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In Short
Painted in 1964, the same year Wifredo Lam won the Guggenheim International Award, Untitled is a quintessential example of the acclaimed artist’s late work. A mysterious figure emerges from a cosmic orange background, equally reminiscent of a two-winged horse and Lam’s iconic motif of the femme-cheval or "horse-headed woman”. Evocative of Zambezia, Zambezia, 1950, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the work perfectly captures the unique visual lexicon that Lam developed by furthering his interest in Surrealism vis-a-vis his own Afro-Cuban origins, specifically in relation to his fascination with Haitian Santería deities.
Painting a post-colonial world
Born in Cuba in 1902 and witness to some of the key political upheavals in the 20th century, Wifredo Lam truly pioneered a new and unique way of painting in a post-colonial world.
"My painting is an act of decolonization not in a physical sense, but in a mental one."
- Wifredo LamLam initially studied painting in Havana, but soon radically developed his artistic practice in Europe through study of the work of Old Masters such as Diego Velázquez and Francisco de Goya, as well as exposure to modern artists such as Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró. While Lam was a part of the vibrant scene in Madrid throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the devastation of the Spanish Civil War led him to move to Paris in 1938 where Picasso, an admirer of Lam’s work, introduced him to the avant-garde circle. His encounter of the surrealist circle and their espousal of the unconscious, dreams and sexuality wholly transformed his practice and set the foundation for the unique hybrid style that he would develop following his return to Cuba in 1941 at the outbreak of World War II.
Wifredo Lam, atelier in Havana, 1947. Artwork © 2020 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
After 18 years abroad, Lam not only became acutely aware of the racism, poverty and the vestiges of Colonialist oppression, he also reconnected with the Afro-Cuban culture of his childhood from which he had distanced himself while living in Europe. Lam — a Cuban of African, Chinese, and European descent — clearly embraces hybridity as the very cornerstone of his mature work.
Cut From the Archives
On the occasion of the Tate Modern's The EY Exhibition: Wifredo Lam, Eskil Lam recounts his father's story and shares his memories.
Untitled, 1964
Untitled demonstrates an important evolution in Lam's practice, one that saw him revisit his beginnings as an artist in Europe through the lens of his own multi-cultural upbringing. It was Lam’s return to Cuba that ushered in the unique and radical idiom he is so widely celebrated for. The present work clearly demonstrates how Lam further developed Surrealism within the multi-cultural context of his upbringing.
Through his godmother, a Santería priestess, Lam immersed himself into Santería, a religion often characterized as a blend of myths and beliefs from West Africa with aspects of Spanish Catholicism. Half-human, half-animal, the figure in Untitled perfectly encapsulates the fantastical, hybrid figures that Lam developed. Exemplifying Lam’s remarkable graphic sensibility, the present work shows a figure in a state of transmogrification — one that is equally reminiscent of the femme cheval (horse-headed woman) motif of Santería and a two-winged horse.
This work is notably from a series of paintings which, with their graphic clarity and cubist forms, evoke the disfigured horse in Picasso’s Guernica — a motif Lam returned to throughout this late career to explore the cycle of birth and death. Set against a radiating orange background, the apparition here is akin to a healing cosmic force captured in a state of magical metamorphosis.Provenance
Private Collection, Paris
Galerie Thomas, Munich
Alexander Gray Associates, New York (acquired from the above)
Acquired from the above by the present ownerLiterature
Max Pol Fouchet, Wifredo Lam, Barcelona/Paris, 1976, no. 426, p. 236 (illustrated)
Max Pol Fouchet, Wifredo Lam, Barcelona/Paris, 1989, no. 458, p. 256 (illustrated)
Lou Laurin-Lam and Eskil Lam, Wifredo Lam, Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume II 1961-1982, Lausanne, 2002, no. 64.22, p. 280 (illustrated)Artist Biography
Wifredo Lam
Cuban • 1902 - 1982
Wifredo Lam was born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba and was of mixed Chinese, European, Indian and African descent. He studied under Fernando Álvarez de Sotomayor, curator for the Museo del Prado and teacher of Salvador Dalí.
While studying in Spain, he met Pablo Picasso, who would become his mentor and friend as well as one of his great supporters, introducing him to the intelligentsia of the time. Lam significantly contributed to modernism during his prolific career as painter, printmaker, sculptor and ceramist. His works explored Cubism and expanded the inventive parameters of Surrealism while negotiating figuration and abstraction with a unique blend of Afro-Cuban and Surrealist iconography. His iconic visual language incorporated syncretic and fantastical objects and combined human-animal figures fused with lush vegetation.
Property from an Important Private Collection, California
139
Untitled
signed "Wifredo Lam" lower left; further signed "Wifredo Lam" on the reverse
oil on canvas
27 1/2 x 19 1/2 in. (70 x 49.5 cm)
Painted circa 1964, this work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity issued by Lou-Laurin Lam.
