Paris – The top lot of the Modern and Contemporary African Art sale on Thursday 6 July in Paris was Miner with a machine Drill, a historic work by Anton van Wouw (1862-1945) from the collection of Princess Alice, Queen Victoria's granddaughter, which sold for €89,300. The bronze had a pre-sale estimate of €70,000-100,000.
The 89-lot sale made a total of €501,872 with 58% sold by lot (99% by value) on Thursday 6 July at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris.

Morocco held a prominent place in this auction with a 2016 highly colourful acrylic painting by Mohamed Melehi (1936-2020). Melehi's works generally feature a palette of bold, vivid primary colours. Untitled was sold for €51,200 against a pre-sale estimate of €40,000 - €60,000.

Untitled by Hassan El Glaoui (Maroc, 1924-2018), gouache and spray paint on paper was sold for €28,160.
Two works by the Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumè (born in 1962) were offered. Hazoumè reinvents traditional African masks by using objects such as jerry oil cans to create faces that reflect the economic and environmental struggles caused by mass consumerism. Makanaki, 1995, made of a plastic canister and synthetic hair, was sold for €18,560 and Angel, 2000, created with recycled plastic and metal, and a broom brush achieved €9,600.

Born in 1956 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chéri Samba moved in 1972 to Kinshasa, the capital, where he earned his living as a painter of advertising signs while making comic strips for his magazine, Bilenge Info. Three years later, he transposed his comic strips onto canvas, establishing his style of bubble painting. His work of that period portrayed society, morals, sexuality, disease, social inequalities and corruption and quickly achieved great local popularity. His most recent paintings are always painted in a rich, vivid, contrasting and most often glittery chromatic palette as in 1e VTO sold for €15,360 and Le pinceau du Maître Chéri Samba sold for €15,360.

Julie Mathon, specialist of Modern and Contemporary African Art at Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr, commented: " This sale once again demonstrated the diversity and richness of these works of art, with a wide range of modern and contemporary paintings. Our next sale in Paris will take place on 30 November."

Other highlights from the auction included :
• Abdoulaye Diarrassouba "Aboudia" (Ivory Coast, born in 1983), Untitled, mixed media on canvas sold for €63,900 against an estimate of €40,000 to €60,000.
• Esther Mahlangu (South Africa, born in 1935), Untitled, acrylic on canvas sold for €14,080 against an estimate of €4,000 to €6,000.
• Bertina Lopes (Mozambique 1924-2012), Il canto dela natura e'dentro di noi, oil on canvas, 1988 sold for €10,240 against an estimate of €4,000 to €6,000.