Florence Béal-Nénakwé

In early January, I received an e-mail from a man, Mr. Pierre, who wrote to say he was the artistic agent of Florence Béal-Nénakwé, an ‘artist-painter who paints the reminiscences of the African childhood’. He also told me that Florence Béal-Nénakwé ‘paints of oil on canvas, in all vibrations as well as in the field of form as of the chromatic range’. He finished by telling me, rather charmingly I thought, that he was inviting me to ‘divide and discover her artworks and her African imaginary’.

Subsequent e-mails to discover what he meant when he asked me to ‘divide’ remain unanswered.
As Mr. Pierre did not provide any other information on Florence Béal-Nénakwé, I undertook a Google search and found that Florence Béal-Nénakwé is a cubist artist from Cameroon and has exhibited her work quite widely. I also found the information below from this website.

Confirming her African roots through her art, the artist Florence Beal-Nenakwe paints recollections of her Cameroonian childhood. Entirely self-taught, she brings us a picture rich in colour, the inner energy alone linked to her native Cameroon and to her personal life enables her to project this gaiety and hope on canvas. Going from exhibition to exhibition since 1996, she displays her canvases and shares a message of tolerance and acceptance of the difference in the physical or in forms.

I did ‘discover’ Florence Béal-Nénakwé’s artworks as Mr. Pierre had thoughtfully provided the artist’s website.

I love the bright, vivid colours which remind me of the colours you see on a Sunday morning in Africa when people are dressed in their best church-going clothes. I am also intrigued by the messages and stories to be found in different layers when one spends time looking at the artwork.

The paintings below are my favourites.

African carnival

Pourquoi tant de chagrin?

Interior travel

Florence Béal-Nénakwé ‘s artworks are currently on exhibition at the African museum of Lyon , Rhône, France. Further artwork and information can be found here

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