Kunst | Gros et Delettrez
Gros et Delettrez - JESSE A. FERNÁNDEZ (1925–1986) - Retrospective sale of the studio collection to mark the centenary of his birth
| 2025-10-03 |     |
On the occasion of Paris Photo 2025 (13–16 November, Grand Palais), the auction house Gros & Delettrez will disperse
in Paris an exceptional ensemble of works by Jesse A. Fernández (1925–1986), a Cuban photographer, draftsman and assembler whose cosmopolitan and singular vision marked the visual history of the 20th century.
This sale also takes place during the centenary of the artist’s birth, offering a unique opportunity to rediscover his work at a symbolic moment.
The auction, comprising over 250 lots — photographs, drawings and “curious boxes” — will be held on Saturday 15 November in the auction house’s future premises on rue de Bérite, in the heart of the 6th arrondissement of Paris.
From the late 1950s onwards, Fernández asserted himself with a series of images that have become historic: his portraits of Fidel Castro in the first days of the Cuban Revolution. Made for Lunes de Revolución at the request of his friend, the writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante, these images display rare acuity: neither propaganda nor simple reportage, but the eye of an author capable of revealing the man behind the political icon.
He went on to develop a major photographic oeuvre, portraying some of the most influential figures of his century: Francis Bacon, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Hans Hartung, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, as well as lea- ding figures from the music and performing arts such as Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie and Marlene Dietrich — not forgetting Ernest Hemingway in Havana (1957). His images were published in Life, Time, Paris Match and The New York Times, attesting to his international standing.
A singular and cosmopolitan gaze
Born in Havana in 1925, Jesse Antonio Fernández embodied the figure of the cosmopolitan artist of the 20th century, navi- gating between continents and languages. Exiled several times — first to Spain to flee the dictatorship of Machado, then back to Cuba to escape the Spanish Civil War — he grew up amidst cultures, political fractures and displacement.
In 1936, the Civil War forced his family to return to Cuba on the last ship leaving Santander, an episode that would leave a las- ting mark on his memory as an exile.
Trained at the San Alejandro Academy in Havana, he moved to New York in the late 1940s, where he studied with George Grosz. There he met Marcel Duchamp, Frederick Kiesler, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock and Robert Motherwell.
In 1948, his meeting with Wifredo Lam introduced him to European painters settled in New York, such as Esteban Francés and Frederick Kiesler. He also frequented the Painters’ Club on 8th Street, alongside de Kooning, Pollock and Milton Resnick.
In 1957, he worked as a photographer on the set of Luis Buñuel’s Nazarín in Mexico. In 1958, he became art director of the maga- zine Visión (New York) while continuing his work as a photojour- nalist, with distribution (notably) via the Gamma agency. He was awarded CINTAS Fellowships (1967–1968, 1975–1976), a major recognition within the Cuban diaspora.
But it was in Colombia (1952–1954) that he truly discovered photography, influenced by Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans. “A form of contact with reality,” he would say.
Portraits and truth
Jesse A. Fernández’s photographic work is distinguished by an intimate approach and a rare capacity to capture the essence of his subjects. Rejecting staged settings, he photographed his models in their own environment, revealing their human dimen- sion. In 1959, he photographed Fidel Castro in the aftermath of the Cuban Revolution.
This series, as rare as it is historic, shows a young leader in the intimacy of his first days in power. At the frontier between repor- tage and authorial portrait, these images testify to a gaze that is engaged yet never complacent. At Guillermo Cabrera Infante’s request, he covered the early months of the Revolution in 1959 for Revolución and Lunes de Revolución.
“Photography became a form of contact with reality.
I knew absolutely nothing, not even what a diaphragm was. But I shut myself away with piles of books,
and I learned.”
– Jesse A. Fernández
Among his other emblematic subjects were Picasso, Francis Bacon, Salvador Dalí, Hans Hartung, Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel García Márquez. Far from simple documentary recor- ding, his portraits reveal unusual proximity and trust, giving his work a singular intensity.
Beyond artists’ studios and writers, Fernández photographed the jazz and entertainment scene — Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Marlene Dietrich — and Ernest Hemingway in Havana (1957).
A universal visual language
Working mainly in black and white, Fernández favoured tight framing, natural light and a pared-down aesthetic he described as “purist.” Natural light, close framing, Leica over the shoulder: an economy of means in the service of real presence.
