Kabinda "Birds" painting

Rops, from Belgium, sells on 13 November 2016 a "signed Kabinda" Birds painting estimated at 60 to 80 Euro.

Congolese painting is still an emerging niche for collectors, with bargains to be had like this.

Kabinda was a painter of the Elisabethville (or E/ville, as in his signature, now named Lubumbashi) school of the 1950s. It was founded by Pierre Romain-Desfossés, a French artist who arrived in Elisabethville in 1944 or 1945 and died there in 1954.

Kabinda, full name Kabinda Kanku Victor, is best known for his paintings of birds or fish, of which the work for sale is a typical example. At 60 Euro, it would be the cheapest Kabinda at auction in years: the above Birds and Fishes, of similar dimensions, was estimated in Brussels in April 2016 at 1,000 to 1,500 Euro.

Drouot sold another work with two birds in 2013 for 1,500 to 1,800 Euro. Another one was sold at Horta Brussels last month for 1,700 Euro.

The above painting was sold in Paris this year for 520 Euro, and one is for sale (with a wrong name, they believe that Enille is his first name when that is actually Eville, his residence) in California for 1,600 Euro.

The work for sale should be worth 800 to 1,200 Euro and is a nice addition to any collection of early modern Congolese art.

UPDATE: sold for 550 Euro against a 60 Euro estimate, that's more like it.