Philippe Ouassa, b. 1936
Biography

Philippe Ouassa (b. 1936) is a Congolese painter and an early member of the École de Peinture de Poto-Poto, the Brazzaville painting studio founded in 1951 by the French artist Pierre Lods.

Ouassa's work ranges from abstracted, angular figures to stylised birds, built up in flat planes of bold, contrasting colour outlined in black — a hallmark of the Poto-Poto style. As with his contemporaries, his paintings are signed with the initials “PPP” (Peintres de Poto-Poto).

The École de Peinture de Poto-Poto itself received UNESCO's Picasso Medal at Brazzaville's 7th Biennial in 2002, recognition of the school's decades-long contribution to African art, and Ouassa's paintings are held in galleries in the Congo and internationally.

source: Botterweg Auctions; Galerie Eve Begalli; African Contemporary essay on the Poto-Poto School