Pierre Dartevelle - 50 YEARS OF COLLECTING ART OF THE CONGO
KONGO
There are numerous sub-groups within the Kongo kingdom, all speaking the same language, Kikongo, and these include the Vili and Yombe. Their varied ritual artefacts often show a high degree of naturalism with finely carved details.
European contact with the powerful Kongo kingdom dates back to the 15th century when the Portuguese arrived on the coast and the Kongo kingdom was at its most powerful. Subsequent diplomatic and missionary activity had a strong influence visible in many artefacts from the area. Attempts by the Portuguese to Christianize the Kongo met with only limited success. However Christian iconography was readily absorbed into objects made for their own religions.
The nkisi (pl. minkisi) is one of the most iconic of Kongo carvings, with its accumulation of nails, metal spikes, mirrors, etc., used for the taking of oaths, to resolve disputes and punish evil. They can be small figures for individual use or large figures serving an entire community. When an individual encountered hardship and feared that a spirit had been offended, he would consult a nganga (diviner), who would often instruct the afflicted to add medicines to certain nkisi in order to achieve well-being.
Maternity figures, phemba, embody an ideal of physical and moral perfection. The importance of the role of women in the pre-colonial era increased with the depletion of the male population as a result of the slave trade. Ivory was the prerogative of nobility. Fine ivory sceptres and horns, often show signs of great age, with beautiful fine and dark patinas.
ZOMBO
Close to the border with Angola, along the Inkisi River, the Zombo are linked historically with the Kongo kingdom. During the 18th century they were renowned traders in commercial goods and slaves and served as intermediaries between the Portuguese on the coast and the inland areas. With the abolition of the slave trade in the 19th century, their economy collapsed and their power diminished drastically. Their figurative carvings have naturalistic features, perhaps influenced by Kongo art, but the general morphology of their sculpture is close in style to the Yaka. Diviners used slit gongs, some charged with magical substances. Helmet masks with large globular eyes and a high coiffures were worn during circumcision ceremonies.
HUNGANA
The Hungana, a small ethnic group in the Kwango province, are perhaps best know for their small pendants in ivory or bone; small kneeling figures with hands on the abdomen and with crested coiffure. Others depict a flat simple stylised figures. Their function is unknown but they would most probably have served as amulets or perhaps proof of an initiation undergone.
YAKA & SUKU
The Yaka and Suku in the south-west of the Congo are linguistically related to the Kikongo-speaking peoples, but they established independent kingdoms. They share common origins and also many cultural traditions. Some of their art is produced as prestige items for royals and high-ranking individuals. Many other items, especially masks, are made for the initiation of young boys into adult roles. Perhaps the most impressive is the gigantic mask with bulging cheeks called kakungu. Worn by the charm specialist during the mukanga initiation ceremonies, when boys are circumcised and are instructed in the knowledge essential for life as an adult, it also had the power to heal sickness. The majority of kakungu masks surviving today are in the collections of the MRAC, Tervuren, having been collected by the Jesuit fathers of the Kwango Mission in the first half of the 20th century.
Statues are vehicles for the carrying of magic substances. Large figures would be accompanied by a bag containing, amongst other things, bark and leaves from trees from the forest. The figures were stored in special cabins or shelters in the compound of the chief and palm fronds would be hung in the doorway to indicate the ritual nature of the place.
PENDE
The Pende migrated from Angola and now live in the in the Kwango and Kasai provinces of southwestern Congo. Often classified into eastern and western styles, Z.S. Strother has more recently distinguished four distinct style areas. De Sousberghe lists about twenty mask types used for initiation and also for public entertainment amongst the Pende. They represent various characters, including prostitutes, sorcerers, chiefs and clowns. The kiwoyo or giwoyo mask has a long projection below the chin, not, according to Strother, a beard but probably representing the stylised body of a cadaver. They were worn horizontally on the head. Traditionally all masks were burned in a bonfire at the end of the initiation ceremony but more recently they have been retained and sold. Fine whistles in wood and ivory come in a variety of forms and were used for hunting and also in war. Miniature masks in ivory, ikhoko, were worn by men about the neck as amulets.
