Kaniemba African Scene 1961

Very beautiful work by the Congolese artist KANIEMBA (born in 1937). It is an Oil on canvas signed and dated (1961) lower right, measuring 44 x 78 cm (48 X 82 cm with its frame). KANIEMBA, whose full name is Kaniemba Louis Timothée, was born in a village in Congo and then left for Lubumbashi in order to go to school. He changed his name to KANIEMBA YAVA when the government called for a "return to authenticity", which included the end of Christian names and the emergence of local first names. He left school very early, out of boredom and because he preferred to spend his time dancing in the streets with other children. His parents threw him out of the family home and he then found refuge with an uncle who worked for the Belgian artist Marcel PIRE. The latter, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Elisabethville, taught him to paint and encouraged him to persevere. KANIEMBA nevertheless abandoned these lessons but, in 1956, became close to a young artist, MWILA ANDRE. With MWILA, they would create their own workshop. Until 1966, KANIEMBA lived from his art, but as tastes evolved, his painting was less successful and he gave it up to become a salesman and driver, while MWILA returned to his first job as a carpenter. Free delivery in Paris possible.