Marcel Gotène (1939-2013) Poto-poto School Brazzaville Congo African Painting

Marcel Gotène (1939-2013) School of Poto-Poto Brazzaville Congo 

Superb and rare oil on canvas signed by the Congolese painter Marcel Gotène, it is dated 1962).
This work is a subject that the painter particularly likes because other variants have appeared on the market in the past.

It is entitled: La danse de l'homme poisson”.

In very good condition, a small hitch is to report (see photos).

As this canvas shows, the compositions of this great colorist have bright colors.

Reality is for him only a starting point; the rest belongs to the world of the wonderful. He translates real fairy tales in some of his paintings.
The representation here gives way to the symbol.
Through movement, Marcel Gotène’s painting sometimes recalls the frescoes of the Bolivian period of Tassili, and even the post-bolivian period with its slender men.
The background of his paintings is red, blue or gray. The space in which he inscribes his motifs is two-dimensional: there is no constructed perspective to suggest the third dimension.
He instinctively proceeds in the manner of the master-glassmakers of the Middle Ages, composers of stained glass, in bold colour blocks confronted and separated by an incisive line, into large, almost abstract compositions inspired by the legends of his country.
He paints what he sees: the supernatural, what he cannot express by words, but which he can translate by his painting.
Considered one of the greatest modern African painters, Marcel Gotène Congolese painter is nicknamed the African Picasso.
The artist’s works are now classified as national cultural heritage of Congo.

A painter with an international reputation, Marcel Gotène was one of the leaders of the Poto-Poto school. He is also the most famous of them.
The attraction for the works of this school is expanding, the coast of these main artists rises. The Poto-Poto school, with its pioneering role in Africa and its very decorative identity, could experience a surge in the near future.

Dimensions: 61 x 51 cm

POTO POTO SCHOOL

School of painting founded in Brazzaville in 1950 by the painter Pierre Lods (1921-1988), amateur painter and former military, established in 1950 in Brazzaville, that one owes the foundation of an «African Art Workshop» which will take the name of «School of Poto Poto». Pierre Lods had taken to his service in his residence in Brazzaville several Congolese (cook, driver, launderer, etc.). One of them, Félix Ossiali, takes advantage of the absence of his master to steal his brushes and try himself to paint on canvas. Against all odds, while he comes to surprise him, Pierre Lods encourages him to continue his work until he judges it ended according to his own criteria. Dazzled by the talent of his servant, he undertakes the installation of a structure, a kind of experimental laboratory, intended for Congolese artists with no notion of art history. This is the initial credo: support a purely Congolese artistic creation, free of any relation to Western art that is supposed to distort the essence of the African soul. 

This school is at the origin of a current of artistic expression based on the free exploitation of themes drawn from African traditions (market scenes, masks, animals, etc.). It is the genesis of a singular Congolese art center both by its associative mode of operation and by a style of painting illustrated by artists who quickly acquire an international reputation, such as Nicolas Ondongo , François Thango, Marcel Gotene, Jacques Zigoma, François Iloki, Oba, Owassa, Bela, Ngavouka, etc. The Poto-Poto school, which has the status of a private cooperative, is now run by Pierre Claver Ngampio, who succeeded Nicolas Ondongo in 1976.

We are looking for works by this artist.
The photos are taken in natural light.
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