Cuba is known for its landscape artists of the late 19th and early 20th century, and for its Vanguardia era artists, who embraced the modern art movements of cubism, primitivism and surrealism. Cuban artists of both eras brought local scenes, people and sensibilities to life using those aesthetic techniques.

The new art, which has stirred up Cuba's whole cultural atmosphere, addresses controversial issues such as appropriation, kitsch, the vernacular, the “international” identity and the Afro-Cuban. It also addresses the island's social and political situation through a critique of the regime's representations.

Cuba has galleries, art museums, and community cultural centres that regularly display the works of Cuban painters. The most important (all in Havana) are the National Museum of Fine Arts, the Haydée Santamaría Gallery of the House of the Americas, the Gallery of Havana, and the Fortress Castle.