Wifredo Lam
Wifredo Lam
1902 - 1982
Jeune fille sur fond vert. 1939.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left. 99 x 72 cm (38.9 x 28.3 in).
• REDUCED FORM A striking example of Wifredo Lam’s geometrically influenced, contemplative female portraits.
• THE MASK The face as an expression of Lam’s synthesis of Afro-Caribbean roots and the European avant-garde.
• SENSATION First solo exhibition in Paris in 1939 and the legendary joint exhibition with Pablo Picasso in New York.
• MUSE The subject is believed to be Helena Holzer, whom the artist met in 1938 and married in 1944.
• TOPICALITY The retrospective “When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (November 2025–April 2026), underscores Lam’s enduring international significance.
Accompanied by a photo certificate from Eskil Lam, Paris, dated September 8, 2021. The work is registered in the Wifredo Lam Archive, Paris, under the number “39.62.” We are grateful to Mr. Eskil Lam for his kind assistance.
PROVENANCE: Collection of Dr. Herbert Gross, Zurich.
Private collection, Switzerland (since 1968, acquired from the above)
From a Swiss collection (acquired from the above).
Wifredo Lam
1902 - 1982
Jeune fille sur fond vert. 1939.
Oil on canvas.
Signed and dated in the lower left. 99 x 72 cm (38.9 x 28.3 in).
• REDUCED FORM A striking example of Wifredo Lam’s geometrically influenced, contemplative female portraits.
• THE MASK The face as an expression of Lam’s synthesis of Afro-Caribbean roots and the European avant-garde.
• SENSATION First solo exhibition in Paris in 1939 and the legendary joint exhibition with Pablo Picasso in New York.
• MUSE The subject is believed to be Helena Holzer, whom the artist met in 1938 and married in 1944.
• TOPICALITY The retrospective “When I Don’t Sleep, I Dream” at the Museum of Modern Art, New York (November 2025–April 2026), underscores Lam’s enduring international significance.
Accompanied by a photo certificate from Eskil Lam, Paris, dated September 8, 2021. The work is registered in the Wifredo Lam Archive, Paris, under the number “39.62.” We are grateful to Mr. Eskil Lam for his kind assistance.
PROVENANCE: Collection of Dr. Herbert Gross, Zurich.
Private collection, Switzerland (since 1968, acquired from the above)
From a Swiss collection (acquired from the above).
