Statue, Bembe Gangala, République du Congo

Galerie Beno d’Incelli & Cie, Paris, 1969
Collection Stanley Marcus (1905-2001), Dallas
Sotheby’s, New York, A passion for collecting: the eye of Stanley Marcus, 16 novembre 2002, n° 42
Johann Levy, Paris
Collection Daniel et Carmen Klein

Paris, Galerie Johann Levy, Collection Africa, juin - juillet 2006

Levy, Collection Africa, 2006, n.p., n°22
Lehuard et Lecomte, Statuaire babembé, 2010, p. 113, n° 54

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Dans son ouvrage de référence sur l’art Kongo (Art & Kongos, 1995), Marc Felix distingua, sous le nom de « Gangala », le style couramment considéré comme l’apothéose de l’art Bembe. Tandis que Raoul Lehuard (Art Bakongo, Les centres de styles, 1989, vol. II, p. 371) avait vu dans ces œuvres le sous-style par lequel « l’art Bembe est arrivé à sa perfection », Marc Felix en précisa plus étroitement tant le corpus que l’origine.   

Les cinq œuvres qui le composent sont : l’effigie masculine autrefois dans la collection de Max Itzikovitz (Falgayrettes-Leveau, Le Geste Kôngo, 2002, p. 40), celle du British Museum (inv. n° MMO 14623) et celle découverte en avril dernier dans une vente aux enchères ; l’effigie féminine de l’ancienne collection Denise et Marc Ginzberg (Lehuard, idem, p. 374), et enfin celle présentée ici. Toutes représentent un personnage debout, les bras repliés, portant, dans un geste retenu, les mains vers l’avant. Elles ont pour signes distinctifs la fine base sur laquelle elles se tiennent, le front subtilement ourlé à hauteur des arcades sourcilières accentuant la force du visage aux traits serrés, les amples omoplates stylisées et le sillon dorsal participant à la tension de la pose, les détails des pouces tournés sur le dessus, des tragus triangulaires et des malléoles externes sculptées en demi-lune. Toutes enfin se distinguent par la finesse remarquable des modelés et par la profondeur de la patine soyeuse accentuant, dans ces miniatures (les deux plus grandes, dont celle-ci, mesurant 20 cm), la prodigieuse monumentalité du geste sculptural.  

Pour Marc Felix (idem, p. 199), « même si, à première vue, le style Gangala paraît former un lien entre celui des Beembe et celui des Bwende, il n’en reste pas moins marqué par des caractéristiques spécifiques de grande qualité. Loin d’en être [un compromis], il allie avec justesse l’élégance du premier à la puissance du second. Ce qui est original c’est que les similitudes avec ces deux styles voisins jouissent ici d’une mise en place différente ». La remarquable individualité et la cohérence de ce très étroit corpus, ajoutées à la spécificité des détails faisant œuvre de « signature », signalent à l’évidence la main d’un même maître, probablement d’origine Bwende, ayant exercé en pays Bembe et dont l’entourage contribua à diffuser le style tant personnel qu’éblouissant.

In his reference book on Kongo art (Art & Kongos, 1995), Marc Felix gave the name of "Gangala" to the style currently considered as the apotheosis of Bembe art. Although Raoul Lehuard (Art Bakongo. Les centres de styles, 1989, vol. II, p. 371) had seen, in these pieces, the sub-style through which "Bembe art reached its apex", Marc Felix defined both the corpus and its origin with greater precision.

The five pieces that make up the aforementioned corpus are the following: the male figure formerly in the Max Itzikovitz collection (Falgayrettes-Leveau, Le Geste Kôngo, 2002, p. 40); the figure in the British Museum (inv. No. MMO 14623); one discovered last April at auction; the female effigy from the former Denise and Marc Ginzberg collection (Lehuard, ibid, p. 374); and finally, the figure presented here. These sculptures are all standing figures with their arms folded and their hands reaching out in a contained movement. They all bear a series of common traits: a thin base, the forehead subtly coiling above the brows and emphasizing the forcefulness of the tight features of the face, the ample stylised shoulder blades and the dorsal groove that adds to the tension of the stances, the detailing of the upturned thumbs, triangular tragi and external malleoli carved into a half-moon shape.  Whilst the two male effigies feature a dorsal cavity unknown in classical Bembe statuary, the female figures – as is the case for the one presented here – feature a much sharper cavity in the lower abdomen.  Finally they all stand out for the remarkable smoothness of their outlines and the depth of their silken patina, which highlights in these miniatures (the two largest, of which this is one, are 20 cm tall), the prodigious monumentality of the sculptural movement. 

For Marc Felix (ibid, p. 199), "even though at first glance the Gangala style appears to form a link between the Bembe and the Bwende style, it remains marked by specific high-quality characteristics. Far from being (a compromise) between both, it is a well-balanced combination of the elegance of the former with the forcefulness of the latter.  The originality comes from the fact that the similarities between these proximate styles are set into a different context." The remarkable individuality and consistency of this limited corpus, as well as the specificity in the detailing that amounts to a "signature", are clear evidence of a single master's hand, probably of Bwende origin, having worked in Bembe country, and whose companions helped disseminate his style, as uniquely individual as it is magnificent.