Cundo Bermúdez was one of Cuba’s most important artists of the twentieth century. He first studied painting at the Academia de San Alejandro in 1929 and became integrated in the country's burgeoning avant-garde. In 1937 Bermúdez and a handful of artists decided to organize a show of their work in Havana’s first open-air exhibition in the Parque de Albear. Bermúdez joined the staff of a firm of publishers where he was responsible for blending colored inks for printing; there he gained a profound understanding of the power of juxtapositions of color. A key member of the Cuban Vanguardia (including Mario Carreño, Amelia Peláez, Carlos Enríquez, and more), Bermúdez engaged in a project of nation- and identity-building in his painting of this early period. Rejecting colonialist tropes and European themes that had dominated Cuban art of previous centuries, the Vanguardia asserted the value of specifically Cuban modes of expression, depicting native culture, flora and fauna in a thoroughly modern pictorial vocabulary throughout the 1930s-40s.

Cundo Bermúdez’s Mujer peinando su amante is a triumph in the artist’s oeuvre. The rich spread of vivid colors presents a visual feast. The couple are surrounded by joyously bright icons of daily Cuban life; emerald hurricane shutters, red and yellow geometric floor tiles, a colorful biombo (screen) and delicately patterned ceramics encircle them in an exuberant array of patterns and jewel tones. Bermúdez elevates a moment of mundane tenderness between the central couple. Their soft gazes and easy informality juxtaposed with the vibrational intensity of their surroundings create a rich, complex presentation of Cuban identity and pride.