British and American 17th-18th century paintings go on show

An exhibition of British and American paintings from the 17th and 18th centuries will be opened at the Casal Solleric at 8.30pm. The paintings are on loan, not from British and American collections, but from the National Fine Arts Museum of Havana, Cuba. Carmen Feliu, the councillor in charge of the city's cultural department, said at a Press conference yesterday that it is not the first time that the Casal Solleric has shown works from the Cuban museum. The exhibition features 50 paintings, mainly portraits and landscapes, including works by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Constable, Sir David Wilkie, William James and Sir Thomas Lawrence. Albert Ribas, the director of Sa Nostra's cultural centre in Palma which collaborated with the council in the exhibition, said yesterday that the exhibition features only a small part of the Cuban museum's collection. The works, which are being exhibited outside Cuba for the first time, have previously been seen in Minorca. Also present at the Press conference were Lluis Socias, director of the Casal Solleric, and Oscar Antuña, head curator of the Museum. Antuña said that while the exhibition was not complete, it offers a magnificent perspective of the evolution of painting during those centuries. Commenting on the American paintings, mainly landscapes, Antuña said that the artists initially followed the British trends but gradually developed their own identity. The exhibition is arranged in chronological order.