In 1939, Galerie Pierre presented Lam’s first Parisian solo show. The exhibition featured several works exploring maternity, perhaps in response to the loss of Lam’s first wife, Eva Piriz, and his son, Wilfredo Victor, who both died of tuberculosis in 1931. In this painting, Lam creates a shallow space in which a mother cradles her child. Faceless and composed of geometric forms, the figures suggest universal themes of both grief and tenderness. This work was acquired by MoMA’s founding director, Alfred H. Barr Jr., that year, and was the first of Lam’s paintings to become part of a museum collection.
Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream, November 10, 2025–April 11, 2026
Gallery label from Wifredo Lam: When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream (en español) , November 10, 2025–April 11, 2026
En 1939, la Galerie Pierre presentó la primera muestra individual de Lam en París. La exhibición reunió varios trabajos que exploraban la maternidad, posiblemente en respuesta a la pérdida de la primera esposa de Lam, Eva Piriz, y su hijo, Wilfredo Victor, quienes fallecieron de tuberculosis. Lam creó un espacio plano donde una madre sostiene a su hijo en su regazo. Sin rostro y compuestas de formas geométricas, las figuras sugieren temas universales de dolor y ternura. Esta obra fue adquirida ese mismo año por Alfred H. Barr Jr., director fundador del MoMA, y fue la primera pintura de Lam en ingresar a la colección de un museo.
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Wifredo Lam
Cuban, 1902–1982 37 works onlineWifredo Lam charted a pathbreaking trajectory in modern art and served as a reference for subsequent generations of artists working across the Caribbean, Africa, and the West.
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