José A. Bencomo Mena was born in Remedios, Villa Clara, on August 1, 1890. From childhood, he showed a passion for painting. He later moved to Havana and enrolled at the San Alejandro School. There, due to his excellent results, he was awarded a scholarship to continue his artistic studies in Europe, where he traveled to several countries and learned about the latest developments in the arts in the major cities of the Old World.

He lived in Italy for eight years, during which time he had the opportunity to access the most important sources of Western art, the birthplace of the European Renaissance and the main motifs and techniques still in vogue at the time. In the emblematic city of Florence, he studied engraving, both etching and woodcut, becoming one of the pioneers in Cuba in this field of creation.

This stage of his life allowed him a broad academic education and direct contact with the most varied and prolific artistic creation of his time. In this regard, he had the opportunity to study mural techniques at the Institute of Decorative Arts of the Encaustic School in Rome, as well as Pompeian techniques and processes at various art centers. He was not only a scholar but also had the opportunity to exhibit his works in important exhibitions, gaining notoriety outside of Cuba.

Upon returning to the island, he continued his work as an artist. He exhibited his work in the exhibitions of the Diario de la Marina, with considerable success. Later, in 1928, he was appointed professor at the San Alejandro Academy, joining an elite teaching staff. The following year, 1929, he won the Silver Medal at the Ibero-American Exposition in Seville for a particularly colorful and vibrant landscape.

He was one of the pioneers of the dialogue between the visual arts and other forms of art, for example with the painting Rhymes of Bécquer. His best-known works include The Billetier, The Orphan, Practice of Virtue, Reflection, In the Garden of Hetzemaní, Landless Peasant, Eviction (the latter two being good examples of his treatment of social themes), Father, The Tank, The Creole, and Franciscan Emotion, among others. The indigenous and the ecumenical are harmoniously intertwined in this painter.