Modeste MUTUNDA [(DRC), early 20th century - ?) (Untitled) Birds and snakes Gouache on paper. 22 x 31 cm. Signed lower left, traces of humidity. Note: the work was acquired by Professor Gaucquié, a colleague of L. Moonens, both teachers at the Academy of Fine Arts in Elisabethville, and then passed on by descent. Mutunda entered the Elisabethville Academy of Fine Arts around 1954-1955 and quickly gained recognition. His paintings were included in the prestigious European tour of 1955-1956, then presented in major exhibitions: at the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels (1956), the Institute of Fine Arts in Antwerp (1959) and the Royal Museum in Tervuren (1960).