Wifredo Lam出生并成长于 大萨瓜 ，在甘蔗种植省的一个村庄 克拉拉别墅酒店 ， 古巴 。他是 混合种族 血统：他的父亲，Yam Lam，是一个 中国移民 他的母亲，前安娜Serafina卡斯蒂利亚，出生于一个 刚果 奴隶的母亲和一个古巴人 混血儿 父亲。在大萨瓜，Lam被非洲血统的人；他的家庭，像很多人一样，在天主教和非洲传统。通过他的教母，Matonica Wilson，一个 桑特^ 当地一个著名的女祭司 医治者 和 女巫 ，他接触到了非洲的仪式 orishas 。他与非洲的庆祝活动和精神实践证明是他最大的艺术影响接触。

1916林搬到 哈瓦那 学习法律，一个路径，他的家人把他。同时他也开始在植物园研究热带植物。从1918到1923，我学习了绘画在埃斯库埃拉Bellas Artes酒店。然而，Lam不喜欢学术教学和绘画。他离开 马德里 1923年秋继续他的艺术研究。

1923我开始学习在马德里 费尔南多Á阿尔瓦雷斯de Sotomayor Y萨拉戈萨 馆长，the of the 普拉多博物馆 和老师 萨尔瓦多达利 。清晨，他会参加他的保守派老师的工作室，而他在晚上一起工作的年轻人，画家。在普拉多，Lam发现被工作的敬畏 ——博世 和 Pieter Bruegel我 。在他的早期作品中 现代主义 西班牙的传统，他的工作很快就变得更加简化和装饰。虽然林的学术保守，不喜欢坚持，他在西班牙的时间标志着他的技术发展，他开始融合原始审美和西方的构成的传统。1929年他与Eva Piriz结婚了，但她和他们的儿子都死在1931 肺结核 ；它是可能的，这导致了他的个人悲剧黑暗的本质。

在上世纪30年代，林受到各种因素的影响。的影响 超现实主义 很明显的在他的作品中，还有那 亨利马蒂斯 。在林的穿越西班牙的农村，他对西班牙农民的同情，他们的问题在某些方面反映了奴隶他成长在古巴。在爆发 西班牙内战 ，他支持共和党，用他的才华时尚共和党的海报宣传。起草了保卫马德里，Lam无法在1937年底的战斗中，被送到 巴塞罗那 。在那里他遇到了Helena Holzer，一个德国的研究员，和加泰罗尼亚知名艺术家 是的hugué 。马诺洛给了Lam，引发了他的友谊与介绍信 毕加索 其作品留下了深刻的印象，并激发了Lam一年前，当他看到马德里的一个展览。

1938林搬到巴黎。他很快就得到了Picasso的支持，谁给他介绍了很多当时的著名艺术家，如 弗尔南多轻 ， 亨利马蒂斯 ， 乔治·布拉克 和 Joan Mir 哦 。Picasso还把他介绍给了Pierre Loeb，一个巴黎艺术经销商；Loeb gave Lam他在1939 Galerie Pierre Loeb的第一个展览，并获得了热烈的回应批评。 Picasso和林也表现出他们的工作一起在皮尔斯画廊在纽约同年。Lam的工作就表现出马蒂斯的影响，看到他的 静物 简化，风景和肖像，受 立体主义 。 主要工作 水粉画 ，Lam开始生产程式化的人物，似乎是受了毕加索的影响。他的很多作品在1938具有情感强度；题材范围从互动夫妇妇女在绝望和表现出相当强的非洲的影响，在人物的角度概述了看到他们身体的合成。

Wifredo Lam was born and raised in sagua La Grande, a village in the province of sugarcane planting Villa Clara Hotel, cuba. He is of mixed race ancestry: his father, Yam Lam, is a China immigration before his mother, Serafina Anna of Castile, was born in a Congo slave mother and a Cuban mulatto father. In sagua La Grande, Lam by the people of African descent; his family, like many people in the traditional Catholic and africa. Through his godmother, Matonica Wilson, a Sant ^ a famous local priestess, healer and witch, he was exposed to the African orishas ceremony. His celebration with Africa and spiritual practice proved to be his greatest artistic influence on contact.
1916 Lin moved to Havana to study law, a path to his family to take him. At the same time, he began to study tropical plants in botanical gardens. From 1918 to 1923, I studied painting at the Escuela Bellas Artes hotel. However, Lam does not like academic teaching and painting. He left Madrid in the autumn of 1923 to continue his art studies.1923 I began studying at Madrid's Fernando Alvarez de Sotomayor, curator of MAS Y Saragossa, the of the and Prado Museum teacher Salvador Daly. In the morning, he will attend his conservative teacher's studio, and in the evening he work with young people, the painter. In the Prado, Lam was found to be working in awe of BOSCH and Pieter Bruegel. In his early works in Modern Spanish tradition, his work was soon become more simplified and decoration. Although Lin academic conservative, not love to, he marked the development of his time in Spain, he began a tradition of the original aesthetic and Western fusion. And in 1929 he married Eva Piriz, but she and their son had died in 1931 pulmonary tuberculosis; it is possible, which leads to the nature of his personal tragedy of darkness.
In the 30s of last century, Lin was affected by various factors. The influence of surrealism is evident in his works, and that of Henry Mathis. In the forest through the Spanish countryside, his sympathy for farmers in Spain, their problems in some ways reflects the slaves he grew up in cuba. In the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, he supported the Republican Party, with his flair for fashion Republican poster propaganda. Drafted to defend Madrid, Lam was unable to be sent to Barcelona at the end of 1937 battle. Where he met Helena Holzer, a German researcher, and the famous Catalonia artist is hugu. Manolo gave Lam, sparked left a deep impression on his friendship with the letter of introduction Picasso whose works, and to stimulate the Lam a year ago, when he saw an exhibition in madrid.
1938 Lin moved to Paris. He soon got the support of Picasso, who introduced him to many famous artists, such as Fernando Mi, Henry Mathis, George Burak and Joan Mir. Picasso also introduced him to Pierre Loeb, a Paris art dealer; Loeb gave Lam his first exhibition in 1939 Galerie Pierre Loeb, and received a warm response to criticism. And Picasso also showed their work together at the Pearce Gallery in New York the same year. Lam's work shows the influence of Matisse, see his still life simplified, landscape and portrait, by cubism. The main work of gouache, Lam began to produce stylized figures, seems to be influenced by Picasso. Many of his works have the emotional strength in 1938; range of subjects from the interaction of women in couples despair and showed a strong influence in Africa, to see their bodies in the synthesis of character points outlined.