TSHOKWE / CHOKWE
The Chokwe live in a large area to the north-east of Angola, south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and more recently they have also migrated into Zambia. They trace their roots back to the 17th century, to a group who broke from the Lunda empire and to a mythical ancestor and cultural hero, Chibinda Ilunga who is believed to have introduced a number of hunting techniques, rituals and court manners to the Chokwe.
Masks of both fibre and wood are worn during the mukanda initiation ceremony for young boys and these include the familiar mwana pwo (beautiful woman) mask, danced with discreet and elegant movements to teach grace of manners to the women present. The sculptor selects as the source of his inspiration a beautiful young woman of the village, reproducing the design of her tattoos and the arrangement of the hair. The male mask, cihongo, is related to chieftaincy and is most often used in royal ceremonies.
Much figure sculpture is related to the hamba possession cults concerned with fertility and hunting. Amongst the most famous of Chokwe carvings are those attributed to a “homeland” style dating before to the Chokwe expansion in the 19th century. These include figures representing the ancestor hero Chibina Ilunga, chairs and sceptres.
Nganga (diviners) are called upon to counteract evil spirits which cause illness and a number of divination implements are used including the familiar baskets of charms, thrown in the air and the configuration read by the diviner to determine the cause of the illness. Whistles of wood and ivory, worn as pendants and often with a beautiful patina from handling, were used during hunts and possibly also during battles.
LULUA
The Lulua migrated to their current homeland in the 17th and 18th centuries. Located in Lulua province to the south of the Congo they share a number of cultural traits as well as language with their Luba neighbours.
Their most frequently encountered artworks are small figures which personify the idea of physical perfection and moral integrity, ideas expressed through their distinctive body scarification. Those related to the cult of bwanga bwa cibola were intended to safeguard the health of a young mother and to ensure the beauty and health of her newborn child. The idea of beauty was expressed not just through scarification but also through the emphasis of certain anatomical features.
Small squatting figures were often carved as supports for snuff mortars or worn as amulets about the necks of chiefs or attached to belt and rifle of hunters.
KETE
The Kete are one of several ethnic groups which make up the Kuba kingdom to the south-west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The king is always of the Bushong ethnic group, the other groups being represented at his court. Located in the south of Kuba territory, the Kete use masks at funerals and in men’s initiation ceremonies, during which three male and three female masks are danced. Men’s initiation amongst these Kuba groups does not involve circumcision but the imparting of knowledge to prepare the initiates for adult life.
SONGYE
The Songye of the Katanga and Kasai regions of the Congo are closely related to the Luba with whom they are related in both culture and language.
Spirits of the dead, mikishi, either benevolent or malevolent, were of great importance to the Songye and played a significant role in the daily life of individuals. The small and large power figures, mankishi (sing. nkishi), which served either individuals or entire communities, were ineffective until activated with manga, concoctions of magic substances, applied by a trained specialists who held the mystical knowledge required to deal with the spirits.
The distinctive kifwebe mask was used by the bwadi society of both the Songye and neighbouring Luba. The tradition is thought to date from around 1900. There are both male and female forms of the mask. Shields with carved kifwebe masks at the centre were hung on the walls where the masks were stored.
KUSU
The Kusu migrated from the northwest along with the Nkutshu and Tetela first to the south and then northwards through the Luba, Songye and Hemba and acquired artistic and social customs as they passed through the territory of these peoples. They are today divided into small groups which, due to their geographic isolation, remain independent, each village having its own leader who inherits his position of power. Despite this isolation they share a common belief in the power of ancestors. Their initiation society primarily serves to educate villagers about the evils of witchcraft, and diviners are consulted on matters of importance. The groups to the south show greater influence from the Luba.
