Cernuda Arte is exhibiting for the first time in South Florida a seminal work of Cuban modernism -- Fuego en el batey from 1943 -- by one of the island's most important artists, Mario Carreño. The painting, rendered in oil and Duco on wood panel, was acquired by Cernuda Arte and the Rudman family from the Dominican Republic at a Christie's auction last May for $2.18 million. The whereabouts of the painting was unknown for five decades until heirs found it hanging in the home of its original owners, Milton and Nora Ward of Long Island. A lecture series on Cuban modernist art has been organized around the painting. The first, ''The Decades of the '40s and '50s,'' begins at 7 p.m. Wednesday, delivered in Spanish by architect Nicolás Quintana, scholar professor at Florida International University's School of Architecture.

Fuego en el batey and other works from Carreño contemporaries -- including Wifredo Lam, Victor Manuel and Amelia Peláez among others -- can be viewed through Aug. 15 at Cernuda Arte, 3155 Ponce de Leon Blvd., Coral Gables; 305-461-1050; www.cernudaarte.com.

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