PILI PILI Mulongoy [Ngolo, Katanga, 1914-2007, Kinshasa (DRC)] (Untitled) Birds Defending the Nest Oil on canvas. 72 x 101 cm. Signed lower right, 1980s/90s, framed. Provenance: Private collection, former collection of Marshal Mobutu, Villa Del Mare, Cap Martin, later given as a gift to a household employee. Pili Pili was born into a fishing family in Ngolo, Katanga province. In 1947, he joined the "Académie d'art indigène", known as the Atelier Hangar, founded by Pierre Romain-Desfossés. He later became a professor at the Lubumbashi Academy of Fine Arts.