"Revolución y Cultura" represents one of Cuba's most important cultural journals, and this 2013 issue features a striking cover reproducing Mario Carreño's modernist masterpiece "Retrato de Graciela de Armas" (circa 1957). The painting depicts an elegant woman with an elaborate coiffure and ornate jewelry rendered in Carreño's distinctive style—geometric forms, flattened planes, and a sophisticated palette of mauves, pinks, and deep reds with turquoise accents. The composition reflects Carreño's synthesis of European modernism with Cuban sensibilities, showing the influence of both Art Deco and pre-Columbian aesthetics in its angular treatment of the figure and decorative emphasis on jewelry and costume.
Mario Carreño (1913-1999) was one of Cuba's most internationally recognized painters, working in a modernist idiom that bridged Cuban identity with cosmopolitan sophistication. By featuring this 1950s portrait on the cover of a 2013 cultural magazine commemorating the 90th anniversary of Italian writer Italo Calvino's birth, the editors created a visual dialogue between Cuban visual arts and international literature. The cover design demonstrates how "Revolución y Cultura" continued to champion Cuban artistic excellence while maintaining engagement with global cultural discourse. The magazine's selection of Carreño's elegant portrait—housed in the National Museum of Fine Arts collection—affirms the enduring relevance of mid-century Cuban modernism and positions the journal as a curator of the nation's visual and literary heritage.