 Vicente Escobar (1762 - 1834) was a "mestizo" whose skill as a portraitist made him popular among Cuba's elite.Though having no formal art education himself, he opened what was possibly Cuba's first painting workshop/studio, and later graduated with honors from the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid.His portraiture was firmly in the European Classical style, but had a distinctive freshness and energy.A slave revolt culminating in neighboring Haiti's declaration of independence in 1804 proved something of a windfall for Cuba, as refugee plantation owners and their slaves relocated to the underdeveloped, underpopulated eastern portion of the island.