Feijóo, Samuel
untitled
Samuel Feijóo, untitled, 1970, acrylic on Isorel, 50 x 61 cm, photo: Claudina Garcia, Atelier de numérisation – Ville de Lausanne Collection de l’Art Brut, Lausanne
Author
Feijóo, Samuel,
(1914-1992), Cuba
Biography
Samuel Feijóo (1914–1992) was born in San Juan de los Yeras, in the central province of Villa Clara. In 1924, he moved with his family to Havana, where he finished primary school and learned English. When he was fourteen, he wrote his first poems and began to contribute to several magazines. In 1943, with his friend Robert Altmann, he joined a group of artists who shared a love of painting. From this point onwards, although entirely self-taught, Feijóo began to produce works of art, subtly emphasising fundamental themes relating to Cuba’s rural landscape.
Following a stay in the United States, he returned to Cuba and settled in Cienfuegos. There, he met several members of the Orígenes group, a large community of assorted intellectuals who had joined together to publish the review of the same name, and to which he regularly contributed. In 1950, he began to correspond with Jean Dubuffet. In their letters, they discussed their vision of the art world. Feijóo also introduced Dubuffet to a number of Cuban artists. In 1957, Feijóo joined the staff of the Universidad Central de Las Villas and initiated a major publishing project in the Department of Folklore Studies. He founded and edited the magazine Islas (1958–1968). Later, as the founder and editor of the magazine Signos (1969–1985), he did a remarkable job of disseminating folk knowledge.
Alongside his publications, he founded the collective Pintores y Dibujantes Populares de Las Villas, which later developed into the Signos Group, whose goal was to spread awareness of the output of the region’s folk and self-taught artists. Feijóo’s intense dedication to writing poems and anthologies of local tales and traditions cemented his status as the voice of the Cuban intelligentsia. His narrative work shines a spotlight on Cuban customs, mythologies and folklore, and through this practice he shared his constant reflections on the individual and our relationship with the world.