Lithograph on Arches paper - Signed by the artist and numbered
- From the suite that illustrates writer Gabriel García Márquez's book "El último viaje del buque fantasma".
- Referenced in the catalogue raisonné "Wifredo Lam, Oeuvre gravé et lithographié", by D. Tonneau-Ryckelynck (Musée de Gravelines, 1994).
Wifredo Lam's 'El último viaje del buque fantasma III' is a 1976 lithograph that belongs to a series illustrating Gabriel García Márquez's book 'El último viaje del buque fantasma'. The artwork presents an abstract, symbolic composition featuring elongated forms and skeletal figures in deep red and black tones, layered against a muted, earthy beige background. The shapes evoke both mechanical and organic elements, with the figures seemingly intertwined and suspended in space, creating a dreamlike and surreal quality. Lam's distinct Afro-Cuban influences are evident in the spiritual and mythical undertones of the imagery, blending with modern abstraction. The bold use of line and contrast heightens the sense of movement and mystery, aligning perfectly with García Márquez's magical realism.
Wifredo Lam (Cuba, 1902–1982) was a groundbreaking painter known for blending Surrealism, Cubism, and Afro-Cuban symbolism. Influenced by his Afro-Caribbean heritage and European modernism, his works, such as The Jungle (1943), explore identity and spiritual themes. Lam’s unique style made him a pivotal figure in 20th-century modern art.
Lithograph Lithography is a printing method based on the principle that water and oil do not mix. It can be used to print artwork or text onto paper or other suitable materials. Traditionally, an image was drawn with wax, fat, or oil onto a lithographic limestone surface or plate. Today, metal plates and other surfaces are also used in lithographic printing.
Lithograph on Arches paper - Signed by the artist and numbered
- From the suite that illustrates writer Gabriel García Márquez's book "El último viaje del buque fantasma".
- Referenced in the catalogue raisonné "Wifredo Lam, Oeuvre gravé et lithographié", by D. Tonneau-Ryckelynck (Musée de Gravelines, 1994).
Wifredo Lam's 'El último viaje del buque fantasma III' is a 1976 lithograph that belongs to a series illustrating Gabriel García Márquez's book 'El último viaje del buque fantasma'. The artwork presents an abstract, symbolic composition featuring elongated forms and skeletal figures in deep red and black tones, layered against a muted, earthy beige background. The shapes evoke both mechanical and organic elements, with the figures seemingly intertwined and suspended in space, creating a dreamlike and surreal quality. Lam's distinct Afro-Cuban influences are evident in the spiritual and mythical undertones of the imagery, blending with modern abstraction. The bold use of line and contrast heightens the sense of movement and mystery, aligning perfectly with García Márquez's magical realism.
Wifredo Lam (Cuba, 1902–1982) was a groundbreaking painter known for blending Surrealism, Cubism, and Afro-Cuban symbolism. Influenced by his Afro-Caribbean heritage and European modernism, his works, such as The Jungle (1943), explore identity and spiritual themes. Lam’s unique style made him a pivotal figure in 20th-century modern art.
A true picture has the power to set the imagination to work.
- Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Lam was a Cuban-born artist who attained fame for his work as a painter. A participant in the Modern Art movement, Lam studied at the Escuela de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Spain after leaving his native Havana. Lam's Afro-Cuban ancestry, coupled with his sympathy towards the poor, underrepresented and oppressed inspired him to depict typically dark, emotionally intense images of people in struggle. Wifredo Lam enjoyed a long-standing friendship with famed artist Pablo Picasso, who often championed Lam's work. Wifredo Lam’s first exhibition happened at the Gallerie Pierre Loeb in Paris, France in 1939. Later that year, he exhibited his work alongside Picasso at an exhibition inside New York City's Perls Galleries. At the time of his death more than forty years hence, Lam's art had been featured in over one hundred museums and galleries across the globe and a number of his individual works have hung at world-renowned museums like the Art Institute of Chicago, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, as well as New York's Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. After fleeing war-ravaged France in 1941, Wifredo Lam was detained in a prison on the Caribbean island of Martinique for forty days. In 2015, Wifredo Lam’s creations will be featured as part of a traveling exhibition, which will begin at the Centre Pompidou Museum in Paris and make stops, first at the Reina Sofia Museum in Spain and finally at London's Tate Museum. Lam died in Paris in 1982 at the age of 79. (Artist website)
Cubism is an art movement that aimed to depict multiple perspectives of objects or figures within a single picture. Artists Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso pioneered this style around 1907. The name Cubism emerged from their use of geometric shapes and outlines that often resembled cubes, breaking objects down into abstracted forms.