Kabinda Kunkulu Victor

Battle, Burstow & Hewett, 2-Day Sale of Fine Jewellery, Silver, Watches, Clocks, Ceramics, Collectables, Furniture, Pictures Etc, 14 October 2020, Lot 1328

Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

Born in 1927 in the village of Kinda, in the Luba region of the Congo, Kabinda moved to Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi) to attend school in 1942, a few years before Pierre Romain-Desfossés founded L'Academie Congolaise d'Art Populaire, popularly known as le Hangarin, in 1946. Kabinda came to le Hangar to learn to paint in 1948; some of its best-known artists, such as Bela, Pilipili Mulungoy and Mwenze Kibwanga, were already working there and undoubtedly influenced the young artist. His work was largely of the natural landscape, and he became known for his paintings of birds and fish. The work of several of the le Hangar artists was featured in the groundbreaking 2015 exhibit Congo Beauté 1926 - 2015 Congo Kitoko, at the Fondation Cartier in Paris.