Cuban artist who, after finishing his studies in Havana, went to Madrid. In contrast to the majority of other artists, Wifredo Lam did not seem interested in going to Paris, preferring to develop as a painter through the Prado Museum. His family tragedy left deep scars on this artist's work who, in 1938, finally decided to visit Paris, where he came into contact with Picasso's work and that of the other vanguard artists which led him to give up the classic canon. With the outbreak of the Second World War, Lam was forced to return to Cuba, where he painted a world of beings similar to, but more vital than those he had painted in Europe and in multicoloured compositions shimmering with intensity. In 1943, he exhibited his work, La Jungla at the Pierre Matisse Gallery in New York, later acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, and that brought him recognition in the art world. In 1959 and 1964, he took part in Documenta 2 and 3, in Kassel. Lam's paintings are an excellent example of the Surrealist attempt to incorporate African and Caribbean mythology in Western art. The Gods of Cuban legend, voodoo and the dangers of the jungle are the main themes of his work.
