Cuban magazine Carteles Vol. 18 No. 51, 1932

The popular Cuban magazine Carteles was published by illustrator and graphic designer Conrado Walter Massaguer, a leading participant in promoting Cuban tourism. After staying in New York for a time, Massaguer brought back to Cuba the flapper girl aesthetic as well as inspiration from Charles Gibson's “new woman” illustrations which he implemented in his magazine with depictions of beautiful Cuban women that took on his interpretation of women's societal roles.

From works by artists like Massaguer and avant-garde artists in the 30s, exhibited artworks and popular magazines, like Carteles, started to feature Cuba's unique Venus, often depicted as a half-nude dancer. While tourism benefited the economy in places like Havana, it also encouraged burlesque acts and brothels to the point that some women had no other option but prostitution which continued even in the late 20th century.

This issue features one such entertainer on its cover, simply depicting her with only black, orange, and grey. The worn eye mask and simple color palette make the woman seem generic and not unique, taking away any sense of personal connection like the viewers watching performers on a stage.  The composition uses leading lines to guide your eye down and back up the elongated figure which stands out against the grey, patterned fan behind her.

Seeing how these women were represented in publications and connecting it with cultural context from this time personally makes them degrading and made more for the male gaze instead of for art through the “Venus trope” or for depicting the grace and beauty of women.