Photo taken from Internet
José Delarra was a faithful exponent of the plastic owned the mud, concrete, wood and canvas. A lot of men and women who give their lives to art and even a sad day their physical presence is not among the living, are still the creature, that lingers in memory, in the spaces in life. So with José R. Lázaro Bencomo, known as José Delarra, he was born in San Antonio de los Baños, on April 26th, 1938. This master of art, leaving a host of wonderful works, we have only to look at them, the simplicity and the delivery of his creator.
Since childhood Delarra walked down the path of the visual arts, worked in a sculpture studio as an assistant to help support family, his father was a bookbinder, a shoemaker and artisan crafts that not indented the boy and although he did receive this, artistic sensibility, so much so that with just 11, made his first sculpture in the courtyard of his house, put the beloved Marti.
As a young man walked by photographs of sculpture to many people: the blind, the violinist, the man who sat in the corner of the sidewalk, an hour was enough to end the "portrait".
The sculpture comes professionally into his hands in 1949 at Villate art school and then expand his studies at San Alejandro. But also loved art, freedom and joined the revolutionary struggle, suffer imprisonment for fighting against tyranny and before graduation, he left the country because of persecution by some Batista gunmen.
It was still in his heart the love of art and ends his studies in Europe, but before known countries such as Holland, Spain, Belgium, Germany and Italy, men who would complete with the mind, heart and hands to Delarra that we met, were men such as José Clara, Vistorio Macho, Fernando Boada, and Juan Jose Sicre.
He lived every part, every figure and marble sculptures at the Museum Prado in Madrid and the School of Fine Arts in Florence. The wanted revolutionary victory came and Delarra returns to his homeland, on his arrival, becomes director of the San Alejandro Academy, assistant professor of sculpture in the vocational workshops art of Villate School, director of Art of the former Havana Province, lecturer, creator of cultural centers and creator of monumental ensembles today are symbols of our country.
Then would follow the foray into ceramics, graphic illustration and printmaking, exercise also expanded their artistic pitch, is owner of clay, iron, concrete, wood, and canvas
This craftsman, modeling, especially with the tips of his fingers, each finished work, was a creation, but all and many that do not fit to write here, there is one, we all want to see and who does admire, struck dumb with that great work of art, the author took care of that sculpture, give us the feeling of seeing a living thing, which leads us to the feast, I mean the Che monument, erected in the square that bears the name of the Heroic Guerrilla in Santa Clara city.
He once said: "If he fall I fall with him, artists and masters of ships live and die with our work".
The last Delarra pictorial exhibition was held at José Martí memorial, in May 2003, this was entitled "From the epic to the measure". His death occurred at 65 years,on August 26th, 2003, was a sad loss to the art and revolution. For his outstanding work as a sculptor and painter, Delarra was awarded with several decorations, including the title of National Labor Hero, illustrious son of San Antonio de los Baños, the Alejo Carpentier Medal and machete replica of Máximo Gómez. Delarra was also deputy to the People's National Assembly and member of the National Union of Culture Workers.
