Wifredo Lam

Wifredo Lam was born on December 8, 1902, in Sagua la Grande, Cuba. After studying at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Havana, he moved to Madrid in 1923 to train with Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor, a teacher of Salvador Dalí. The death of his wife and son in 1931 deeply affected him, contributing to the darker tones of his later work.

In the 1930s, Lam’s art reflected influences from Surrealism, Matisse, and Torres-García. A 1936 Picasso exhibition inspired him both artistically and politically. Moving to Paris in 1938, he developed a close friendship with Picasso, who encouraged his interest in African art. Lam also visited Mexico, staying with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. His mixed Chinese, African, and European heritage, along with his interest in Santería, soon shaped his distinctive visual language.

During World War II, Lam lived mainly in the Caribbean, illustrating André Breton’s Fata Morgana and returning to Cuba in 1941. There he began his landmark work The Jungle (1942), merging Surrealism, Cubism, and Afro-Caribbean symbolism.

From the 1940s onward, Lam exhibited widely in New York and Europe. After several travels and marriages, he settled partly in Italy, continuing to explore spiritual and cultural hybridity in his art. He received the Guggenheim International Award in 1964 and major retrospectives across Europe in the 1960s. Lam died in Paris on September 11, 1982.