newsfromsothebys201011

Sotheby's November Latin American Art Sale Totals US$20,104,250 (£12,525,232)

***13 NEW ARTIST RECORDS SET***

Wilfredo LAM (1902-1982)

Les Abalochas Dansent pour Dhambala, Dieu de l'Unité, signed on the reverse, 1970
Oil on canvas, 213x244cm

Hammer Price with Buyer's Premium US$2,154,500 (£1,342,284) (Sotheby's NY, November 16th 2010, Lot 14)
Estimate US$1,750,000-2,250,000
Lot Sold Private Collector

***RECORD FOR THE ARTIST AT AUCTION***

The art of Wifredo Lam communicates transcultural beliefs rooted in the African diaspora not only in Cuba and the Caribbean but many other countries around the world. During his long prolific career as a painter, printmaker, sculptor, and ceramist, he contributed to Modernism in very special ways. As an insider, Lam embraced Afro-Cuban subjects at a time when few artists in the western world were engaged in dialogues addressing cross-cultural, ethnic, and spiritual themes. His practice slowly but undeniably changed the direction and understanding of Modernism. Master of line, form, and color, the artist absorbed the lessons of cubism, expanded the parameters of surrealism, and mediated the fine line between figuration and abstraction. His work, which expresses human emotions—pain, suffering, loss—and references war, independence movements, and spirituality, became a paradigm for future generations of artists who have expressed their socio-politico-spiritual histories in visual form. [...]

Provenance from a private collection, Aspen
Courtesy Sotheby's 2010