Tropisk växtlighet

Wifredo Lam grew up in a multicultural environment in the Cuban countryside. He gave up his law studies in Havana for art and began painting plants in the city’s botanical gardens. His studies took him to Paris and the circle of surrealist artists. During the Second World War, Lam returned to Cuba where he portrayed the island’s landscapes, history and culture. “Tropical Vegetation” is a lush rendering of sugarcane, fruits and leaves, with totem-like figures emerging from the verdure. Lam’s paintings are also influenced by his contacts with Santería, a local religion that combines West African and Spanish Catholic traditions. The paintings evoke myth and ritual, paradise and hell. The scenes may at first seem exotic, but the stories they tell are universal.