LUBA
The Luba kingdom, with its heartland in central Katanga province to the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, consists of a group of chiefdoms owing allegiance to a dynastic line of kings united by certain religious practices and political ideologies. A centralised authority vested in a sacred king, exerted authority through the control of subordinate regional leaders who normally inherited their status. Luba expansion from as early as the 16th century engulfed many peoples of different origins who retained many of their own religious practices and art styles resulting in wide variation. Many of the classical style of objects of the Luba are connected with status and holding of political and religious office. Staffs, seats, figures and headrests, show grace and respect for human proportions. The female form is widely depicted reflecting the importance of women in Luba society, descent being traced through the female line.
Lukasas, or memory boards, are used to recall events and relationships and to relate complex histories, each colour of bead with its own symbolism, the beads arranged in a complex pattern to be interpreted by the “men of memory”, the court historians.
HEMBA
The Hemba, an agricultural people living in the East of the Congo about 150km west of Lake Tanganyika, are best known for their large figure sculpture of classical style representing male ancestor heroes who were venerated and linked to ownership of the land and to ideas about clan and lineage authority. The figures convey notions of ideal physical and moral qualities. They show strong stylistic influence from the Luba who attempted but failed to incorporate the southern Hemba into their kingdom.
More rare are their masks, half chimpanzee, half human, used by members of the so’o society. So’o, the chimpanzee that lives in the bush, is an animal feared by the Hemba who avoid passing through areas known to be inhabited by them. The facial expression sometimes referred to as a smile on so’o masks is not interpreted as such by the Hemba who consider the expression to be horrible and terrifying. The masks appear at funerary festivals held to mark the end of the mourning period for a deceased.
TABWA
The Tabwa live along the southwest shores of Lake Tanganyika. Until the mid 19th century the Tabwa lived in scattered villages with no formal links between them. This changed in the 1860s and 1870s with the growing trade in ivory and slaves to the east coast and when certain chiefs attempted to consolidate their power in a similar way to the neighbouring Luba who also greatly influenced their art.
Ancestor figures helped to legitimise the claims of the Tabwa chiefs to their authority, the scarification and pose to be read by the viewer as s statement of a chief’s matrilineal descent and his right to power.
Tabwa masks have only appeared in the west in the second half of the 20th century and relatively little is know about their use. Buffalo masks are the most frequently seen but anthropomorphic helmet masks also exist and are known through a few rare examples.
LEGA
The Lega of eastern Congo live mostly in small isolated communities due to their environment — dense rainforest in the west and rocky and less fertile land in the east. Traditionally the Lega were mostly hunters and farmers.
The Bwami society to which almost all Lega men and many women belong, is a complex hierarchical social organisation with several levels, through which members progress slowly, each advancement attained through the acquisition of knowledge through oral and visual teachings, and the distribution of gifts of food, tools, shell money, clothing, etc., to fellow members of the appropriate grade. The oral teachings are learned in the form of sung aphorisms, poetic, highly symbolic, proverb-like texts.
Anthropomorphic carvings were made for members of the two highest Bwami grades, Kindi and Yananio, the former having priority to those made in ivory. The presentation and viewing of the figures marked the summit of initiation rites. In one rite the figure would be oiled and perfumed before being displayed to the accompaniment of secret songs. The figures are aphorisms but their meanings can rarely be identified once removed from their ritual context. They sometimes represent people (e.g. Mungema is the man who shouts at feasts) but others illustrate songs, proverbs and legends. They were jealously guarded by their owners, who kept them in basket and turned and rubbed them.
Masks or maskettes in ivory, bone, or wood were rarely worn on the face as widely seen elsewhere in Africa. Instead they were attached to a small fence made of sticks and vines, sometimes carried before the face or on the cheeks, or occasionally placed on top of the head.
When a member died his personal ritual figures and other items were carefully preserved and passed down through the generations, accumulating the power of the initiates through whose hands they had passed, so a Bwami member might have several figures in his possession. This would be an indication of higher status and the relative seniority within the grade.
