The Spirit of Morning

Currently not on view

The Spirit of Morning

1942

Wifredo Lam (Cuban, 1902–1982)

Wifredo Lam was a native Cuban of Spanish, African, and Chinese descent who worked primarily in Europe and the United States and became associated with Surrealism in the late 1930s. Lam’s attraction to the voodoo magic and witchcraft aspects of Afro-Cuban religious practices (his godmother was a healer in the Santería religion) paralleled the Surrealist fascination with the ritual cultures of non-Western, often colonial, lands. As in this haunting image of a masked figure clutching a strange bird, Lam welcomed the notions of myth, metamorphosis, and prophecy into his works.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

The Spirit of Morning
L'Esprit du matin

Date:

1942

Artist:

Wifredo Lam (Cuban, 1902–1982)

Medium:

Opaque watercolor on paper

Dimensions:

Sheet: 41 1/2 x 32 7/8 inches (105.4 x 83.5 cm)

Classification:

Drawings

Credit Line:

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. G. Holmes Perkins, 1976

Accession Number:

1976-209-1

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Currently not on view