The first exhibition of the works of Hugo de Soto (1928) in his native Cuba brings together recent and other works from the City Museum collection.According to City Historian Eusebio Leal, at the inauguration of this diverse display, "there is no better place than this cloister of San Francisco, the birthplace of important things for Cuba, and which is now a temple to art and high culture.

"The name of Hugo de Soto " Leal affirmed " well deserves to be among Cuban artists, not just because of his work, but because of his family history, given that he is the grandson of the boatman (Carlos Soto) who in the dark of night took General Antonio Maceo from one side of Mariel Bay to the other to escape the ambush on the trail from Mariel to Majana set up by the Spaniards (during the 19th century independence wars).As the artist has explained, from an early age he used to hear that story told by his grandfather, and memories of that narration remained etched in his mind, and were vividly aroused during his brief trip to Havana in 1984, when he visited the City Museum and found the original boat in the Flag Room.

He then painted a canvas - two meters high - to immortalize that moment. He donated the painting, Cruce de la Trocha de Mariel a Majana, to that museum, and it is now on display next to the small boat, just four meters long, and the emblematic, large-format work by Armando Menocal that depicts the death of Maceo, the Bronze Titan.

The painting could not be left out of this exhibition, and in that respect, Leal said that Soto, "always in discretion and modesty," depicted his own grandfather with a hat and with his head bent forward. "Before, there was not that practice of placing ourselves in the foreground," he said, adding that from his lookout on a Rome street, the creator serves Cuba and has been able to make his countrys name appear in pontifical collections; always faithful to his countrys missions, with opportune help and wise comments.

Based in Italy since 1962, the artist also placed at the disposition of the Havana public many of his portraits, in which one may appreciate his incisive viewpoint and his delicate, harmonious and often sensual lines.

While he considers himself to be self-taught, De Soto studied painting at the San Alejandro Academy in Havana, and in 1946 won a scholarship to Detroit, in the United States, where he studied under John Foster at the Society of Art and Craft.

His work, as may be read in many catalogues, has been exhibited in galleries in the United States, Denmark, Britain, Colombia, France, and Italy, and some belong to private and museum collections, such as that of Emilio Bacardí in Santiago de Cuba; the Library of Congress, in Washington; that of Vatican City, and of Monterrey, Mexico.

De Soto, as Leal says, "¼has been able to project his art without losing that flame of infinite love for his homeland."