BOA
The Boa or Ababua live in the savanna region in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in close contact with the Mangbetu and Zande peoples. They live mainly through subsistence farming and hunting, with some river commerce. They carved distinctive masks, the function of which is unknown, and harps in the form of stylised figures.
Although a distinctive type of ivory spoon is often attributed to them, Julian Volper (The Concave and the Convex Ivory Spoons of the Northeastern Congo in Tribal Arts Magazine, 2013, no. 70, pp. 102-109) studied approximately fifty spoons of this type in the collection of the Tervuren museum and found little evidence for their attribution to the Boa, although they certainly come from that broad geographical area. He relates that in the collection of the British Museum there are five ivory spoons of this type collected by and English officer, G. Burrows, in the 1890s. Burrows wrote that the Mabongo [Bango] differed from other tribes around them in that they used “little ivory spoons, very delicately carved and often gracefully designed, which they use for eating their meal.” (Burrows, G., The Curse of Central Africa, London, 1903, p. 236). A Bango attribution would therefore seem more likely than the often repeated and perhaps erroneous Boa attribution or the earlier frequent attribution to the Lega.
BEMBE
The Bembe live on the northwest coast of Lake Tanganyika and are the dominant tribe in an area with a complex cultural mix, many smaller groups having been absorbed into their land. They are influenced by the neighbouring Lega from whom they have adopted a less complex form of the Bwami society. They should not be confused with the Bembe of the Republic of the Congo (Congo Brazzaville).
Traditionally, the Bembe occupied small hamlets in the high mountain area. Numerous shrines were constructed, generally close to the houses, and were linked with several cults connected with ancestors, nature and earth spritis. Other shrines close to trees were dedicated to hunting. When Biebuyck undertook research in the area in the early 1950s he counted in a single village, of between one and two hundred people, no fewer than twenty-five shrines.
The Bembe are perhaps best known amongst collectors of African art for their Ancestor figures which show cubistic sculptural traits. Highly distinctive Janus helmet masks, alunga , are painted predominantly in black and white are danced in ceremonies connected with social control.
ZANDE
The Zande inhabit a wide area that spans the northern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. They developed a kingdom based on a royal clan, the Vungara, and absorbed foreign populations as their well-organised army conquered new lands. They are therefore composed of a very mixed group of peoples. Zande art, a court art, is very similar to that of the neighbouring Mangbetu peoples and both display a very refined visual style, their varied utilitarian objects often surmounted by a carved human head which is not the representation of an ancestor. Their poets performed improvised songs accompanied by the music of five-stringed harps often surmounted by these finely carved heads. The closed association, Mani or Yanda, which disseminated magic amongst its members and settled disputes, produced highly stylised figures both anthropomorphic and zoomorphic.
NGBAKA & NGBANDI
The Ngbaka and Ngbandi are two of the largest tribes in the Ubangi River area between the Congo and Ubangi rivers in the far northwest corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Ngbaka are perhaps the most prolific carvers in the area. Their figure sculptures are most often made in male and female pairs frequently related to the cult of a mythical couple, Sato and Nabo. There was considerable exchange of artistic styles between the various groups in the area and it is often difficult to attribute a particular work without precise collection data. Ngbandi figurative carvings frequently show a shaved hairstyle in the form of an inverted “V”. Masks and figures of both the Ngbaka and Ngbandi often show a characteristic notched vertical line down the centre of the forehead and continuing to the tip of the nose.
La maison de ventes Lempertz est fière d’accueillir le temps d’une exposition la section Congo de la collection personnelle de Pierre Dartevelle, marchand d’Arts Premiers de renommée internationale. C’est la première fois que le grand public aura accès à une sélection d’oeuvres majeures issues de sa collection privée. Figure incontournable du milieu de l’Art Tribal, Pierre Dartevelle est connu de tous. Cependant, très peu nombreux sont ceux qui ont déjà eu la chance d’admirer la qualité incomparable de sa collection.
En 2010, une première rétrospective organisée par Laurent Jacob et Bernard Dulon fut consacrée au père de Pierre Dartevelle au Musée Jacques Chirac de Sarran.
