Pierre Castagnez (1898-1951) - French Art Deco, Village Gathering, Banyan Tree, Mali, Large folio aquatint - 1933

Fine aquatint with hand colour.

Light trace of age toning.

36 x 26 cm

Printed on Rives paper from his series “Here is Black Africa”, Paris, 1938.

One of a limited edition of 200.

Pierre Castagnez (1898 - 1951) was a French painter who flourished artistically in Africa, especially in Dakar in Senegal.

Castagnez Pierre was born on 1st June 1898 in Castillones (Lot-et-Garonne). In 1915 he was recruited into the army and participated in the Battle of Verdun as well as the Battle of the Chemin des Dames . Three times buried alive, several times wounded or gassed, he ended the war with the Croix de Guerre with Palms and later received the Legion of Honor as a simple soldier. Agent, then general agent of several commercial companies, he abandoned his career in administration in order to be able to devote himself to his art. He lived for many years in Bamako in Mali, then in Konakry (French Guinea), before becoming a professor at the Van Vallenhoven college in Dakar (Senegal). n 1941, the first painter to discover and make famous the city of Timbuktu.

In 1928 Pierre Castagnez was one of the founders with Roger Nivelt and Elie Miller Ranson of the Society of Friends of the Arts of Dakar, which organized an annual fair; he became president following Roger Nivelt.

He died in Dakar at 53 in June 1951.