René Portocarrero was born in the "Cerro" district of Havana. His early work, through the 1920¿s, consisted mostly of drawings. As his aesthetic personality developed, he began painting in oil, combining strong lines with rich colors. As in the case of Mariano Rodriguez, the influence of the Mexican muralists is quite evident in the early stages of Portocarrero¿s work. His first personal exhibit took place at the Lyceum (Havana) in 1934.
A large part of his work deals with Spanish colonial subjects and Spanish-Cuban interiors. The search for national and tropical elements is superimposed on the baroque undercurrent which in large measure defines Portocarrero¿s work. Recurring in his oeuvre is also the theme of "Portraits of Flora" ¿ a female face adorned with flowers: an entire suite of paintings executed in 1966 on this subject was presented at the Venice Biennale of that year. Also important is the series of angels, and that of cathedrals: through a long evolution, buildings and cathedrals are combined in cityscapes which developed into the central theme of the artist¿s work.
He published two books of drawings: "Dreams" (1939); and "Masks" (1955), a collection of twelve drawings based on the Carnival of Cienfuegos. Throughout his life he executed several murals, using different techniques, including his "History of the Antilles", in ceramic, for the Hotel Havana Hilton, currently known as "Havana Libre".
Portocarrero followed in the footsteps of the pioneers in Cuban art: Eduardo Abela, Victor Manuel Garcia, Amelia Peláez, and Carlos Enriquez, who all broke with the Academic past setting their sights on the more distant horizons of the School of Paris.
He received prizes in national exhibitions including the 1951 National Prize for Painting for his tribute to the Cuban city of Trinidad. Besides the retrospectives at the National Museum of Havana in 1967 and 1982, major exhibits of Portocarrero¿s work have been held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1943), the Museum of Art, San Francisco (1945), the Musée d¿Art Moderne, Paris (1951), the Panamerican Union, Washington D.C. (1956), in Vienna (1965), and Mexico City (1985). Portocarrero died in Havana in 1985 at the age of 73.
His works are in the permanent collections, among others, of the following institutions: Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo; Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Museum of Fine Arts, Caracas; Milwaukee Art Center; Panamerican Union, Washington, D.C.; Museum of Modern Art, Paris; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Art Museum, Indianapolis; Museum of Fine Arts, Montevideo; Museum of Fine Arts, Buenos Aires; Contemporary Art Institute, Lima; National Museum of Fine Arts, Havana.