Washday Madonna
Acrylic on canvas – 44" x 38"

Up and down the streets of Old Havana, wash can be seen strung across balconies. The weather is conducive for quick drying, and dryers are too expensive for most to purchase.

Cuba has a dual economy, with two distinct systems operating side by side. The socialist peso economy applies to most Cubans, providing them with free education, free health care, universal employment, unemployment compensation, disability and retirement benefits, and the basic necessities of life: food, housing, utilities and some entertainment at very low cost. The free-market dollarized economy operates in the tourist, international and export sectors, and substantially sustains the socialist economy.