L’exposition « Pierre Dartevelle, 50 Years of Collecting : Art of the Congo » met en lumière le regard remarquable de ce collectionneur. On y retrouve une sélection exclusive de près d’une centaine de figures, masques et fétiches d’exception, en bois et en ivoire provenant des tribus emblématiques du Congo, une des régions constituant le coeur de sa collection. Cette exposition est organisée par Laurent Jacob avec la collaboration scientifique de Tim Teuten et Emilie Jolly, spécialistes en Art Tribal chez Lempertz.
Pierre Dartevelle (1940), fils du résistant et « explorateur » scientifique Edmond Dartevelle (1907-1956) découvre l’Afrique pour la première fois en 1946. Son enfance est marquée par les visites régulières au MRAC de Tervuren où son père est en poste et la découverte d’un grand fétiche à clous dans une malle gardée au grenier. En 1956, son père décède, il n’a que 16 ans. Le 30 juin 1960, l’indépendance de la république démocratique du Congo est proclamée. Après des études de Droit à l’ULB, il épouse Jacqueline Casier en 1963. Pierre rend alors régulièrement visite aux grands collectionneurs Willy Mestach et Jeff Vanderstraeten. Il décide en 1967 d’ouvrir sa propre galerie dans l’impasse Saint-Jacques, à Bruxelles. En 1968, sa rencontre avec Christian Duponchelle l’encourage à retourner en Afrique, ce qu’il fera de nombreuses fois durant les années 70 et 80. Il voyage tout d’abord au Cameroun, y découvre l’art Mumuye, l’art de la Benue et l’art Ibo. Il fait la rencontre de Philippe Guimiot, à Duala, puis de Jacques Kerchache et André Cauvin. En 1974, il est invité à Lubumbashi pour expertiser le marché congolais. Puis, dans les années 80, il voyage en Tanzanie, en Ouganda, au Soudan,
Professeur Henrik H. Hansetin, spécialiste en Art Moderne, propriétaire de Lempertz et président l'EFA (European Federation of Auctioneers)
La société Lempertz est l’une des premières maisons de vente aux enchères d’Europe et la plus ancienne entreprise familiale du monde dans ce secteur. Son histoire remonte à 1798, date à laquelle Johann Matthias Heberle commence à organiser d’importantes ventes aux enchères de livres et d’œuvres d’art. À la mort du fondateur, en 1840, son collaborateur Heinrich Lempertz reprend l’entreprise. En 1875, la société est reprise par l'un de ses employés, Peter Hanstein, qui va progressivement transférer les activités de ventes aux enchères
Laurent Jacob est né en 1955 à Corbion. Il débute sa carrière de commissaire en 1983. En 1984, il fonde l’asbl Espace 251 Nord. C’est en 1993, pour Le Jardin de la Vierge, que Laurent jacob collabore pour la première fois avec Pierre Dartevelle et présente des objets d’art africain parmi des œuvres d’art contemporain aux ets Old England à Bruxelles. Les ivoires Lega, masques de l’Himalaya, et autres sculptures Fang et Kota y côtoient les oeuvres de Giacometti, Rodin et Kawara, entre autres. Laurent Jacob est commissaire du pavillon belge à Venise en 1999 avec Ann Veronica Janssens et Michel François. Commissariat de l’exposition Les Afriques pour Lille capitale européenne de la culture en 2004 puis Venise en 2005 avec la diffusion du livre Black Box : les Afriques, manifeste pour une présence africaine à la
au Kenya et au Mali. Depuis 1975, Il prête de nombreux objets pour des expositions importantes. En 1989, il participe pour la première fois à ce qui deviendra BRUNEAF et contribue fortement à son développement jusqu’en 2013. Pierre Dartevelle collabore pour la première fois avec Laurent Jacob en 1993 dans le cadre de l’exposition Le Jardin de la Vierge. Le 31 juillet 1993, le roi Baudouin meurt et son frère, Albert II, lui succède. Entre 1997 et 2001, Mobutu est renversé par Laurent-Désiré Kabila, qui sera assassiné en 2001 et remplacé par son fils, Joseph Kabila. En 2010, l’exposition Carnets de voyage, consacrée à son père, Edmond, est organisée au Musée du Président Jacques Chirac à Sarran à l’occasion du cinquantième anniversaire des Indépendances. Sa fille, Valérie, reprend la direction de la galerie en 2012. En 2017, son grand masque Batcham, un des joyaux de la collection, entre au MET de New-York. L’exposition Pierre Dartevelle : 50 Years of Collecting Art of the Congo s’inscrit dans la continuité de l’exposition consacrée à Edmond Dartevelle.
