Henny Riemens (1928-1992) - Architecture de terre en Afrique - 1957

\Artist: Henny Riemens (1928-1992) \Signature: Tampon de la photographe\Dimensions: 27. 5_33. 5_0_cm
Lovely silver print from the 1960s of a photograph taken in 1957 by Henny Riemens (1928-1998) , the first wife of painter Guillaume Corneille (1922-2010) The print is ready to be hung. Metal-coloured frame and passe-partout with black edging - Open window on the back shows the photographer’s stamp. Size: 23 x 17 cm Size with frame: 31. 5 x 27. 5 cm Photograph of an iconic African earth architecture that inspired many architects (Le Corbusier, Zaha Hadid, etc.) Lovely composition of shadows and lights: there is something surrealistic or abstract in the style of Paul Klee, Miro or Yves Tanguy, with the dark eye of the window on the right, the few scattered jars, the bench hanging vertically like a rectangle of light. Ethnography intersects with the subliminal visions of Georges Bataille or André Breton. Alongside Guillaume Corneille, Henny Riemens (1928-1992) followed the Cobra group at all times and gave an essential account of the group as a photographer. Most books on the Cobra movement reproduce images by Henny Riemens, widely circulated in the following decades. A fan of Levi-Strauss's readings and the first film reports on Africa, in 1956 the couple embarked on the crazy project of crossing Africa by jeep to be in total immersion. This wasn’t Corneille’s first trip: his passion for Africa arose very early in the 1940s when he decided to replicate Paul Klee’s trip to Tunisia. Each equipped with a Leica, they took several photographs of their journeys over two years: 1956 and 1957. Henny Riemens produced a large body of photographs on Senegal, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya, which provides an important testimony to the ways of life at the time, that are still preserved. An exhibition is being prepared. Provenance: Guillaume Corneille Collection (1922-2010) , painter born in Liège from Dutch parents, founding member of the Cobra group with Karel Appel, Constant, Dotremont, Asger Jorn, Vinkenoog; Lucebert and even Pierre Alechinsky. Photographer's references: - Ed Wingen: Henny Riemens, einn Nederlandse fotografe in Paris, studio Koster, exhibition catalogue, 2005. - Ooggetuige van Cobra, Museum Fodor, Amsterdam, exhibition catalogue, 1988