Wifredo Lam

Wifredo Lam - actually Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla, sometimes mistakenly Wilfredo orthografiert - ( born December 2, 1902 in Sagua la Grande, Cuba, † September 11, 1982 in Paris) was a Cuban, French surrealist painter and graphic artist later. His father was Chinese and his mother mulatto. Lam's Chinese name is林飞龙, Lín Feilong.

Life and work

Lam moved 1916 to Havana, studied from 1918 to 1923 at the School of Art in Havana. In 1923 he emigrated to Spain and attended the Art Academy in Madrid. In 1938 he moved to Paris, where he introduced Pablo Picasso in the circle around André Breton. In 1940 he fled to Marseille and 1941, along with some Surrealist friends, to Martinique, where he was interned for a short time. After a wartime return to Cuba in 1942 and an extended stay in New York 1947-1952, and stays between Cuba and Paris, he ended his life in 1982 in the French capital.

Wifredo Lam's powerful painting is brought into close connection with the Santeria cult, since it seems to summon to wild - type dance Caribbean- African spirits and shapes.

Exhibition

Community exhibitions

Lam took in 1959 at the documenta II and 1964 at the documenta III in Kassel part.

Bibliography

• José Pierre: Encyclopedia of Surrealism, Dumont Verlag, Cologne