Ídolo (Oyá/Divinité de l'air et de la mort)
After nearly twenty years in Europe, Lam returned to the Caribbean at the start of World War II. He merged Surrealism with a renewed interest in the Afro-Cuban traditions of his homeland, seeking to make work that could "act as a Trojan horse that would spew forth hallucinating images ... to disturb the dreams of the exploiters."[1] Here, his energetic brushwork and dramatic palette parallel the image of Oya, the powerful Santería goddess, in the process of transformation. Lam’s paintings communicated the emancipatory potential of Surrealism to many artists, especially those of the Black diaspora, long after the war's end.
[1] Max-Pol Fouchet, Wifredo Lam (New York: Rizzoli, 1976), p. 188
[1] Max-Pol Fouchet, Wifredo Lam (New York: Rizzoli, 1976), p. 188
Artwork Details
- Title: Ídolo (Oyá/Divinité de l'air et de la mort)
- Artist: Wifredo Lam (Cuban, Sagua La Grande 1902–1982 Paris)
- Date: 1944
- Medium: Oil and charcoal on canvas
- Dimensions: 62 × 50 1/4 in. (157.5 × 127.6 cm)
- Classification: Paintings
- Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn, by exchange, 2026
- Object Number: 2026.22
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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Wifredo Lam (Cuban, Sagua La Grande 1902–1982 Paris)
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