Wifredo Lam

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About the Artists:

Wifredo Lam was born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba in 1902. He attended the San Alejandro Academy of Fine Arts between 1918 and 1923. At this time, he painted mostly still lifes and landscapes. In 1923, he left for Spain to further his artistic education. Between 1947 and 1952 Lam lived and worked in Havana, New York, Paris, and Albisola. He then settled permanently in Paris. During the rest of his long and productive career, his style and iconography evolved along a steady course toward greater simplicity and abstraction, at times bordering on the decorative. Over the past thirty years Lam has been the subject of several monographs and numerous retrospective exhibitions. His paintings are in museums and private collections all over the world. Wifredo Lam died in Paris in 1982.

Biography:

Lam, like many of the most renowned artists of the 20th century, combined radical modern styles with the "primitive" arts of the Americas.[6] While Diego Rivera and Joaquín Torres García drew inspiration from Pre-Columbian art, Wifredo Lam was influenced by the Afro-Cubans of the time. Lam dramatically synthesized the Surrealist and Cubist strategies while incorporating the iconography and spirit of Afro-Cuban religion. For that reason, his work does not singularly belong to an art movement.[1] He held the belief that society focused too much on the individual and sought to show humanity as a whole in his artwork.[1] He painted generic figures, creating the universal. To further his goal, he often painted mask-like faces. While Cuban culture and mythology permeated his work, it dealt with the nature of man and therefore was wholly relatable to non-Cubans.

Résumé:

"Wifredo Lam Peintures." Galerie Pierre, Paris. June 30 – July 14, 1939. "Drawings by Picasso and Gouaches by Wifredo Lam." Perls Gallery, New York. November 13- December 2, 1939. "Lam Paintings." Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York. November 17- December 5, 1942. "Lam Paintings." Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York. June 6–24, 1944. "Lam Paintings." Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York. November 20- December 8, 1945. "Wifredo Lam." Galerie Pierre, Paris. December 12–31, 1945. "Lam" Centre d'Art Galerie, Port-au-Prince, Haïti, January 24 to February 3, 1946. "The Cuban Painter Wifredo Lam." The London Gallery, London. November 5–30, 1946. "Lam: Obras Recientes 1950." Parque Central, Havana. October 2–15, 1950. "Wifredo Lam." Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, May 8–22, 1955. "Wifredo Lam." University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, January 8–22, 1961. " Wifredo Lam Malerei, Vic Gentils Bildhauerei." Kunsthalle, Basel, September 10 – October 9, 1966; "Wifredo Lam." Kestner-Gesellshaft, Hanover, December 16, 1966 – January 16, 1967; Stedelijk Museum, January 26 – March 12, 1967; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, April 8 – May 7, 1967; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, May 18 – June 18, 1967. "Wifredo Lam." Ordrupgaard, Charlottenlund (Denmark), September 14 -October 15, 1978; Sonja Henie, Niels Onstad Foundation, Høvikkoden (Norway), "Homenaje a Wifredo Lam 1902–1982." Museo Nacional de Arte Contemporaneo, Madrid, October 20- December 12, 1982; Musée d'Ixelles, Brussels, January 7 -March 6, 1983; Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, March 23 – May 22, 1983. "Wifredo Lam, Prints." Central Institute of Fine Arts, Beijing; Palace of Fine Arts, Shanghaï; Institute of Fine Arts, Hangzhou, Institute of Fine Arts; Guangzhou; Art Center, Hong Kong, September 1991 – March, 1992. "Wifredo Lam: A Retrospective of Works on Paper." Americas Society, New York, September 19 – December 20, 1992; Fundacio La Caixa, Barcelona, January 21 – March 21, 1993. "Wifredo Lam." Museo Nacional Centreo de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, September 29 – December 14, 1992; Fundacio Miro, Barcelona, January, 21 – March 21, 1993. "Lam métis." Fondation Dapper, Paris, September 26, 2001 to January 20, 2002. "Wifredo Lam: The Changing Image, Centennial Exhibition." Yokohama Museum of Art, Yokohama, October 2002 – January 2003. "Wifredo Lam et les poètes." Musée Campredon, Maison René Char, L'Isle sur la Sorgue, France, July 7 -October 2, 2005. "Wifredo Lam in North America", Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, Milwaukee October 11, 2007 – January 21, 2008. Miami Art Museum, Miami, February 8 – May 18, 2008; Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, June 12 -August 31, 2008; Dali Museum, St Petersburg (FL), October 2, 2008 – January 10, 2009. "Wifredo Lam, gravuras", Caixa Cultural de Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, October 22 – January 3, 2010; Pinacoteca de Estado, São Paulo, February 27 – May 2, 2010. "Wifredo Lam 1902–1982: Voyages entre caraïbes et avant-gardes" Musée des Beaux-Arts de Nantes, France, May 6 – August 29, 2010. "Césaire, Lam, Picasso, Nous nous sommes trouvés", Galerie nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France, March 16 – June 6, 2011.

Additional Information:

Born: 1902
Birthplace: Sagua la Grande, Cuba
Died: 1982