The Tribute of Ousmane Sow to Toussaint Louverture

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

In 1999, Paris is suddenly aware of the Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow. The Pont des Arts, which is a narrow bridge closed to traffic, is suddenly adorned with a battle scene in which 23 characters and 8 horses are bigger than life. The subject is also political because it represents the Battle of Little Big Horn (1876), this extraordinary victory over Custer for which Crazy Horse became a symbol of the resistance of humiliated peoples. Sow is then acclaimed as the master of narrative sculpture.

Ten years earlier, in 1989, Paris celebrated the two hundredth anniversary of the French Revolution. In the same spirit as above, Sow had chosen the theme of the revolt of Toussaint Louverture for the liberation of slaves in Saint-Domingue (1798-1802). This movement inspired by the French Revolution failed when the French restored slavery by force, but he remained one of the most powerful symbols of the fight against this scourge.

Sow's statue, 2.20 meter high, is composed of mixed straw and jute on a frame of iron, using the technique developed by the artist. A standing Toussaint Louverture comforts an old woman sitting on ground who is symbolizing slavery.

The sale of this work on June 1 in Paris is organized by the auction house Gaïa. Founded in 2007, it specializes in non-Western arts. The estimate indicated in the catalog is 150 K €, but there is no real history of such works at auction. The database Artvalue provides only two results, both obtained on bronzes.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Sold 194 K € before fees. It is a very good result for the artist, and an excellent result for this small auction house.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Small correction, following an erratum published today in La Gazette de l'Hôtel Drouot: the hammer price was 197 K €.

The result is not yet available on the site of the auction house. I think they wait until the end of the after-sale, which is two weeks in France.