CUBAN Angola Congo Africa MASK Serigraph #2 / Signed by CUBA Art Master ZARZA

Description: To our collector, interior designer and eBay friends worldwide: In addition to this limited-edition art print, the Cuban Poster Gallery in Washington D.C. is offering a huge selection of handmade Cuban silk-screen movie and cultural posters, many of which work beautifully well together. To view all of the posters, please visit our eBay Store ( stores.ebay.com/CubanPosterGallery ) where new listings are regularly being posted in both the Auction and Buy It Now/Best Offer formats. The Cuban Poster Gallery appreciates your business! Our price for this graphic is $298 The Cuban Poster Gallery is thrilled to offer this limited-edition graphic arts masterpiece, designed and hand signed by the celebrated Cuban printmaker and painter RAFAEL ZARZA (born 1944), the 2020 winner of Cuba's prestigious National Visual Arts Prize. A one-man exhibition of ZARZA's work was held in late 2021 and early 2022 at the National Fine Arts Museum in Havana. This original, signed and numbered tribal mask serigraph -- a mere 30 copies were made for this edition -- was designed by ZARZA for an exhibition of African tribal arts and customs -- titled MUQUIZE ("Masked") -- during the 2019 Havana art biennial. The graphic, which measures 8 1/2 by 12 inches (21.5 by 30 cm), was screen-printed as part of a series of seven tribal mask prints in the prestigious Rene Portocarrero Serigraph Workshop in the historic Habana Vieja neighborhood. The serigraphs were printed in two sizes. The graphic in this listing was printed in the smaller format. All told, ZARZA designed eight African mask images for this exhibition, including a main poster in a large format. You can search in our eBay Store for these eight serigraphs -- the large main poster and the seven smaller serigraphs -- using the key words: CUBAN Angola Congo Africa MASK Serigraph The hard-to-find ZARZA serigraph in this listing depicts a "gazelle" dance mask (used in male initiation rituals) by the NKANDA societies of Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire). The artist lived for a couple of years in Angola, the southwest African nation where he served on a Cuban government mission and studied tribal cultures. RAFAEL ZARZA's paintings and graphics can be found in major collections, galleries and museums worldwide, including the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Havana. A graduate of the San Alejandro Arts Academy in Havana, ZARZA developed a passion for African tribal cultures during the 1970s when he was sent by the Cuban government to teach art in Angola. When ZARZA arrived, Angola was engaged in a bloody civil war that had erupted between two former anti-colonial guerrilla movements -- one communist, the other anti-communist -- after the African nation won its independence from Portugal in 1975. All told, Cuba sent tens of thousands of troops to support the communist side. ZARZA's interest in African cultures was strengthen by an artistic residency in Kenya in the early 2000s. ZARZA hand-signed and dated this graphic, which contains the embossed dry stamp of the René Portocarrero workshop, certifying that it is genuine. The serigraph was printed on acid-free art paper imported from France. Overall condition of this handmade graphic is good with only minor imperfections possible. Since we have more than one copy of this serigraph in our stock, the number on the graphic you receive may differ from the one in the photos we have posted. You will receive the lowest number in our stock! Buy with 100 percent confidence; graphics purchased on eBay from the Cuban Poster Gallery can be returned for any reason within 30 days.Your mask serigraph by RAFAEL ZARZA will be shipped FREE to U.S. addresses by USPS Ground Advantage or UPS with delivery confirmation. For international buyers (outside the United States), eBay will calculate the cost of shipping and any required Customs duties or importation taxes. TITLE: (Nkanda male initiation ritual mask / Congo and Angola) DESIGNER: Rafael Zarza (b. 1944) MEDIUM: Serigraph / screen-print YEAR: 2019 SIZE: approximately 12 by 8 1/2 inches (21.5 by 30 cm)SIGNED: Yes, by the artist's hand. NUMBERED: Yes. Only 30 copies were made for this editionORIGIN: Havana, Cuba A few words about collecting Cuba's silk-screen movie posters, which we also offer here in our eBay Store: For more than 60 years, the Cuban Film Institute has been designing silk-screened posters for most every movie shown on the island, whether the films originated in Cuba, the United States, Brazil, Japan or Italy. In the midst of the Cold War 1960s and 1970s, many of the subtitled foreign films shown in Cuba came from the island nation's communist allies in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, Vietnam and even North Korea. Unlike in the United States, where movie posters are often dominated by images of Hollywood stars, the Cubans assign a graphic artist to design an original piece of artwork for each film. These posters are widely recognized in graphic design circles as stylish works of art, handmade one color at a time and often under difficult circumstances (at various times, paint and even paper have been in short supply on the island.) Cuba's silk-screen movie posters are nothing less than museum pieces. Examples of Cuban poster art can be found in the permanent collections of museums across the globe from the Victoria & Albert in London to the Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as in prestigious institutions such as the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. Adding to their collectability, Cuba's movie posters are produced in relatively small numbers. Typically, a few hundred copies are made for each film, although the runs have been as low as 50. Responding to demand from collectors, the Cuban Film Institute has re-screened some of its more popular posters. That's why some posters created in the 1960s and 1970s began reappearing on the Caribbean island in the 1990s and 2000s. Further adding to their collectability, many of Cuba's vintage posters are imperiled. Although a few hundred copies may have been screened originally, relatively few have survived, due to the island's wet and humid climate, inadequate storage facilities in Havana and improper handling in Cuba and elsewhere. To us, these survivors are rare beauties, even those with obvious flaws. We are proud to have rescued hundreds of posters from almost certain extinction by storing them in an air conditioned, acid-free environment. We at the Cuban Poster Gallery offer both 1st and 2nd Edition posters to our customers on eBay and in our Washington D.C. gallery. We consider both to be collectible, and (in response to a question we often get) all of these posters were legally imported because the U.S. government exempts artwork from its economic embargo against Cuba. While the pricier originals are favored by some collectors, the re-screens are also collectible because they were made in the same Havana workshop as the originals. Note that we never sell unauthorized reproductions that have been cranked out in print shops in the U.S. and Europe. To our eBay customers, we pledge to accurately describe the posters we list and price them fairly based on condition and scarcity. Have a question? Please don't hesitate to contact us. To view more distinctive Cuban graphics, we invite you to visit the Cuban Poster Gallery's eBay Store: http://stores.ebay.com/cubanpostergallery

Price: 298 USD

Location: Washington, District Of Columbia

End Time: 2025-01-02T20:07:32.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD