Wifredo Lam
(CUBA，1902-1982)
Figure
Painted in 1938 gouache on paper 64×49cm
Literature:
Wifredo Lam: Monograph and Catalogue Raisonne，Vol. I 1923-1960 by Lou Laurin-Lam，Acatos，1998，P.262#38.60
Private Collection，France

Born at a pivotal moment in Cuban history just after the emancipation of the country as a result of the Spanish- American War of 1898，Wifredo Lam began his artistic career amidst the cultural rejuvenation and changes that accompany the building of an independent national heritage. A truly international figure，Lam’s mixed background– his father a Chinese immigrant and his mother a descendant of Spanish conquistadors and African slaves– influenced the artist even as he received a formal education in art at both academies in Cuba and Spain. Bridging his indigenous culture with the traditions of European painting，Lam is positioned as an artist that excavated a place for Cuban artists within a eurocentric artistic model.
The demure，yet highly evocative painting，Figure，1938，represents Lam’s early attempts to establish an Afro- Cuban approach to figuration that prioritizes the lessons of abstraction and signification passed down from African folk art over the representative illusionism of European painting. Drawing inspiration from African masks，as did Pablo Picasso，Lam’s efforts to stylize the face according to abstractionist principles marks a turn from Europe to areas outside the continent as sources for innovation.
A sedate palette，the work relies on the power and simplicity of line to produce a charged emotional space. As Lam expertly manipulates parallel lines to create differing forms，the work bespeaks the power of line to communicate form and flesh. Highly capable of fashioning realistic works– he accepted a wide number of commissions for portraits to sustain his stay in Spain after his scholarship funds expired– Lam’s Figure resonates a valiant effort to escape the norms of portraiture and explore new themes in modernism.

来源：
法国 私人收藏

二战之后
林飞龙出生在1898年美西战争结束后古巴解放的历史关键时期，伴随着建设一个独立民族遗产的期望，林飞龙在民族文化复兴和变革中开始了他的艺术生涯。作为一个真正具有国际视野的艺术家，林飞龙拥有多种族的背景—父亲为中国移民、母亲为西班牙征服者和非洲农奴的后裔—这位新兴的艺术家同时在古巴和西班牙接受过艺术教育。林飞龙融汇了非洲本土文化和欧洲的绘画传统，在以欧洲为中心的艺术模式下为古巴艺术家开拓了一席之地。
作品“人像”创作于1938年，气格端庄却极具煽动性，是林飞龙早期运用非洲古巴绘画手法尝试创作的人像作品，他重视在作品中传承非洲传统的抽象艺术和文化内涵，胜过于表现当时在欧洲绘画中具有代表性的错觉表达。同巴勃罗·毕加索一样，林飞龙从非洲面具中获得灵感，尝试基于抽象性的原则将人物面部风格化，这标志着创新的灵感源泉由欧洲本地转向了大陆外的地区。
这件作品色调安详静谧，通过有力、简洁的线条勾勒出一个情绪充沛的空间。林飞龙熟练地利用平行线条创造出不同的构图形式，艺术家在这件作品里展现了通过线条来沟通形式和肉体的能力。艺术家尤其擅于创作写实类作品—在奖学金到期后，为了维持在西班牙的生计，他曾受委托创作过多幅肖像作品—林飞龙的“人像”呼应了二战后逃离肖像创作规范的大胆尝试与风潮，并探索了现代主义的新式主题。