Description
Original work/Mwenze Kibwanga. Oil on canvas depicting buffalo and birds on a wicker background. Quality work covering an elegant palette of pastel tones. Signed and dated 1999. TBE+. 95 X 100 cm This work is one of the last ones realized by the master before his death, especially for the exhibition "Mawazo" organized by "Les amitiés Belgo-Congolaises" in Brussels in 1999. The ASBL provided the necessary material (directly from Belgium) to all the selected artists so that they could realize their works in the best conditions. The association was founded in 1990 by H Simonet, F Monheim and M Lion. Its aim is to develop and promote friendly relations between Belgium and the Congo, mainly on the cultural and social levels. At the same time it organizes occasional aid for the Congolese population. Mwenze Kibwanga (1925-1999) was born in Kilumba, in the former Belgian Congo. In 1950 he was admitted to the "Academy of Indigenous Popular Art", the official name of the "Hangar" workshop. He quickly established himself as a major representative of the group founded by Pierre Romain-Desfossés. Indeed, Mwenze deploys a personal and poetic aesthetic in his works, centered on scenes of daily life or animals: the preparation of a meal, the hunt, the rest of the antelopes. Son of a weaver, each of his works evokes the weft of a fabric, giving a colorful rhythm to his representation of reality. Composed of thick and contrasting hatchings or welts, he realized, until 1952, his works with his thumb. He will then use brushes. When the Hangar closed, Mwenze Kibwanga joined the Academy of Fine Arts of Lubumbashi as a teacher. Thereafter, he participated in numerous international exhibitions and fairs: - in 1952, in a large traveling exhibition on contemporary African art organized by the MoMA - from 1956, in numerous exhibitions in Europe, in Brussels, London and Paris - in 1958, at the Universal Exhibition in Brussels, creating the murals of the Congo Pavilion. He died in 1999 in Lubumbashi, leaving behind him many former students who became recognized contemporary artists. With a striking avant-gardism, his works are present in the collections of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren (Be) and the Met in New York. In 2015, the exhibition "Beauté Congo" at the Fondation Cartier revealed the avant-garde nature of this school. Auction records for the artist: - Piasa in 2018: 35,000 EUR - Piasa in 2018: 14.000 EUR - Bertolami in 2019: 7.500 EUR - Piasa in 2020: 7.000 EUR - Artcurial in 2021: 8.000 EUR
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Original work/Mwenze Kibwanga. Oil on canvas depicting buffalo and birds on a wicker background. Quality work covering an elegant palette of pastel tones. Signed and dated 1999. TBE+. 95 X 100 cm This work is one of the last ones realized by the master before his death, especially for the exhibition "Mawazo" organized by "Les amitiés Belgo-Congolaises" in Brussels in 1999. The ASBL provided the necessary material (directly from Belgium) to all the selected artists so that they could realize their works in the best conditions. The association was founded in 1990 by H Simonet, F Monheim and M Lion. Its aim is to develop and promote friendly relations between Belgium and the Congo, mainly on the cultural and social levels. At the same time it organizes occasional aid for the Congolese population. Mwenze Kibwanga (1925-1999) was born in Kilumba, in the former Belgian Congo. In 1950 he was admitted to the "Academy of Indigenous Popular Art", the official name of the "Hangar" workshop. He quickly established himself as a major representative of the group founded by Pierre Romain-Desfossés. Indeed, Mwenze deploys a personal and poetic aesthetic in his works, centered on scenes of daily life or animals: the preparation of a meal, the hunt, the rest of the antelopes. Son of a weaver, each of his works evokes the weft of a fabric, giving a colorful rhythm to his representation of reality. Composed of thick and contrasting hatchings or welts, he realized, until 1952, his works with his thumb. He will then use brushes. When the Hangar closed, Mwenze Kibwanga joined the Academy of Fine Arts of Lubumbashi as a teacher. Thereafter, he participated in numerous international exhibitions and fairs: - in 1952, in a large traveling exhibition on contemporary African art organized by the MoMA - from 1956, in numerous exhibitions in Europe, in Brussels, London and Paris - in 1958, at the Universal Exhibition in Brussels, creating the murals of the Congo Pavilion. He died in 1999 in Lubumbashi, leaving behind him many former students who became recognized contemporary artists. With a striking avant-gardism, his works are present in the collections of the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Tervuren (Be) and the Met in New York. In 2015, the exhibition "Beauté Congo" at the Fondation Cartier revealed the avant-garde nature of this school. Auction records for the artist: - Piasa in 2018: 35,000 EUR - Piasa in 2018: 14.000 EUR - Bertolami in 2019: 7.500 EUR - Piasa in 2020: 7.000 EUR - Artcurial in 2021: 8.000 EUR
