Juan Emilio Hernández Giró was born on May 22, 1882, in Santiago de Cuba, and died on November 7, 1953, in Havana. He received his first painting classes from his father, Rodolfo Hernández Soleliac, and from a French doctor with a background in fine arts, named Luis Oscar Marisy. At the age of 16, he enrolled in the Haiti Academy, where he perfected his drawing techniques and began to consider larger projects before returning to his native Santiago de Cuba.

Once in Santiago, he embarked on two works that would be the artist’s first significant works, due to their format and attention to detail: The Landing of Martí y Gómez and The Death of Flor Crombet. As evidenced by the titles, he was captivated by the themes of the recently concluded heroic deed, based on which he recreated other passages and themes, such as The Battle of Caney, The Vision of Maceo, The Invasion of the West, and The Burning of Bayamo, among others that responded to this inspiration.

During this stage of his life, he received significant support from Emilio Bacardí. He later traveled to Spain, where he lived for several years. There, he continued his dedication to artistic creation and related studies, creating not only paintings but also drawings and sketches that provide an insight into the evolution of his art and its inherent concerns, beyond technical precision. He also had the opportunity to travel to England, Holland, and Belgium, where he met other artists and broadened his artistic worldview.

In 1924, he returned to Cuba. He was already a prestigious painter and possessed an arsenal of techniques that he would not only use in his works but also allow him to embark on a career as a teacher at the San Alejandro School, where his influence still endures. Even far from the island, the realm of reality he was interested in capturing had not changed substantially; he even created the 101 pen and ink drawings that form part of the book Historia de Cuba en Imágenes (History of Cuba in Images). He was not only interested in military and island history, having already created The Oath of Hernán Cortés and The First Municipal Mayor, among other works in this vein.

Another aspect of his work includes portraits, of which there are nearly 300, including the poet José María Heredia, René Doumic (Royal Academy of France), and Mademoiselle Jeanne Hatto, to name just a few. He was not prolific in religious themes, but we do find the painting of Our Lady of Carmen and another painting that combines diverse motifs, with a rather historical tone: The Heroic Ruins of the Church of Bayamo. He was also the author of Taita Pablo Plucking Cuban Coffee, an example of high-quality costumbrismo with a desire for transcendence. Without a doubt, he is an essential painter in our visual arts.