Album Pintoresco de la Isla de Cuba

1853 & 1855

In 1837, the Royal Patriotic and Economic Society of Cuba sent Alexander Moreau de Jonnes to France to contract skilled artists, and purchase a high quality lithographic press.  Among the artists who returned with Moreau was the talented but little known landscape painter Pierre Toussaint Frederic Mialhe. Together with his French colleagues Mialhe conceived the production of a large series of views depicting Cuban landscapes and views.  Between 1840 and 1845 he issued Isla de Cuba Pintoresca and in 1847-8  Viaje Pintoresco Al Rededor de la Isla de Cuba  in 1847-8 published by Louis Marquier.

The series success was immediate. The prints were purchased by private individuals and American and European publishers who were keen to illustrate their stories with the views. However in 1853 Bernado May, a Spaniard working in Cuba, sent 26 of the Mialhe views to be copied in Germany. The German lithographs were then sent back to Cuba where they were sold in competition with Mialhe’s originals and at half the price.

Mialhe and Marquier sued May for copyright violation but due to a legal technicality lost their case and May was allowed to continue selling his views; promptly producing a far grander chromolithographed second version of Mialhe’s collection in 1855. Cheated and disillusioned Mialhe left Cuba for France shortly thereafter never to return. The first important lithographed work of the island, it is through the very pirated editions Mialhe disputed that his work is accessible today.

Below are a few examples from this collection. Please click on an image to see it in high-resolution with details of the work itself. For the full list of original antique Mialhe chromolithographs available,  please do contact us.

Cuba: Havana.Panoramic view (3rd) from the Casa Blanca. With decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Havana. Panoramic view (2nd) from Casa Blanca. With decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Matanzas. Panoramic view of the city. With decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Baracoa. Inhabitants riding Ox within the forest with decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Baracoa. Moonlit scene of Baracoa Bay at the foot of the Sagua-Baracoa mountain range. With decorative blue border.

Cuba: Havana. Panoramic view (1st) from the Casa Blanca.

Cuba: The central plaza with the Church of San Juan Bautista on the left and to the right, the Church and Hermitage of Good Voyages. With Blue decorative border.

Cuba: Corridos de Toros (Bull-fighting). With decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Havana. View of the city walls and the entrance to the port, with decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Havana. View over the Almeda de Paula promenade. With decorative blue border.

Cuba: El Zapateado: The national dance of Cuba. With decorative blue border. From the ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Havana. View of the Tacon Theatre and paseo Isabel II from the puerta del Monserrate. With decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Valla de Gallos (Cock fighting): With decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Nuevitas Bay. Sponge fishermen in front of their home on stilts, mending their boat. With Blue decorative border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May

Cuba: Havana. View over the Plaza de Armas. With decorative blue border. From the ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: El Panadero y El Malojero. The bread seller and hay maker. With decorative blue border. From the ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Havana. View of the entrance to the port and the Castillo del Morro lighthouse.

Cuba: Havana. El Casero. The merchant of home grown foods. With decorative blue border. From the ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Cuba: Vega De Tabaco (Tobacco Farm). Vista De Una Vega De Tabaco. With decorative blue border. From the 2nd ‘pirate’ edition by Bernardo May.

Havana, Cuba: Three ladies in an El Quitrin. The expensive style of carriage was favoured by the upper classes over the more practical Volante.