Lot 423
  • 423

WIFREDO LAM | Sin título (Baño de sol)

Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
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Description

  • Lam, Wifredo
  • Sin título (Baño de sol) 
  • Oil on canvas
  • 31 1/2 by 37 1/2 in.
  • 80 by 95 cm
  • Painted circa 1923.

Provenance

Sarah Isabel Vázquez & Juan Castillo Castillo, Cuba (gift from the artist circa 1929) 
Thence by descent 

Condition

This work is in good condition overall, taking its age into account. The canvas is unlined and slightly loosely stretched. The colors are vibrant, and the media layer is stable overall. Isolated areas of abrasion and minor losses to the media layer are present in the following locations: two fine diagonal two-inch bands in the center quadrant; two fine horizontal half-inch bands in the lower left quadrant in the shawl; three fine half-inch horizontal bands at the center left extreme edge, and a fine two-inch diagonal line at the extreme upper right corner. An intermittent fine band of media losses is present along each of the extreme edges of the canvas. Three white pinpoint drip accretions are present in the lower center quadrants, two in the legs of the figure, and one in the shawl. Under ultraviolet light examination, no evidence of inpainting is revealed.
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.

Catalogue Note

Upon his arrival to Madrid from Havana in late 1923, Wifredo Lam’s first project was to seek out Fernando Alvarez de Sotomayor, the newly appointed director of the Prado museum and Madrid’s leading portraitist. Under Sotomayor’s tutelage, he spent weeks studying and copying Dutch and Spanish masters ranging from Velásquez and Goya to Breughel the Elder. Lam was particularly fascinated by Bosch and El Greco, whose work he not only copied but analyzed in minute detail, seeking to understand their compositional strategies and the mechanics of their painting on a profound level. During this time, Lam’s own work began to veer from strictly academic portraits and landscapes to lush, Symbolist-influenced works like Baño de sol (Sunbathing). Synthesizing the techniques of the masters with the work of Spanish Symbolists like Néstor, Lam reveled in rich patterning and luxuriant colors in these rare early paintings. Here, a softly smiling nude figure in a vibrant garden rests on an opulently embroidered garment as a couple in seventeenth-century Dutch dress serenade and fan her. Only about four paintings from this period remain extant, as Lam’s extreme poverty and high standards for his work led him to lose, sell cheaply or burn most of his early paintings. Sotheby’s is honored to present Baño de sol, which emerges for the first time since the mid-twentieth century from a collection closely connected to the artist himself.



This work is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity signed by Eskil Lam and dated Paris le 21 décembre 2018.