Bruly Bouabré And “Knowledge Of The World”

Many of his small hand-drawn cards, which came from his family, offer a glimpse into the Ivorian artist’s deeply personal world.

Is Frédéric Bruly Bouabré rightly or wrongly associated with naïve art? The debate is on because, given his apparent simplicity and his status as a self-taught artist, he certainly fits into that category. But his encyclopedic and political approach sets him just as far apart from it. In any case, his small illustrated cards—which blend drawings and writing in colored pencil—are sure to make an impression! His entire body of work is based on these cardboard pieces—most often repurposed packaging—that depict his “knowledge of the world” through motifs related to fauna, flora, as well as stories and myths. Several of these, including this set of twelve depicting Portraits of Men and Women, will be featured in this auction; all come from his family. The Ivorian artist was discovered by art dealer André Magnin during a trip in search of new African talent, and his work was brought to the attention of the general public thanks to the landmark exhibition held at the Centre Pompidou in 1989, “Les Magiciens de la terre.” Most recently (March–July 2022), MoMA in New York dedicated a retrospective to him, showcasing his Bété alphabet—a pictographic writing system consisting of 449 symbols invented to transcribe the spoken language of the people of the same name.