Wifredo Lam (1902-1982)

Prince Fürstemberg, Vienna
B. Salomon, Paris
B. Krebs, Brussels
Private Collection, Tel Aviv
Sale: Sotheby's, London, Post-War and Contemporary Art, December 3, 1992, lot 3, illustrated in color
Sale: Christie's, New York, Latin American Paintings, Drawings, Sculpture, and Prints, November 16, 1997, lot 71, illustrated in color
Sale: Christie's, New York, Latin American Art, November 19, 2008, lot 35, illustrated in color

 

Milan, Galleria Pagani del Grattacielo, Opere Recenti di Lam, 1959, no. 13
Paris, Galerie La Cour d'Ingres, Wifredo Lam, 1961
Basel, Kunsthalle; Hannover, Kestner-Gesellschaft; Wifredo Lam Malerei, Vic Gentils Bildhauerei, 1966-1967, no. 53 
Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum; Stockholm, Moderna Museet; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Wifredo Lam, 1967
Roslyn Harbor, Nassau County Museum of Art, Surrealism, September 29, 2000-January 14, 2001, illustrated in color
Roslyn Harbor, Nassau County Museum of Art, The Latin Century: Beyond the Border, August 18-November 3, 2002, p. 35, illustrated in color
Oakdale, New York, The Anthony Giordano Gallery, Dowling College, Visiones: 20th Century Latin Art, July 20-September 21, 2003, p.7, illustrated
Roslyn Harbor, Nassau County Museum of Art, A Collector's Insight: Latin Visions, November 14, 2004-February 13, 2005
Roslyn Harbor, Nassau Country Museum of Art, Latin Masters, August 26-November 4, 2007

Michel Leiris, Lam, Milan, 1970, p. 128, illustrated
Max Pol Fouchet, Wifredo Lam, 1^st ed., Barcelona/Paris, 1976, no. 475, p. 239, illustrated
Lou Laurin-Lam and Eskil Lam, Wifredo Lam: Catalogue Raisonné of the Painted Work, Volume I, 1923-1960, Lausanne, 1996, no. 59.01, p. 472, illustrated

This painting is still on what appears to be its original stretcher. The paint layer is stable. There are no reinforcements on the reverse and it seems to be in healthy state. Under ultraviolet light there are a few spots of retouching around the edges but in the picture proper there is only one restoration in the center left background and a spot or two in the lower right. Almost all of the retouches address a few losses around the edges and they have been nicely carried out. The painting should be hung as is. This condition report has been provided courtesy of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

La Rencontre (The Encounter) is perhaps the most famous composition of 19C French painter Gustave Courbet (1819 - 1877). It was exhibited in Paris at the 1855 Exposition Universelle where it was an instant public success. Soon the public and the press had changed the name of the painting to Bonjour Monsieur Courbet, Good Morning Mr. Courbet. Curiously, about a hundred years later, Wifredo Lam painted  Au Commencement de la Nuit (At the Beginning of the Night)  and this painting is also known by its nickname: Bonjour Monsieur Lam. No doubt, the two paintings are related by their curious name; interestingly, the two coincide and radically differ in many aspects.

Courbet's painting is showing a full body self-portrait of the artist walking on a country road at the beginning of the day. The two persons he is meeting (his friend and collector Alfred Bruyas and his valet, M. Calas) stand on the left as statues while Courbet displays all the energy of a man coming to a halt after a brisk walk: only one more step will bring him to a polite distance to engage in a conversation. He holds in his right hand a long walking stick and he turns his head (and his pointed beard) upwards and left in an awkward, almost defiant pose that allows the viewer to recognize the artist who was quite well known in his days for the intensity of his famous previous self-portraits, in particular le Désesperé, 1843-1845, in which he appeared with rounded eyes, mouth open, pulling his hair with both hands in front of a mirror.

There could be no doubt that Au Commencement de la Nuit (Bonjour Monsieur Lam) is also a self-portrait. The painting is carefully crafted to reveal in a flash the animal and anthropological forms in the darkness of the night. In Lam's painting, a beast is depicted walking across the composition. It seems like it has stopped and, like in Courbet, it is turning its bearded head towards the spectator a similar invitation to make us recognize him.While Bonjour Monsieur Courbet is an easier painting to understand because the figures appear in broad day light, Bonjour Monsieur Lam is somehow more difficult to decipher. However, an attentive look at the hybrid creature reveals the fantastic complexity of how Wifredo Lam pictures himself . The first recognizable features are the hoofs of a horse and its elongated head, eyes and mouth.  Following the neck on the diagonal, we discover that it is a winged horse. This mythical animal is also a woman : her breasts show distinctly under the wing and a second leg. Further to the right, a geometric second head with two prominent horns, eyes wide open and staring up towards his two arms and hands that close the composition on the right side with a protective gesture.  A mysterious long shape with ribs or spines crosses the painting in parallel of the creature's body : its presence  echoes and  accentuates the angular and fleshless qualities of the creature ´s essential embodiment

The image of Lam riding a winged woman horse (one of the recurring themes in the artist work is the representation of the Femme Cheval) translates in Cuban Santería religion into: Lam being possessed by the Orisha spirit named Eleguá -represented by the round face, on the horse' head--, the trickster god of crossroads. In Courbet, the image, title and its sobriquet indicate that an encounter has taken place: his sudden meeting with Bruyas suggests a future narrative, for us to imagine. In Lam's painting, the meeting with the spirit was rather abrupt: Eleguá salutes humorously as he has already taken possession of Lam´s body and mind. Both paintings describe an encounter, just of a different type.