Skip to main content
Lot 53

Monsengwo Kejwamfi "Moke"
(Democratic Republic of Congo, 1950-2001)
Moke n'a pas de l'argent (Moke doesn't have any money)

28 February 2018, 17:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street

Sold for £4,480 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our African Modern & Contemporary Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Monsengwo Kejwamfi "Moke" (Democratic Republic of Congo, 1950-2001)

Moke n'a pas de l'argent (Moke doesn't have any money)
signed, titled and dated 'PEINTE/ MOKE/ 91' (lower right)
oil on canvas
176 x 130cm (69 5/16 x 51 3/16in).

Footnotes

Provenance
The Jean Pigozzi Contemporary African Art Collection.
Sold at Sotheby's, New Bond Street, 24 June 1999, lot 17.
Private collection.

Exhibited
Copenhagen, Rundetarn, My Afrikansk Billedkunst, 1991. Illustrated p.9.

Literature
A. Magnin & J. Soulillou, ed. Contemporary Art of Africa, New York, 1996. Illustrated p.114.


Along with Cheri Samba and Cheri Cherin, Moke was one of the leading figures of the Congolese Popular Painting school. These artists began their careers as advertisement and sign painters. Their eye-catching, satirical depictions of daily life in Kinshasa soon garnered attention and won the artists their first commissions.

Part of the appeal is the characteristic style in which the scenes are rendered. As art historian Jacques Soulillou has written:

"Over the years, Moke's work has managed to acquire an identity that enables it to be recognised without hesitation; it is well known both in Zaire and outside its borders."

Bibliography
A. Magnin & J. Soulillou, ed. Contemporary Art of Africa, (New York, 1996), p.12.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

David Goldblatt(South African, 1930-2018)"Abraham Thipe with one of his arrangements and his deckchair, Newtown, 14 August 1990"

Sophie Mowat(British, born 1988)The Other Bounty

Glory Samjolly(British, born 1997)Dear Archives

Alison Turner(British, born 1976)At The Hands Of The Enslaved, Our Society Was Built

Neequaye Dreph Dsane(British, born 1973)Dress Code

Kione Grandison(British, born 1996)Let Us Not Forget

Alvin Kofi(British, born 1961)The Longitude Of Culture

Kazvare Knox(Zimbabwean, born 1986)Someone's Been Stealing Our Things

Emmanuel Unaji(British, born 1994)Parallel Empires, Ancestral Kingdoms