Lot 74: TSHIBUMBA KANDA MATULU (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, BORN

TSHIBUMBA KANDA MATULU (DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, BORN 1947) Lumumba: 1. ‘Le 30 juin 1960, Zaire independant’, 45.5 x 63cm 2. ‘Conflit Kasavubu-Lumumba’, 38 x 61cm 3. ‘Arrestation a Lodja’, 38.5 x 65.5cm 4. ‘Calvaire d’Afrique’, 38.5 x 72cm 5. ‘Debut de la Carriere politique, Lumumba en Prison central de Buluo a Jadotville’, 40 x 68cm 6. ‘La Mort historique de Lumumba, Mpolo et Okito’, 44.5 x 70.5 7. ‘Tombeau sans Cercueil (quartier Luano Lubumbashi)’, 37 x 58.5cm 8. ‘Discours du 4 janvier 1959, Les Martyrs de l’independance’, 38.5 x 72.5cm all signed and titled (lower edge) acrylic on canvas -8

Provenance Acquired directly from the artist by Mr Etienne Bol in the Republic of Zaire in the mid-1970s. Exhibited London, Sulger-Buel Lovell Gallery, 53 Echoes of Zaire: Popular Painting from Lubumbashi, DRC, 2015. Cat. 30, 32, 33, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40. Lumumba is the fourth section of Matulu’s narrative history series. It documents Zaire’s struggle to achieve independence in the second half of the 1950s, focusing on the rise and fall of the pan-Africanist leader, Patrice Lumumba. In 1960, Lumumba was elected Prime Minister of the newly independent Congo. His government collapsed after only ten weeks however, as the province of Katanga seceded with Belgian support. The army leader, Colonel Joseph Mobutu, successfully led a coup that resulted in Lumumba’s arrest. He died soon after in mysterious circumstances. Joseph Mobutu assumed leadership in 1965. He secured his authority using an iron fist; the military became an instrument of state oppression. The press was heavily censored and all political opposition banned. Determined to impress his mark on the nation, Mobutu changed the name of the country to Zaire in 1971 and nationalised many foreign-owned companies. Bibliography S. Diop, ed. 53 Echoes of Zaire: Popular Painting from Lubumbashi, DRC, (2015) p.35.