Arthur DUPAGNE (1895-1961) - Lot 40

Arthur DUPAGNE (1895-1961) Buste femme africaine, terracotta, signed on back. 27 cm. Note: Trained by Georges Petit and Oscar Berchmans at the Académie royale des beaux-arts de Liège, Arthur Joseph Dupagne discovered Tchokwe sculpture between 1927 and 1935, during a stay in the Belgian Congo as an engineer in the Kasai diamond fields, which had a profound impact on his artistic language. Fascinated by the plastic power of Congolese figures, he turned to monumental sculpture on his return to Belgium. His African-inspired works earned him major commissions for the Paris World's Fair (1938), the New York Exhibition (1939) and Expo 58 in Brussels. His powerful work is on display at the Musée de l'Art wallon (Liège), the Musée d'Ixelles, the Musée Royal de l'Afrique centrale (Tervuren) and the Institut de Médecine Tropicale (Antwerp). Vice-president of the Association des artistes et écrivains africanistes, Dupagne remains an essential figure in the artistic dialogue between Belgium and the Congo.