Carmen Herrera, Cuban-born abstract artist, dies at 106
NEW YORK (AP) — Cuban-born artist Carmen Herrera, whose radiant color and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice, has died. She was 106. Artist Antonio Bechara told The New York Times that Herrera died at her Manhattan home on Saturday. Herrera sold her first painting in 2004 at the age of 89. Today her minimalist compositions of straight lines, form and color are found in permanent collections of major museums. Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1915, Herrera said in a 2009 interview that she painted because she had to. She said being an unknown artist meant she could work to please herself, not someone else.
