one of cuba’s supreme exemplar of naïf painting (a naive, simplistic, childlike style), ruperto jay matamoros, passed away in havana just one month before his 96^th birthday. the national plastic arts laurate and national visual arts prize winner in 2000 was buried in his home town of san luis, in eastern santiago de cuba.

matamoros started creating on canvas at an early age with expressions of what he saw in the local landscape, the flora and fauna, and the people that lived in the countryside. however, it wasn’t until later in life when he finished his duties as a driver, plumber, gardener, messenger, and interior decorator, did his artistic talent truly blossom.

among the shows that propelled him to fame were the exhibition of watercolors and sculptures shown at the ministry of justice and the prize he achieved at the national museum of fine arts in 1964, the personal exhibition of his works at the havana gallery in 1965, and the successful emergence of his paintings at the 2nd triennial of naif art in bratislava and the grenoble biennial (france) in 1969.