October 15, 1953 - July 9, 2010

Indigo Arts Gallery and lovers of Cuban art mourn the passing of José de Jesus Garcia Montebravo. Montebravo was one of Cuba's leading self-taught artists, with a worldwide following. While he was self-taught as an artist, he was hardly naive in the English sense of the word. He was a witty and sophisticated man, with a sure, fluid line in pen or brush.

He was a university graduate, who was for many years a professor of geography at the Villa Clara Superior Pedagogical Institute. Though he had painted since he was a child, Montebravo began to paint seriously in 1980 and had his first solo exhibition in 1984. He lived throughout his career in the town of Cienfuegos, where he was a leading member of the art community. He was an enthusiastic mentor to many younger artists. He exhibited individually and collectively, in Europe and the United States as well as in Cuba. Montebravo was featured in a 2001 article by Joan Pearlman in the Folk Art Messenger, and there was a chapter on his work in Gerald Mouial's 2004 book, Magic Art in Cuba.

Monte was featured in many exhibits at Indigo Arts Gallery between 1999 and 2010. In 2002 we were able to host his visit to our Philadelphia gallery. In the course of one day at Indigo Arts he painted the Infanta de Filadelphia.

Monte fell ill in September 2009, and passed away on July 9th, 2010. An obituary was published in the July 14th edition of the Cuban newspaper, Granma.

Monte was a dear friend and an inspiring artist. We shall all miss him.

Tony Fisher
Indigo Arts Gallery