Beyond portraits, Fernández produced urban reportages, archi- tectural views of Havana, and more meditative series, notably that devoted to the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, where formal austerity serves a reflection on time and memory. This cycle was published by Éditions du Chêne, with an introduction by Dominique Fernandez (Paris, 1980).
Drawings and “curious boxes”
Alongside his photographs, Jesse A. Fernández developed a parallel universe of drawings and box-assemblages. These “curious boxes” operate like miniature cabinets, where personal reminiscences, Afro-Cuban culture, surrealism and universal mythologies intersect. They extend his photographic inquiries by interrogating memory, identity and the passage of time.
Between New York, Paris and Havana
In parallel with his photographic career, Fernández taught at the School of Visual Arts (New York), while continuing to paint and create his famous “boxes.”
In the late 1960s, he divided his time between New York and Puerto Rico, where he wrote as an art critic for the San Juan Star. In the 1970s, he stayed regularly in Toledo and Madrid, where he notably exhibited his boxes.
Settled in France from 1977, he produced several notable portraits — including Joan Mitchell, Henry Moore and Francis Bacon — and published regularly in major outlets. He died in 1986 in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
A major retrospective was devoted to him at the Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid) in 2003, bringing together photographs, drawings and “box-objects.”
In 2012, the Maison de l’Amérique latine (Paris) presented Tours et détours: De La Havane à Paris, accompanied by a publication from Filigranes. In 2016, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City) coordinated Cuba Bound (a three-venue project), with loans from the archive directed by France Mazin Fernández, the artist’s widow.
Today, his work is recognised by major institutions, from MoMA to the Museo Reina Sofía, the Centre Pompidou and the Nelson- Atkins Museum, as well as the Museo del Barrio (New York).
The auction
This dispersion is a rare opportunity to rediscover a major pho- tographer whose critical and artistic importance is today being fully re-evaluated. Coinciding with Paris Photo, it should attract private collectors and institutions keen to acquire or enrich a corpus that remains largely under-explored.
The bringing together of over 250 lots offers a rare overview of his career, conducive to complementary acquisitions or the foundation of collections by institutions and private collectors alike.
By celebrating the centenary of Jesse A. Fernández’s birth, this sale is not only a market moment but also a cri- tical milestone in the rediscovery of a cosmopolitan, major 20th-century artist.
Selected chronology
1925 – Born in Havana.
1932–1936 – Family exile in Asturias; return to Cuba.
1940s – San Alejandro Academy (Havana), then New York (painting with George Grosz; encounters with Duchamp, de Kooning, Pollock...).
1952–1954 – Medellín (Colombia): discovery and intensive prac- tice of photography.
Late 1950s – Photojournalist, art direction, travel in Latin America.
1959 – Castro, Revolución / Lunes de Revolución.
1970s – Back and forth between New York and Paris; portraits of artists.
1977 – Settles in France.
Early 1980s – Mummies of Palermo.
1986 – Dies in Neuilly-sur-Seine.
2000s–2010s – Museum retrospectives.
Bibliography & exhibitions
Selected bibliography: Jesse A. Fernández, cat. Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, 2003; Tours et détours. De La Havane à Paris, Maison de l’Amérique latine / Filigranes, 2012; Les Momies de Palerme, Éditions du Chêne, introduction by Dominique Fernandez (early 1980s); Retratos, a collection of portraits of artists and writers (early 1980s).
Exhibition landmarks: Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid; 2012 – Maison de l’Amérique latine, Paris (Tours et détours, Filigranes); 2016 – Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (Cuba Bound, three-venue project).
Practical information
Auction: Saturday 15 November 2025, 2 pm
Public viewing: 12–14 November 2025
Gros & Delettrez, 2 rue de Bérite (Paris 6th)
Catalogue: available early October — press copies on request (postal / courier).
Online bidding platforms: Drouot Live, Interencheres, Invaluable.
Gros & Delettrez
Gros & Delettrez is an independent auction house founded in 1984 by Henri Gros and Georges Delettrez, heirs to a long tradition of expertise in the Drouot district. Known for its rigour, dynamism and breadth of specialties, the auction house supports collectors and institutions in France and internationally. It is now expanding its activities between Drouot and its new spaces on rue de Bérite (Paris 6th), strengthening its presence on the Paris art scene.
Crédits : Succession Jesse A. Fernández / Gros & Delettrez.