Indigo Arts represents a collection of paintings from the influential painting workshop in Elisabethville (now Lubumbashi) in the colony of the Belgian Congo (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The workshop, L'Academie Congolaise d'Art Populaire, generally known as "Le Hangar" was founded in 1946 by the French painter and former colonial soldier, Pierre Romain-Desfossés. Several of the "le Hangar" artists, such as Bela, Pilipili Mulungoy and Mwenze Kibwanga proved very influential on the next generation of artists in the Congo, and later on other African art movements such as the Tinga Tinga painters in Tanzania. The work of several of the artists was featured in the groundbreaking 2015 exhibit Congo Beauté 1926 - 2015 Congo Kitoko, at the Fondation Cartier in Paris. The work in our collection is by two of the artists who studied under Pilipili Mulungoy - Kabinda Kunkulu Victor and Mwila. Painted in 1958 and 1959, these paintings came from the collection of the late Belgian art collector and dealer, Max Berkovitch.
Note:
With the high cost of shipping many of our customers choose to ship by USPS. For small and light shipments this is usually less expensive, but please be aware that their estimates are often wrong and their service can be very slow (sixteen days for Priority Mail from Philadelphia to New York City recently). The service is not always as economical as it may appear, particularly on larger or more valuable shipments. USPS estimates only include insurance up to $100 for its domestic shipments. If you ask for full insurance we will recalculate the shipping cost and send you an invoice for any difference in cost. For overseas shipments USPS will not insure for over $650. On request we can get estimates for overseas shipping from DHL.
