In conjunction with Paris Photo 2025 (November 13-16, Grand Palais), the prestigious auction house Gros & Delettrez will hold an extraordinary auction in Paris featuring works by Jesse A. Fernández (1925-1986), a Cuban photographer, draftsman, and assembler whose cosmopolitan and unique vision left an indelible mark on 20th-century visual history. The sale coincides with the centenary of the artist's birth, offering a rare opportunity to rediscover his work at this symbolic moment.
The auction, comprising more than 250 lots including photographs, drawings, and "curious boxes," will take place on Saturday, November 15, at the auction house's new premises on rue de Bérite in the heart of Paris's 6th arrondissement. The sale represents one of the most comprehensive collections of Fernández's work ever to appear at auction.
From the late 1950s, Fernández established himself with a series of images that became historically significant: his portraits of Fidel Castro during the early days of the Cuban Revolution. Created for Lunes de Revolución at the request of his friend, writer Guillermo Cabrera Infante, these images demonstrate rare perceptiveness—neither propaganda nor simple reportage, but the vision of an artist capable of revealing the man behind the political icon.
Fernández went on to develop a major body of photographic work, portraying some of the most influential figures of his century. His subjects included Francis Bacon, Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Hans Hartung, Jorge Luis Borges, and Gabriel García Márquez, as well as personalities from the worlds of music and entertainment such as Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, and Marlene Dietrich. Notable among his works is his portrait of Ernest Hemingway in Havana in 1957. His images were published in prestigious publications including Life, Time, Paris Match, and The New York Times, testament to his international reputation.
Born in Havana in 1925, Jesse Antonio Fernández embodied the figure of the cosmopolitan 20th-century artist, navigating between continents and languages throughout his life. Exiled multiple times—first to Spain to flee the Machado dictatorship, then back to Cuba to escape the Spanish Civil War—he grew up amid different cultures, political fractures, and constant displacement. In 1936, the Spanish Civil War forced his family to return to Cuba on the last boat leaving Santander, an episode that would permanently mark his memory as an exile.
After training at the San Alejandro Academy in Havana, Fernández moved to New York in the late 1940s, where he studied with George Grosz. There he encountered Marcel Duchamp, Frederick Kiesler, Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, and Robert Motherwell. In 1948, his meeting with Wifredo Lam introduced him to European painters who had 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.
Fernández's career took various creative directions throughout the 1950s and beyond. In 1957, he worked as a photographer on the filming of Luis Buñuel's "Nazarín" in Mexico. By 1958, he had become artistic director of Visión magazine in New York while continuing his work as a photojournalist, notably for the Gamma agency. His talent was recognized with CINTAS fellowships in 1967-1968 and 1975-1976, important acknowledgments within the Cuban diaspora.
However, it was in Colombia (1952-1954) that Fernández truly discovered photography, influenced by the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson and Walker Evans. Photography became, as he described it, "a form of contact with reality," allowing him to capture the essence of his subjects with remarkable sensitivity and insight.
The auction is scheduled for Saturday, November 15, 2025, at 2:00 PM, with public viewing available from November 12-14, 2025, at Gros & Delettrez, 2 rue de Bérite in Paris's 6th arrondissement. The catalog will be available in early October, with press copies available upon request for postal or courier delivery. Online bidding will be available through Drouot Live, Interencheres, and Invaluable platforms.
