Manuel Carbonell

Carbonell, was the last of the Cuban Modern Master Sculptors of his generation. This generation of Cuban artists, which includes Wifredo Lam and Agustin Cardenas, studied at the renowned Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes “San Alejandro” in Havana, Cuba. At the Academia Carbonell studied under the guidance of Jose Sicre, a former student of Bourdelle. 

In 1959, upon arriving in New York, Carbonell moved from his classical and religious period in Cuba in the 1949’s and 1950’s where he won national and international acclaim, through the commencement and development of his modern expression of the 1960’s, culminating in Madison Avenue, then pinnacle of the art world. In 1963, he celebrated the first of his seven bi-annual “One Man Show” at the renowned Schoneman Galleries in New York City.

Among Carbonell’s most impressive commissioned works of art is the 53-foot bronze monument “Tequesta Family” which graphically narrates the lives of the Tequesta Indians Miami’s First inhabitants and is located at the Brickell Avenue Bridge, Miami, Florida. Another monument “El Centinela Del Rio”, a 21-foot bronze and alabaster sculpture is located at Tequesta Point in Brickell Key, Miami. A 26-foot bronze Virgin of Fatima rests atop of a 100-foot shrine in Washington, New Jersey and a six-foot marble sculpture of Cuban Patriot Jose Marti is at the San Carlos Institute in Key West, Florida. Carbonell was also the creator of a 15-foot sculpture “Horse and Rider” which Burt Reynolds commissioned for his former theater.

His modern monumental works are part of important art collections and public spaces, “Couple in Love” adorns the lobby of the Mandarin Oriental, Miami, “Lovers” is found at the entrance of the Carbonell Condominium, Miami, where the building was named in the artist honor, “Torso” was exhibited at Selby’s Five Point Park, downtown Sarasota, Florida, and in now on loan to the Von Liebig Art Center, Naples, Florida, “New Generation” is part of Xujianhui Park, Shanghai, China. The sculpture “Amantes” now graces the grounds of the Hotel Bristol, Republic of Panama. Three 8-foot Monumental sculptures are prominently displayed at Brickell Key, a prominent residential community next to downtown Miami.

His sculptures are found at important museums and art collections such as The Frost Museum, Miami, Florida, The Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, California, The Lowe Art Museum, Miami, Florida, “The Swire Art Trust”, Lefrack Collection, and in personal collections such as those of Burt Reynolds, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Carlton Varney, Eleanor Kosow, Wayne Huizenga and many others fine art collectors.

Carbonell is also the namesake and major benefactor of the Carbonell Awards, the highest achievement awards for theater in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

Ceaselessly searching for the essence of the form and the absence of details; he struggled to provide a sense of strength, monumentality and simplicity to his work. Carbonell recently passed away at 93 years of age, where he continued to work daily in his studio until his last days.

CHRONOLOGY

1945 Carbonell graduates from the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro" with the title of Professor of Drawing and Sculpture.
1948 Competition for Pieta and Twelve Stations of the Cross, San Miguel de los Bahos, Cuba.
1949 Exposicion del Museo Nacional de Cuba, National Show, Havana.
1954 Bienal Hispanoamericana de Arte, International Show, Barcelona.
1954 Exposicion Del Museo de Bellas Artes, National Show, Havana.
1959 Carbonell goes into exile in New York.
1963 Schoneman Galleries, 63 East 57th St,, New York, begins to represent Carbonell. First one of seven One Man Show at Schoneman Galleries.
1965 Schoneman Galleries, 63 East 57th Street. New York. Second One Man Show, to benefit the NSID Educational Foundation.
1967 Maxwell Galleries, One Man Show, San Francisco, California.
1968 Schoneman Galleries, 823 Madison Avenue, New York. Third One Man Show at Schoneman Galleries.
1971 Schoneman Galleries, 823 Madison Avenue, New York. Fourth One Man Show.
1971 Bacardi Gallery One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1972 Galerie Moss, One Man Show, Montreal, Canada.
1972 Ann Jacob Gallery, One Man Show, Marietta, Georgia.
1973 Galeria Internacional, Group Show of Cuban Artists, Caracas, Venezuela.
1974 Carbonell Awards, highest achievement award for the theater in South Florida is named in his honor.
1974 Jockey Club Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1974 Randall Galleries, 823 Madison Avenue, New York. One Man Show. "Hommage to Ballet" to Benefit City Center, New York.
1976 The White House, in a Ceremony Carbonell presented his Bicentennial Eagle as his gift to the United States of America.
1976 Metropolitan Museum and Art Center, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1977 Worth Avenue Gallery, One Man Show, Palm Beach, Florida.
1977 Deligny Gallery, One Man Show, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
1978 Blue Army Shrine commissions 26-foot Madonna of Fatima, Washington, N.J.
1978 Blue Army Shrine, completion and dedication.
1981 Steiner Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1982 Carbonell creates and donates the artwork for the chapel of Belen Jesuit Preparatory School, in Miami, Florida.
1983 Steiner Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1985 Steiner Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1986 Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater, 15-foot Sculpture of Horse and Rider, Jupiter, Florida.
1987 Beaux Arts Gallery, in Miami, Florida, starts representing Carbonell.
1987 Americana Collection, history of America depicted in 14 sculptures.
1988 Wins competition for 6-foot marble sculpture of Cuban Patriot Jose Marti for the San Carlos Institute, Key West, Florida.
1989 Beaux Arts Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1989 Mielko Gallery, One Man Show, Nantucket.
1989 Chicago Invitational Art Fair, Chicago.
1990 Art Miami 1990, Miami, Florida
1990 Beaux Arts Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1991 Beaux Arts Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1991 Excellence Award for the Arts from FACE, Facts About Cuban Exiles.
1992 Wins selection for the Brickell Avenue Bridge Artwork, Carbonell moves to Pietrasanta, Italy, to commence two-year project.
1995 Brickell Avenue Bridge, completion of 36-foot bronze bas-relief column, 17-foot sculpture of Teguesta Family, four 4-foot by 8-foot bas-reliefs of Miami's pioneers and twelve bas-reliefs of the Florida Fauna.
1996 Beaux Arts Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
1998 One Man Show at One Brickell Square, Miami, Florida.
2000 Beaux Arts Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
2001 Silvana Facchini Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
2002 Silvana Facchini Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
2003 Beaux Arts Gallery, One Man Show, Miami, Florida.
2003 Remy Toledo Gallery, One Man Show, New York.
2004 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida.
2005 The Third Invitational Sarasota Season of Sculpture.
2005 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida.
2005 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2005 Donation to the City of Shanghai of the sculpture “New Generation”, Shanghai, China
2006 Ifa Gallery, Shanghai, China
2007 Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China
2007 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2007 Miami Art Fair, Miami, Florida
2008 Art Madrid Art Fair, Madrid, Spain
2009 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2008 Artemericas Art Fair, Miami, Florida
2008 Art Miami Art Fair, Miami, Florida
2008 Art Shanghai 08, Shanghai, China
2008 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2008 The Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China
2009 Art Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China
2009 The Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China
2009 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2010 Miami International Art Fair, Miami, Florida
2010 Art Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Florida
2010 ArteAmericas Art Fair, Miami, Florida
2010 Art Shanghai 2010, Shanghai, China.
2010 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2011 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida
2012 ArteAmericas Art Fair, Miami, Florida
2012 Beaux Arts Gallery, Permanent Exhibit, Miami, Florida