1902 b. December 8th. Wifredo Oscar de la Concepcion Lam y Castilla, in Sagua La Grande, Cuba. Cuban Painter; who also worked with sculpture, ceramics and printmaking in his later life. Influenced by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. He was of mixed-race ancestry: his father, Yam Lam, was a Chinese immigrant and his mother, the former Ana Serafina Castilla, was born to a Congolese former slave mother and a Cuban mulatto father. His godmother, Matonica Wilson, a Santeria -> priestess, locally celebrated as a healer and sorceress, exposed him to the rites of the African orishas. His contact with African celebrations and spiritual practices proved to be his largest artistic influence.
==1920's== ==1930's== ==1940's== ==1950's== ==Later Life== 1916 Family settles in Havana. Studies law tropical plants at the Botanical Gardens. 1918 - 1923 He studied painting at the Escuela de Bellas Artes. ==1920's== 1923 Scholarship to study in Madrid under Fernando Ãlvarez de Sotomayor y Zaragoza, curator of the Museo del Prado and teacher of Salvador Dali. Interested in primitive art. Inspirations Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel. 1929 married Eva Piriz. ==1930's== 1931 Eva and child die of tuberculosis. Paints numerous mother and child works. Travels throughout Spain. Influenced by Surrealists and Henri Matisse. 1936 Joins republican forces at beginning of civil war, fashioing posters and propaganda. Marries Vilolette Boglio, English teacher. Befriends Raoul Ubac, Oscar Dominguez, Georges Bataille, and Chaim Soutine ->. 1937 Injured in Mardid, sent to Barcelona met Helena Holzer (Benitez) a German chemist and Manolo Hugue who gives him a letter of introduction to Pablo Picasso, whose work had previously inspired him. 1938 Moves to Paris with Helena Holzer. Picasso introduces him to Fernand Leger, Henri Matisse, Georges Braque, Joan Miro and to Pierre Loeb -> a Parisian art dealer. 1939 One-man show at Loeb's, also exhibits with Picasso at Perls Galleries in New York. ==1940's== 1940 Moves to Bordeaux then Marseilles. Contacts Varian Fry. Frequents Villa Air-Bel and participates in Surrealist games. Illustrates Andre Breton's poem Fata Morgana, banned by the Vichy government. Officially joins Surrealists. Designs card for Marseille Card Game together with Andre Breton, Oscar Dominguez, Victor Brauner, Max Ernst, Jacques Herold, Andre Masson, Jacqueline Lamba and (Frederic Delanglade not used). 1941 Feb 18th. embarks for Martinique with Helena on same boat as Breton nd his family and Victor Serge Briefly interned with Breton in Martinique meets Aime Cesaire. May 16th. Continued on to Dominican Republic with the Bretons June 12th departs with Helena for Cuba. 1943 The Jungle
and Malembo, The God of the Crossroads
1944 m. Helena. 1946 Visits Haiti for four months with Andre Breton. 1947 Provides original artwork for the catalogue of Le Surrealisme en 1947 or Please Touch at Galerie Maeght, Paris. ==1950's== 1950 Separated from Helena. worked together with Rene Portocarrero -> and others in the village of Santaigo de las Vegas, 20km south of Havana. Zanbezia, zambezia.
1952 Divorces Helena, returns to Paris. 1955 Exhibits in Havana University to show support for the student protests against Batista's dictatorship. ==Later Life== 1960 established a studio in Albisola Mare in Italy; settling with his wife Lou Laurin ->, and their three sons. 1964 Awarded the Guggenheim International Award. 1965? Painting The Third World for the Cuban presidential palace. Encouraged by Asger Jorn -> he began to experiment with ceramics. 1975? First ceramic exhibition. He progressed to model sculptures and cast in metal in his twilight years. 1982 d. September 11th. Paris. See bio -> and criticism (Sp). -> and by Helena ->. See [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xyn7c_lou-laurin-lam_creation|video ->]] and Inventing Wifredo Lam ->. See Forgery problems ->. See Timeline
