ICE TIDES

Ice Tides

Ice forms strange shapes as

tides clean dark rivers daily

our lives need tides too.

The Cuban Paintings_Chapter 1

Chapter One – Havana, Cuba, 1925

The ancient, rusty freighter slid past the El Moro Castle two hours after sunset on September 19, 1925. and entered Havana Harbor where it dropped anchor and as required by international law and custom, raised the yellow quarantine flag. Another smaller flag, no bigger than an ensign, was hoisted on a second yardarm. The Captain raised his binoculars and searched the empty ramparts of the castle for his signal. Nothing. He went below to his cabin, opened a greasy porthole and lit the Cuban cigar he had been saving since leaving Cadiz Harbor, Spain.

The next morning he woke to a brilliant sunrise, went on deck and waited for the harbormaster and his assistant to come aboard to clear customs. After the usual pleasantries and a perfunctory greeting they glanced at the manifest listing the cargo, shrugged, smiled and accepted a significant “harbor clearance fee” and left the ship. No more than 15 minutes had elapsed to inspect the vessel and its cargo. That evening, at the dock in Havana, four men came aboard to claim three large wooden crates. The crates contained over 100 priceless works of art and sculptures by masters from France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands dating back to the 16^th century. 

 They were not seen again until May, 1935 when they were produced to satisfy a debt owed by Salvatore Buffardi, Italian art critic, to a Severino Marrozos y Andrade. In 1937, they were smuggled out of Cuba on a diplomatic flight to Miami, Florida. From 1937 until 2014 they remained hidden in the garage of a small townhouse in the suburbs of Philadelphia. The house was owned by my maternal grandfather, Nicholas E. Meneses, Cuban Consul General of Philadelphia.

Nicholas E Meneses (left) inspecting a cargo of sugar shipped to Philadelphia, PA from Cuba, 1948.