à Cologne. Après la réforme monétaire, Lempertz réussit à retrouver son positionnement d’excellence sur le marché allemand des arts et des ventes aux enchères, comme l'illustre l'immeuble de commerce achevé en 1952 au Neumarkt et aujourd’hui classé monument historique. En 1984, Lempertz étoffe son programme en reprenant des parts dans la société Venator (livres anciens). Depuis début 2000, Lempertz est la seule maison allemande de vente aux enchères membre d’International Auctioneers (IA AG), un groupe réputé fondé en 1993 et fédérant, dans huit pays du monde entier, huit grandes sociétés indépendantes de ventes aux enchères.
Pierre Dartevelle (1940), son of the resistance fighter and “explorer” scientist Edmond Dartevelle (1907-1956) discovered Africa for the first time in 1946. His childhood was marked by regular visits to the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, where his father worked, and the discovery of a Nkondi idol in a trunk kept in the attic. His father died in 1956, when he was only 16 years old. The Democratic Republic of the Congo achieved independence on 30 June 1960. After studying law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, he married Jacqueline Casier in 1963. Pierre then began regularly visiting the great collectors Willy Mestach and Jeff Vanderstraeten. In 1967, he decided to open his own gallery on Impasse Saint-Jacques, in Brussels. In 1968, an encounter with Christian Duponchelle encouraged him to return to Africa, a trip he repeated on numerous occasions in the 1970s and 1980s. He travelled first to Cameroon, where he discovered the art of the Mumuye, the Benue and the Igbo. He met Philippe Guimiot, in Duala, then Jacques Kerchache and André Cauvin. In 1974, he was invited to Lubumbashi to assess the Congolese market. Then, in the 1980s, he travelled around Tanzania, Ugan-
Professor Henrik H. Hanstein, Modern Art specialist, owner of Lempertz and president of the EFA (European Federation of Auctioneers)
Lempertz is one of the leading auction houses in Europe and the eldest in family posession. The history of the company reaches back to 1798, when Johann Matthias Heberle started helding important auctions of rare books and art works. After the death of the founder in 1840, his employee Heinrich Lempertz took over the company. In 1875 Peter Hanstein, an employee, buys the respected firm and gradually moves the auction business to Cologne. After the monetary reform, Lempertz succeeds once more in establishing itself as the
LAURENT JACOB
Biennale accordée deux ans plus tard. En 2010, pour célébrer le cinquantième anniversaire des Indépendances, il est co-commissaire avec Bernard Dulon de l’exposition Carnets de voyage, hommage rendu par le musée Jacques Chirac de Sarran à Edmond Dartevelle, le père de Pierre. S’ensuivent plusieurs participations avec « La Comète » (Christine Brachot, Pascale Joannes et Patrick Regout) à des foires tels que BRUNEAF (Bruxelles) et Parcours des mondes (Paris, 2012 et 2016) dans lesquels Laurent Jacob poursuit la rencontre déjà entamée des arts premiers et de l’art contemporain. Il pousse plus loin l’expérimentation dans deux autres expositions : Les mains libres et Résurgences organisées en 2016 et 2017 dans les locaux d’Espace 251 Nord à Liège.
