Wifredo Lam

Escena de la Guerra Civil española

Date: 1937

Technique: Gouache on paper glued on canvas

Dimensions: 215,5 x 139 cm

Es Baluard Museu d'Art Contemporani de Palma, Serra Collection long-term loan

Reg. no.: 46

On display

This work represents Lam’s political commitment to the Spanish republic, and in spite of moving away from the artist’s most recognised style, associated for the most part to the Afro-Caribbean traditions and Surrealism represented in scenes and figures characterised by their polymorphism, it synthesises the energy of its shapes and narrations independently of periods or styles.

Escena de la Guerra Civil española (Scene from the Civil War) has three depths, one of the women’s backs, one in the middle showing the peasant with tied hands, and a third, background level where one can see a confrontation of weapons and menacing anonymous faces. The movement shown by interwoven arms and weapons reveals the tension in the situation. The figures take on all the prominence, cancelling out landscapes in favour of transmitting an episode of violence in consonance with the artist’s political commitment.

N.A.

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