Estimate
$120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $150,000
John McCord
Head of Day Sale, Morning Session
New York
+1 212 940 1261
20th c. & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Morning Session
New York Auction 2 July 2020
101
Anne Truitt
Parva XIII
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $93,750
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102
Ed Moses
Untitled
Estimate $15,000 - 20,000
Sold for $16,250
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103
James Turrell
Hologram (IV 01)
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $50,000
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104
Lee Bontecou
Untitled
Estimate $60,000 - 80,000
Sold for $105,000
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105
Ad Reinhardt
Untitled
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
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106
Mark Tobey
Untitled
Estimate $15,000 - 20,000
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107
Hans Hofmann
Yellow Glow
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
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108
Joan Mitchell
Untitled
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
Sold for $102,500
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109
Robert Motherwell
Untitled
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $23,750
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110
Helen Frankenthaler
1973 (Thanksgiving Day)
Estimate $15,000 - 20,000
Sold for $47,500
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111
Ed Clark
Untitled
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112
Ed Clark
Untitled
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
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113
Mary Corse
Untitled (Black White Inner Band, Beveled)
Estimate $220,000 - 280,000
Sold for $250,000
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114
Tony Smith
Spitball
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
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115
Robert Ryman
Bent Line Drawing 20" x 20"
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $56,250
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116
Kenneth Noland
Resect
Estimate $200,000 - 300,000
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117
Carlos Cruz-Diez
Chromointerférence Mécanique
Estimate $80,000 - 100,000
Sold for $90,000
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118
Yayoi Kusama
Flower
Estimate $18,000 - 22,000
Sold for $20,000
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119
Robert Morris
Untitled (Hypnerotomachia Series)
Estimate $18,000 - 22,000
Sold for $68,750
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120
Louise Nevelson
Young Tree XXIV
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $110,000
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121
George Rickey
Broken Line (Two Lines Horizontal)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $40,000
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122
John Chamberlain
Untitled
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
Sold for $15,000
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123
Lucas Samaras
Chair with Reclining Curvaceous V
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
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124
Deborah Butterfield
Chestnut
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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125
Julian Schnabel
Insomnolent Brown Trimmed in Mink
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $250,000
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126
Julian Schnabel
Lazarus, Second Painting for Aldo Moro
Estimate $100,000 - 150,000
Sold for $435,000
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127
Mary Heilmann
Lil Totem
Estimate $50,000 - 70,000
Sold for $137,500
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128
This lot is no longer available.
129
Philip Guston
Untitled (double-sided drawing)
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
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130
Jack Tworkov
Torso
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $9,375
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131
André Breton
Four works: (i-iv) Untitled
Estimate $15,000 - 20,000
Sold for $16,250
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132
Joseph Cornell
Sandsifter Box
Estimate $180,000 - 250,000
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133
Fernand Léger
Untitled Composition
Estimate $18,000 - 22,000
Sold for $28,750
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134
Jacques Lipchitz
Study for Pastorale
Estimate $12,000 - 18,000
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135
Henri Laurens
Femme couchée
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
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136
Henri Laurens
La jeune soeur
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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137
Fernando Botero
Woman with Serpent
Estimate $200,000 - 250,000
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138
Fernando Botero
Danseuse équilibriste à cheval
Estimate $35,000 - 50,000
Sold for $37,500
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139
Wifredo Lam
Untitled
Estimate $120,000 - 180,000
Sold for $150,000
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140
Loló Soldevilla
Sin Título
Estimate $30,000 - 40,000
Sold for $52,500
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141
José Gurvich
Untitled
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $77,500
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142
Tomás Sánchez
Meditador
Estimate $250,000 - 350,000
Sold for $399,000
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143
Gerhard Richter
Onkel Rudi
Estimate $18,000 - 22,000
Sold for $21,250
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144
Anselm Kiefer
Lilith
Estimate $70,000 - 100,000
Sold for $68,750
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145
Kenny Scharf
Coconut Star
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
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146
Kenny Scharf
Spacemeats
Estimate $45,000 - 55,000
Sold for $81,250
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147
Jim Dine
2 Moons
Estimate $80,000 - 120,000
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148
Alighiero Boetti
Entre loup et chien
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $30,000
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149
Tom Wesselmann
Study for Face Aquatint
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $22,500
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150
Richard Pettibone
Andy Warhol, Marlon, 1963
Estimate $30,000 - 50,000
Sold for $37,500
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151
Ed Ruscha
S
Estimate $15,000 - 20,000
Sold for $27,500
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152
Richard Artschwager
Pull
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
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153
Al Held
Untitled
Estimate $10,000 - 15,000
Sold for $21,250
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154
Ralph Humphrey
Station
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $22,500
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155
Larry Poons
Untitled
Estimate $20,000 - 30,000
Sold for $200,000
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156
Paul Jenkins
Phenomena Forecast of Fire
Estimate $25,000 - 35,000
Sold for $75,000
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157
Patrick Hughes
Stairs to the Stars
Estimate $40,000 - 60,000
Sold for $112,500
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