Emilio Sanchez

Emilio Sanchez (b. 1921, Camagüey, Cuba - d. 1999, Warwick, NY) frequently elevated the simple structures and shapes present in passing life through his artwork. Forging a style inspired by the ocular archive of his colorful life and surroundings, Sanchez would create a legacy throughout his vast body of work. By using a reductionist process, Sanchez elevates his subject matter by emphasizing the formal components that summate them. From the hues of the Caribbean, reflective of his youth between Camagüey and Miami, to the bold atmosphere he encountered while attending the Art Students League of New York, Sanchez, to document and interpret the world he lived in, created a language all his own.

Sanchez participated in exhibitions across the globe, in both group and solo shows, such as those at Lyceum Gallery (Cuba) and others in Chile, Puerto Rico, Spain, London, and Paris. His work stood in the Inter-American Graphics Biennale, Santiago, Chile (1968), Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland (1973 & 1978), Latin American Prints from the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1974), Lejos de Cuba, Aix-en-Provence, France, Our Americas: The Latino Presence in American Art, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC (2013), and Inside/Out at the Pérez Art Museum, Miami, FL (2017-2018). His work permanently resides in the collections of the Art Museum of the Americas (Washington, DC), The Bronx Museum of the Arts (Bronx, NY), The Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum (Miami, FL), Lowe Art Museum (MIami, FL) the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, NY), Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Havana, Cuba), and the National Portrait Gallery (Washtingon, DC).