Wifredo lam

Wifredo Lam (1902-1982) was born in Sagua La Grande, Cuba to a Chinese father and a mother of African and Spanish ancestry. He is known for asserting his heritage through his art by merging Afro-Cuban influences with the aesthetics of Surrealism and the School of Paris. As a young man, he was exposed to Santería, a religion that combines African Yoruba spiritual practices with Catholicism.

Lam left Cuba in 1923 when he received a scholarship to study in Madrid. He participated in the Spanish Civil War on the Republican side before moving to Paris in 1938. In Paris, he became closely acquainted with Pablo Picasso. Through him he met other leading artists in Paris who influenced his style of painting. In 1940, the Nazis invaded Paris and Lam left for Marseilles where he took refuge along with a group of Surrealist artists.

In 1941, he fled the war in Europe and returned to Cuba, where he rediscovered the Afro-Caribbean myths, art forms and religious practices. Additionally, Lam became closely associated with Lydia Cabrera and other Cuban intellectuals who at the time were doing groundbreaking research into Afro-Cuban culture. Lam hybridized mainstream European Modernism with these non-Western traditions and used the unique visual language that resulted to raise questions of social injustice and redemption.

Lam’s work began to draw international recognition in the 1940s. He was featured in full-length magazine articles and held one-person shows in London, Paris and New York. In 1964 he received the Guggenheim International Prize. Between 1947 and 1952, Lam lived and worked in Havana, New York, Albisola Mare and Paris, where he settled permanently continuing his long, productive career until his death in 1982. His work can be found in major museums throughout the world including New York’s Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art.

1902 Born: la Sagua La Grande, Villa la Clara, Cuba
1916 Attended Escuela de Bellas Artes, Havana, Cuba
1920 - 1923 Attended the Acadamia San Atejandra, Havana, Cuba Moved to Madrid, Spain
1924 - 1928 Free Academy, Madrid, Spain
1938 Moved to Paris, France and became associated with the Surrealists
1939 Worked with Picasso, France
1941 Moved back to Cuba
1951 Received First Prize at the Salone Nacionale in Havana, Cuba
1953 Received the Gold Medal for foreign painters in Premlo Lissone, Rome, Italy
1958 named member of the Graham Foundation for Advanced Study in Fine Art, Chicago, IL
1964 Awarded the Guggenheim International Award, New York, NY
1965 Received the Premio Marzotto in Milan, Italy
1982 Died:Paris, France

Exhibitions

2010
Afro Modern: Journeys through the Black Atlantic - Tate Liverpool, Liverpool, UK Surrealism and the Museum of Dreams - Castellani Art Museum, Lewiston, NY

2009
Bilderträume. Die Sammlung Ulla und Heiner Pietzsch - Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
Picasso, Matisse, Dubuffet, Bacon... - Les modernes s’exposent au musée des Beaux-Arts - Musée des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Lyon
Echo: Eight San Francisco Artists Respond to Surrealist Masterworks - Frey Norris Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2008
Wifredo Lam - Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Monterrey MARCO, Monterrey, NL (solo)
Wilfredo Lam - Molaa Museum of Latin American Art, Long Beach, CA (solo)
Wifredo Lam in North America - MAM - Miami Art Museum, Miami, FL

2007
Wifredo Lam in North America - Haggerty Museum of Art, Milwaukee, WI (solo)

2004
Wilfredo Lam - Galerie Boulakia, Paris (solo)

1994 - 1995
Wifredo Lam - Drawings: Interlude Marseille - Latin American Masters, Beverly Hills, CA (solo)

1992
Wifredo Lam - Gana Art Center , Seoul (solo)

1988
Wifredo Lam - K20 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen - am Grabbeplatz, Dusseldorf (solo)

1987
Galerie Maeght Lelong, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)

1982
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1979
Artcurial, Paris, France (solo)

1972
Galerie Tronche, Paris, France (solo)

1971
Galerie Gimpel und Hanover, Zurich, Switzerland (solo)

1970
Galleria Arte Borgogna, Milan, Italy (solo)
Gimpel and Weitzenhoffer, New York, NY (solo)

1969
Galleria Bergarnini, Milan, Italy (solo)

1968
Galerie Villand et Galanis, Paris, France (solo)

1967
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)

1966
Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, Germany (solo)
Musee d'Art Moderne de Ia Ville, Paris, France

1965
Museo de Arte Moderna, Havana, Cuba (solo)
Galerie Anderson, Malmo, Sweden (solo)

1964
Galleria Notizie, Turin, Italy (solo)

1963
Galerie Krugier, Geneva, Switzerland (solo)
Galeria de la flabana, Havana, Cuba (solo)

1962
Salone Annunciata, Milan, Italy (solo)

1961
Galerie La Cour d'Ingres, Paris, France (solo)
Galleria del Canale, Venice, Italy (solo)
Galleria del Obelisco, Rome, Italy (solo)
Albert Loeb Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1959
Galleria Grattacielo, Milan, Italy (solo)

1957
Palacio de Bellas Artes, Marcaibo, Venezuela (solo)
Galerie Cahiers d'Art, Paris, France (solo)

1955
Galerie Colibri, Malmo, Sweden (solo)
University of Havana, Havana, Cuba (solo)
Museo de Deltas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela (solo)

1953
Galerie Maeght, Paris, France (solo)

1952
Institute of contemporary Arts, London, UK (solo)

1951
Ministry of Education, Havana, Cuba (solo)

1950
Lam: Obras Recientes 1950, Parque Central, Havana, Cuba (solo)
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1948
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1946
The Cuban Painter Wifredo Lam, The London Gallery, London, UK (solo)
Centre d'Art, Port-an-Prince, Haiti (solo)

1945
Wifredo Lam, Galerie Pierre, Paris, France (solo)

1944 - 1945
Lam Paintings, Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1942
Pierre Matisse Gallery, New York, NY (solo)

1939
Wifredo Lam Peintures, Galerie Pierre, Paris, France (solo)
Drawings by Picasso and Gouaches by Wifredo Lam, Perls Gallery, New York, NY

1928
GalerieVilches, Madrid, Spain (solo)

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
Centro Medeco, Havana, Cuba
Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Denmark
Musee d'Art Moderne de la Ville, Paris, France
Museum Boyrnans-van-Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
National galerie, Berlin, Germany
Stedelijk van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Tate Gallery, London, UK