L'eau solide, a masterpiece from Cuban artist Wilfredo Lam, will be offered at Christie's May 29-30 Latin American Sale, which is due to be held at the auction house's New York showroom.
 L'eau solide shows Lam reconnecting with his Cuban heritage and the Santeria religion |
L'eau solide will enter the sale with an estimated value of $400,000-600,000, though may well exceed this given its importance to Lam's oeuvre.
The piece was created in 1945, shortly after Lam had returned to Cuba, reviving his interest in his native country and the Afro-Cuban religion Santeria, which he had studied as a child.
The two figures rendered in L'eau solide remind us of the religion's iconography, though are filtered through post-cubist and surrealist style.
"There are recognizable forms but they appear not so much [as] realities [but] as the symbols of an inner mystic existence," commented Margaret Breuning in her review of Lam's show at the Pierre Matisse Gallery.
Sotheby's is currently underway with its own Latin American Art auction in New York, which concludes tomorrow (May 29). Find the results from both sales in our Art & Photography news section or sign up to our free weekly newsletter to have them delivered direct to your inbox.
