Terracotta African Woman Bust By Arthur Dupagne 1929

Arthur Dupagne, born in Liège on December 13, 1895 and died in Brussels in October 1961, is a Belgian sculptor whose works are mainly inspired by the Belgian Congo. Biography: He studied art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Liège. There he was a student of Georges Petit and Oscar Berchmans. A stay in the Belgian Congo from 1927 to 1935, where he was attached as an engineer to the exploitation of the diamond fields of Kasai, brought him into the presence of the sculpture of the Tchokwe ethnic group which upset him, while he was struck by the vigorous plastic beauty of the natives. This discovery now inspired him to create monumental sculptures which earned him numerous commissions, including one for the Universal Exhibition in Paris in 1938 and another for the New York Exhibition in 1939.