Artists

Born in c1920, Bela Sara became one of the most recognised members of the modernist movement in Central Africa, the Lubumbashi painting atelier, which was established by artist-patron Pierre Romain-Desfossés in the 1940s. The atelier was known as 'Le Hangar', the 'Élisabethville Indigenous Art Studio', and later the Académie des Beaux Arts. Sara was an orderly for Romain-Desfossés and was discovered painting with his fingers. Romain-Desfossés mentored Sara to develop this technique, whilst encouraging him to find inspiration for his subject matter in nature and the surrounding flora and fauna. Most of Sara’s vibrant oil paintings, created only by finger painting and without any outline, depict aquatic life, wildlife, and hunting scenes. Sara’s paintings can be found worldwide in private collections.