Wifredo Lam

Cuban artist Wifredo Lam studied in both Madrid and Paris. Through the friendship and support of Pablo Picasso, Lam was introduced to many of the leading artists stationed in Europe at the time, Henri Matisse and Joan Miró, among others. He later returned to Havana where he devoted his art to the promotion of Afro-Cuban culture, which he felt was being manipulated by and for the tourist industry. His work at this time, as in Emblem, synthesized figural representation with images of animals and vegetation found in Cuba.