Laurent Jacob was born in Corbion in 1955. He began his career as a curator in 1983. In 1984, he founded the notfor-profit association Espace 251. It was in 1993, for Le Jardin de la Vierge [The Garden of the Virgin Mary] that Jacob worked for the first time with Pierre Dartevelle, exhibiting African artworks alongside contemporary art at the Old England in Brussels. Lega ivories, Himalayan masks and other Fang and Kota sculptures were displayed alongside works from artists such as Giacometti, Rodin and Kawara. Jacob curated the Belgian pavilion in Venice in 1999, alongside Ann Veronica Janssens and Michel François. He was the curator of the exhibition Les Afriques for Lille, European Capital of Culture, in 2004, then Venice in 2005 with the publication of the book Black Box : les Afriques, a manifesto for African
Lempertz is pleased to offer the public the opportunity to discover for the first time the Congo section of the private collection of Pierre Dartevelle, the internationally renowned Tribal Art dealer. Major works in private collections and public institutions across the world were acquired in his gallery, but over several decades Pierre Dartevelle also assembled an outstanding personal collection. Whilst some of the major works from his collection have been loaned to prestigious exhibitions and are known through publications, the majority remain unknown to the general public.
In 2010, to celebrate 50 years of independence of several African nations, the Jacques Chirac Museum hosted the first exhibition about Edmond Dartevelle, curated by Laurent Jacob and Bernard Dulon, in association with the MRAC Tervuren.
This exceptional exhibition will feature approximately one hundred significant works in wood and ivory; figures, masks and fetishes, all from major tribes of the Congo, which represents the core of Pierre Dartevelle’s collection.The exhibition is curated by Laurent Jacob in collaboration with Tim Teuten and Emilie Jolly, Tribal Art specialists at Lempertz.
da, Sudan, Kenya and Mali. Since 1975, he has lent a large number of pieces to major exhibitions. In 1989, he took part for the first time in what would become BRUNEAF and played a major role in its development until 2013. Pierre Dartevelle worked with Laurent Jacob for the first time in 1993 on the exhibition Le Jardin de la Vierge [The Garden of the Virgin Mary]. On 31 July 1993, King Baudouin of Belgium died and the crown passed to his brother, Albert II. Between 1997 and 2001, Mobutu was exiled by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, who would later be assassinated in 2001 and succeeded by his son Joseph Kabila. In 2010, the exhibition Carnets de Voyage [Travel Journals], dedicated to his father Edmond, was held at the Musée du Président Jacques Chirac, in Sarran, to mark the 50th anniversary of independence. His daughter Valérie took over as director of the gallery in 2012. In 2017, his incredible Batcham mask, one of the great treasures of the collection, was acquired by the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exhibition Pierre Dartevelle : 50 Years of Collecting Art of the Congo is part of the ongoing exhibition dedicated to Edmond Dartevelle.
leading German art and auction house. A visible sign of this is the building at Neumarkt, completed in 1952, listed today in the Register of Historic Buildings. In 1984 Lempertz complements its range by buying into the antique book store Venator. Since the beginning of 2000, Kunsthaus Lempertz is the only German auction house to be part of the renowned International Auctioneers group (IA), a group that unites eight independent leading auction houses from eight countries.
presence in the Biennale, granted two years later. In 2010, to celebrate the 50 th anniversary of independence, he was the joint curator, with Bernard Dulon, of the exhibition Carnets de Voyage [Travel Journeys], a tribute to Edmond Dartevelle, the father of Pierre, by the Musée Jacques Chirac de Sarran. This was followed by frequent participation with “La Comète” (Christine Brachot, Pascale Joannes and Patrick Regout) in arts fairs such as BRUNEAF (Brussels) and Parcours des Mondes (Paris, 2012 and 2016) in which Laurent Jacob continued his work to bring together tribal and contemporary art. He further developed these experiments in two other exhibitions, Les Mains Libres [Free Hands] and Résurgences, held in 2016 and 2017 in Espace 251 Nord, Liège.
