhibition in 1972, at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo. In 1979, he participated in the Third Bienal Internacional del Deporte en las Bellas Artes (Biennial of Sport in Fine Arts) in Barcelona, and in 1995 he participated in the international art fair

Art Cologne Art Cologne is an art fair held annually in Cologne, Germany and was established in 1967 as ''Kölner Kunstmarkt''. It is regarded as the world's oldest art fair of its kind. The fair runs for six days and brings together galleries from more than ...

in Germany. In 2002, he was honoured as a

Frost Art Museum The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum (Frost Art Museum) is an art museum located in the Modesto A. Maidique campus of Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida. It was founded in 1977 as 'The Art Museum at Florida Internatio ...

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. Founded in 1965, the school opened its doors to students in 1972. FIU has grown to become the third-largest uni ...

fellow. He had one-man shows in the Netherlands and in Spain. He is the recipient of a

Pollock-Krasner Foundation The Pollock-Krasner Foundation was established in 1985 for the purpose of providing financial assistance to individual working artists of established ability. It was established at the bequest of Lee Krasner, who was an American abstract expression ...

fellowship. His work is in the permanent collections of the

in New York, the

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía The ''Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía'' ("Queen Sofía National Museum Art Centre"; MNCARS) is Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum was officially inaugurated on September 10, 1992, and is named for Queen Sofía. It ...

in Madrid, the Mondriaan House in Amersfoort, The Netherlands, and the Museum of Modern Art in

Hünfeld Hünfeld is a town in the district of Fulda, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Fulda. In 2000, the town hosted the 40th Hessentag state festival. Hünfeld has a population close to 16,000. Infrastructure Transport The fe ...

, Germany, among others. In 1992 he published the book ''Ensayos de Arte'' (Essays on Art). In 1999, he moved from Spain to

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, Belgium.Andrea O'Reilly Herrera (editor) He later returned to Madrid before 2011. He also briefly lived in Paraguay. The marriage of his sister,

Mirta Díaz-Balart Mirta Francisca de la Caridad Díaz-Balart y Gutiérrez (born 30 September 1928) was the first wife of Fidel Castro. They married in 1948, had one son together, and divorced in 1955. Biography She was the daughter of América Gutiérrez and Rafa ...

, to former Cuban leader

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

as Castro's first wife made Waldo Díaz-Balart Castro's brother-in-law. His nephews include

U.S. congressman The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

Mario Díaz-Balart Mario Rafael Díaz-Balart Caballero (; born September 25, 1961) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Florida's 25th congressional district. A Republican, he was elected in 2002, and his district includes much of sout ...

, former congressman

Lincoln Díaz-Balart Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart (born Lincoln Rafael Díaz-Balart y Caballero; August 13, 1954) is a Cuban-American attorney and politician. He was the U.S. representative for from 1993 to 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party. He previously ...

, and ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt'' for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NB ...

'' Saturday news anchor

José Díaz-Balart José Díaz-Balart Caballero (born November 7, 1960) is a Cuban-American journalist and television anchorman. On September 7, 2021, Diaz-Balart stepped down as anchor of the weeknight editions of Noticias Telemundo. He is currently anchoring a n ...

References

External links

Official website"Díaz-Balart, Waldo"

Cintas Foundation Oscar Benjamin Cintas y Rodriguez, (31 Mar 1887 in Sagua la Grande, Cuba – 11 May 1957 in New York City, N.Y.) was a prominent sugar and railroad magnate who served as Cuba's ambassador to the United States from 1932 until 1934. Career He wa ...

"Los suicidados de la historia"
by Jorge Edwards, ''

El País ''El País'' (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. ''El País'' is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . ''El Pa ...

'', 27 February 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz-Balart, Waldo 1931 births People from Banes, Cuba Cuban male painters Cuban sculptors Living people Cuban contemporary artists

Waldo Waldo may refer to: People * Waldo (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Waldo (surname), a list of people * Waldo (footballer) (1934-2019), full name Waldo Machado da Silva, Brazilian footballer Places Canada * Waldo, ...

Biography

References

Further reading

External links