Mvondo Anthropomorphic Mask - Lwalwa - DR Congo

Mfondo Mask – Lwalwa – Democratic Republic of the Congo

A radical sculpture, at the boundary between ritual and the modern avant-garde.

This Mfondo mask from the Lwalwa corpus stands out for its facial architecture of remarkable power. The face is reduced to essential volumes, almost sharp, organized around a dominant vertical axis. The prominent nose, hollowed and angular eyes, and a mouth carved with force compose a geometric construction with great formal tension. This extreme stylization, deliberately stripped down, directly evokes the explorations of Cubism and the European avant-gardes of the early 20th century, as much as these forms fed and inspired generations of modern artists. Here, abstraction is never gratuitous: it translates a worldview, a ritual language, a presence. The ancient patina, worn by use and time, further reinforces the piece’s expressive charge. A mask of character, demanding, emblematic of these foundational pieces that helped transform the history of Western art.

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