Pierre Loos, an auction portrait

The great merchant and traveller Pierre Loos, has been setting up his Ambre Congo gallery in the Sablons district of Brussels for several decades. Founder of the Bruneaf fair, a keen market observer, he is about to sell part of his collection to Piasa.

Jean-Bosco Kamba (né en 1939) Sans titre, 1958, Estimation: 8000 / 12000 €
Jean-Bosco Kamba (né en 1939) Sans titre, 1958, Estimation: 8000 / 12000 €

This is the itinerary of a life that will soon be auctioned off. That of Pierre Loos, tribal art dealer, collector and traveller. A total of three sales, which will take place on 17 and 18 September at Piasa. For Christophe Person, director of the auction house’s contemporary African art department, “there will be a before and an after. “The first session will be devoted to ethnographic and early arts, Pierre Loos’ core business.

A significant dispersion, nearly 500 lots, rather affordable in their estimates. Under the hammer of many headrests, the Kassaï kuba fabrics that Pierre Loos largely contributed to bring to light, votive statuettes… The second session, more original, consists in the transfer of a photographic collection. The one that Pierre Loos formed around the person of Casimir Zagourski, a Pole, a photographer in the air force of the imperial army before fleeing in 1924 to Leopoldville under pressure from the Reds. There, walking around the area in a Ford T, he photographed the people and life as they were, without finery. This stakhanovist of the photo took 1,600 shots among which he selected 440, which he edited in postcard format or in larger unique prints, about fifty.

The prints for sale are grouped into about a hundred lots: the period sets of small formats are estimated at between 400 and 600 €, the large prints at between 1,000 and 3,500 €, some exceeding these estimates due to their pedigree of exhibitions. The highlight of the sale is an “Elephant Album”, the “great work of Casimir Zagourski”, according to Pierre Loos. Albums designed like luxury objects, created to order in which the photographer collected a large number of photos – more than 400 in the one on sale. An estimate between 10 and 15,000 €.

Pilipili Mulongoy (c. 1914-2007), Bela (c. 1920- c. 1968) et Raphaël Kalela, Sans titre, 1952 ; Estimation : 150000 / 200000 €. Pierre Loos at Piasa
Pilipili Mulongoy (c. 1914-2007), Bela (c. 1920- c. 1968) et Raphaël Kalela, Sans titre, 1952 ; Estimation : 150000 / 200000 €

And then there is the third sale, perhaps the most anticipated. Since the 1980s, Pierre Loos has built up a unique collection of Congolese modern art (from 1920 to 1960), facilitated by his proximity to Belgian colonial circles, which often saw in these paintings only the naïve expression of Indigenous people. It is a summary of this collection, the extent of which can be seen during the exhibition “Beauté Congo” organized by André Magnin at the Cartier Foundation in 2014.

In the basement of the foundation, 80% of the sequence devoted to Congolese modern art was made up of loans from the Loos collection. “This is the first time in modern African art that a coherent and extensive collection has been put on sale,” says Christophe Person. It’s an interesting test. The pieces are of a beautiful quality of conservation, of a very strong aesthetic. In the context of the craze for African art, we can hope that it works very well, especially since the estimates are rather affordable. “The paintings for sale, by Pilipili Mulongoy, Bela, Raphaël Kalela, Sylvestre Kaballa or Mwenze Kibwanga, come mainly from the Desfossés workshop.

For the record, Pierre Romain-Desfossés was a former French naval officer who founded a workshop, nicknamed the Hangar, where he provided the local people with the means to express themselves, free from Western influences. “A mixture of raw art and naive art,” smiles Pierre Loos. Estimates range from around €4,000 to €15,000. “In these paintings, we find a readily narrative aspect, linked to the history of men, to their customs,” explains Christophe Person. There is also an educational dimension: scenes of fishing, of fathers teaching their son how to hunt. It is an art rooted in its time, a testimony. “The highlight of the sale? A six-handed draft shield designed by Pilipili Mulongoy, Bela and Raphaël Kalela, estimated at between 150 and 200,000 €. “I don’t know any equivalent,” says an admiring Christophe Person.

Pilipili Mulongoy (c. 1914-2007) Sans titre, Estimation : 5000 / 7000 €
Pilipili Mulongoy (c. 1914-2007) Sans titre, Estimation : 5000 / 7000 €

The motifs are superb, and this painted piece, therefore flat, has a three-dimensional, sculptural aspect that is quite fascinating. I think it would look good in a classic art collection! “The motifs are something in these paintings. Those of Kibwanga, Bela or Kaballa seem to borrow from textiles, from knits, building bridges with other techniques. “These funds have influenced many artists, I think of JP Mika for example. It is a naive art that inspires many artists, notes Christophe Person. Moreover, I hope that this sale will have an impact, and will make it possible to get out of the rut of seeing only fetishes in African productions at the beginning and middle of the 20th century.

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About the author

Artskop3437 x Clément Thibault

Clément Thibault is an independent critic and curator, member of AICA, Jeunes Critiques d'art and C-E-A. After studying art history and cultural management, he was assistant curator to Laurence Dreyfus, then editor-in-chief of Art Media Agency (AMA) for two years. Recently, he has participated in various books and exhibition catalogues including Fred Forest au Centre Pompidou (éditions Première Partie) and the monographs of Wahib Chehata (Ut Pictura, Hemeria editions), Vladimir Skoda (Art Absolument editions) and Lucien Murat (Suzanne Tarasiève editions). From ethnology to digital art, his inclusive approach to art writing and curating revolves around reflections on image, technology and spiritualities - he is preparing a double exhibition on the subject at the Musée de Soissons, Deus Ex Machina. Clément Thibault teaches art history in specialized institutions (ICART, EAC, IESA), and sits on the board of directors of Le Cube (digital creation center, Issy-les-Moulineaux). In 2020, he was a member of the jury of the Salon de Montrouge, and nominated for the Dauphine Prize for contemporary art, with Guillaume Bouisset.

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