Jucambe
Born in Cuba as a descendant of formerly enslaved people from Senegal and the Congo, Cárdenas moved from Havana to France in 1955 and, at the invitation of André Breton, joined the Surrealist group in Paris. His encounter with West African culture through Pan-Africanist circles there transformed his work and provided inspiration for his dynamic, totemic sculptures that fall between abstraction and figuration. Breton saw magic in the sculptor’s hands that he described as clever "as a dragonfly."[1] For Cárdenas, Surrealism offered artistic freedom and personal rediscovery. "In Paris," he said, "I discovered what a man is…what African culture is...what a Black man is."[2] Directly carved and shaped from wood, Jucambe draws on the visual traditions of international modernism, African art, and Cuban Santería.
[1] André Breton, Cárdenas: Sculpture, dessins. Exh. cat. Paris: Galerie la Cour d’Ingres, 1959, unpaginated.
[2] Quoted in José Pierre, La Sculpture de Cárdenas, Brussels, 1971, p. 11.
[1] André Breton, Cárdenas: Sculpture, dessins. Exh. cat. Paris: Galerie la Cour d’Ingres, 1959, unpaginated.
[2] Quoted in José Pierre, La Sculpture de Cárdenas, Brussels, 1971, p. 11.
Artwork Details
- Title: Jucambe
- Artist: Agustín Cárdenas (Cuban, Matanzas 1927–2001 Havana)
- Date: 1958
- Geography: Country of Origin France
- Medium: Burnt oak and metal
- Dimensions: 44 1/2 × 11 3/4 × 12 7/8 in., 110.5 lb. (113 × 29.8 × 32.7 cm, 50.1 kg)
- Classification: Sculpture
- Credit Line: Purchase, Bequest of Florene M. Schoenborn, by exchange, 2022
- Object Number: 2022.504
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Joseph Garino
ca. 1902
Yto Barrada
2010
Henri Matisse
1903; this cast, probably 1930
Henri Matisse
1906; this cast, 1951
Henri Matisse
1927
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.