Untitled - Original Important Drawing by Wifredo Lam - 1941 1941

This extraordinary and rare drawing by Wifredo Lam is one of the artworks that the artist took with him when he moved from Cuba to France. In Paris, Lam showed Picasso his drawings and afterwards to Breton in Marseille. At this moment, the latter was writing his famous “Fata Morgana”. When Breton saw these drawings, he decided to ask Lam to illustrate “Fata Morgana”. These drawings are very important, and it is interesting to underline these sketches are very similar to the illustrations of Breton’s book. Certificate of authenticity by Eskil Lam, April 2017. This artwork is shipped from France and requires an export certificate which will be requested by the Gallery. Wifredo Lam (Sagua la Grande, 8th December 1902 – Paris, 11th September 1982) was a Cuban painter. At the beginning of Autumn 1923 he sailed for Spain, where he lived for 14 years. In 1929 he married Eva Piris with whom he had a child. In 1931, Eva and their child died of tubercolosis. In 1938 Lam met Pablo Picasso and was introduced to some of his friends, such as Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, Henri Matisse, Paul Eluard, Georges Braque. In 1941 he left Europe for Cuba with André Breton, who wanted to go to New York. But, whilst he thought he would be reunited with his homeland, he was incarcerated for 40 days on a small island in the Martinique. After spending ten years on the island, at the age of 50 he finally moved to Paris where he died. He was the first non-white artist to be officially recognised within western history of art. He is considered, together with René Portocarrero, the greatest Cuban artist. Lam’s style is the sum of the numerous painting styles he encountered during his long journeys: his work is characterised by a trait similar to those of primitive graffiti but also mixed with a slightly cubist influence, and all this is blended in a surrealist atmosphere.