WOLFERS HOUSE PREPARATORY DRAWING FOR THE "CONGOLESE ALBUM". "From the darkness of Africa emerges the radiant Light, whose rays illuminate the Congolese Exhibition". Album presented to Baron Léon de Béthune by Edmond van Eetvelde, former secretary-general of the independent state of Congo, then governed by King Leopold II of Belgium. The album contains 22 original photos of the Congolese pavilion at the 1897 Universal Exhibition. Richly worked in ivory, which was used at the time to promote materials from the colonies (silver, vermeil, bronze, pearls, rubies, emeralds, leather and silk), it is a superb example of Wolfers' Art Nouveau production. Monogram of Philippe Wolfers, dated 22 October 1897. Gouache, pencil and ink on paper. Dimensions: approx. 61 x 53 cm. The album is now in the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels (inv.Sc.188.1). It forms a set with its "Heron" desk and is preserved with its original crocodile case and box decorated with a gold star, the symbol of the independent state of Congo. An Art Nouveau preparatory drawing of the "Album Congolais" gifted by Edmond van Eetvelde to the Baron Léon of Béthune during the Bruxelles World Fair in 1897. Gouache, ink and pencil on paper. RC : Later handwritten note: "Executé pour M. Edmond VanEetvelde pour le Baron Bethune". Pitting, very good condition.