Draft:Marc leo felix

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Marc Leo Felix
Born1942 (age 82–83)
Belgium
NationalityBelgian
Occupation(s)Art historian, curator, collector, gallery owner, author

Marc Leo Felix (born 1942) is a Belgian expert in African traditional art, curator, art collector, gallery owner, and author. He is the founder and director of the Congo Basin Art History Research Center in Brussels and has published widely on Central African ritual arts.

Early life and education

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Felix studied Greek and Latin at the Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege in Brussels before attending the Académie royale des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles from 1957 to 1959.[1]

In 1959–1960 he traveled to the Congo, beginning a lifelong engagement with African art. After military service at the École Royale d’Infanterie in 1961, he opened an antique shop in Brussels in 1962, which included non-European tribal art.[2] Between 1964 and 1972 he lived in the Middle East, Nigeria, Gabon, and Cameroon, studying cultural links and conducting fieldwork on ritual arts. From the 1970s onward, he expanded his travels to Central and East Africa, Southeast Asia, and Melanesia, documenting ritual art and musical instruments.[3]

According to a 2014 interview, Félix first encountered African art as a student in Brussels, and made his first six-month trip to the Congo in 1959. He later returned to Africa in 1964, spending time in Nigeria, Gabon, and Cameroon before settling in the Congo from 1970 to 1974.[4]

Career

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Felix has established a career as art historian, linguist, curator, and collector, recognized for his expertise in the ritual arts of the Congo Basin.[5]

Dealer and patron

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Since the 1970s Felix has operated a gallery in the Sablon district of Brussels, specializing in African traditional art. Works from his collection have entered major institutional holdings, including the Yale University Art Gallery,[6] the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston,[7] the University of Michigan Museum of Art,[8] and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.[9]

From 1990 to 2009 Felix served as vice president of the Belgian Association of Dealers in Non-European Art (BADNEA)[10]

Congo Basin Art History Research Center

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The Congo Basin Art History Research Center, also known as the Zaire Basin Art History Research Center, is a research institute in Brussels focused on the study of Central African art. It is directed by Marc Leo Felix and included cartographer and illustrator Charles Meur. Projects include the many books created by Felix as well as initiatives such as the People’s Atlas of Africa, a part of Harvard's WorldMap Project, which is an interactive map illustrating Africa’s linguistic and ethnic diversity.[11][12]

Curatorial work

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Felix has curated more than forty exhibitions of Congolese traditional art objects in Germany, Austria, Belgium, the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, Denmark, France, India, Japan, the Netherlands, the Caribbean, the United States, and Taiwan.[13]

He contributed as author and lender of sculptures to the 1994 exhibition and catalogue Tanzania: Masterpieces of African Sculpture presented in Berlin and Munich.[14]

In 2018, he co-curated Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, an exhibition that presented important objects from his collection and others.[15]

In 2022, Felix co-organized with Destinee Ross-Sutton the exhibition Arts africains: 4 000 ans d’histoire at the Wall House museum in Saint Barthélemy, which presented 160 works from across Africa.[16]

Work in China

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Together with Henry Lu, Felix organized more than twenty-five exhibitions of African art in Greater China[17] In 2003–2004 he co-curated The Art of the Kingdom of Kongo at the National Museum of China in Beijing and the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou,[18] which included nearly 300 works. In 2016–2017, his exhibition Masks of Central Africa traveled to multiple Chinese museums including the Nanjing Museum, the Gansu Provincial Museum, and the Yunnan Provincial Museum, attracting over 52,000 visitors.[19]

Selected curated exhibitions

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  • Tanzania: Masterpieces of African Sculpture, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin and Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, 1994 (author and lender)[20]
  • The Art of the Kingdom of Kongo, National Museum of China, Beijing; Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, 2003–2004 (curator with Henry Lu)The Art of the Kingdom of Kongo. Ethnic Art & Culture. December 2003. ISBN 978-988-97535-1-1.
  • Masks of Central Africa, Guangdong Museum of Art; Nanjing Museum; Gansu Provincial Museum; Yunnan Provincial Museum; Henan Museum, 2016–2017 (curator)[21]
  • Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 2018 (co-curator)[22]
  • Congo Masks and Music: Masterpieces from Central Africa, Musical Instrument Museum, Phoenix, 2019–2020 (co-curator with Manuel Jordán; primary lender)[23]
  • Arts africains: 4 000 ans d’histoire (African Arts: 4,000 Years of History), Wall House museum, Saint Barthélemy, 2022 (co-organizer with Destinee Ross-Sutton)[24]

Selected publications

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  • Baeke, Viviane. Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa: A Book and Catalogue. Edited by Marc Leo Felix. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2018. ISBN 978-0-300-23875-4.[25]
  • Felix, Marc Leo. 100 Peoples of Zaire and Their Sculpture: The Handbook. Brussels: Zaire Basin Art History Research Foundation, 1987. OCLC 17515883.
  • Felix, Marc Leo. Mwana Hiti: Life and Art of the Matrilineal Bantu of Tanzania = Mwana Hiti: Leben und Kunst der matrilinearen Bantu von Tansania. Munich: F. Jahn, 1990. OCLC 27677384.
  • Felix, Marc Leo. Kipinga: Throwing-Blades of Central Africa = Kipinga: Wurfklingen aus Zentralafrika. Munich: Verlag F. Jahn, 1991. OCLC 25305117.
  • Felix, Marc Leo. Art & Kongos: Kongos du Nord. Brussels: Zaire Basin Art History Research Center, 1995. OCLC 553593180.
  • Jens Jahn (ed.). Tanzania: Masterpieces of African Sculpture. Munich: Fred Jahn, 1994, pp. 31–74. ISBN 10: 3886451186 / ISBN 13: 978-3886451180. WorldCat record

References

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  1. ^ "Marc L. Felix". Musical Instrument Museum. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  2. ^ "Marc L. Felix". Musical Instrument Museum. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  3. ^ "Marc L. Felix". Musical Instrument Museum. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  4. ^ "Hombre blanco, corazón negro", Tendencias del Arte, June 2014.
  5. ^ "The Stories of the Masks". Richmond Magazine. 11 December 2018. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  6. ^ "Dogon Figure". JSTOR. Yale University Art Gallery. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  7. ^ "Kneeling Figure Holding a Drum". Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  8. ^ Green, Elliot (15 November 2021). "An Investigation into African Art Objects at UMMA: What We've Found So Far". University of Michigan Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  9. ^ "Search results for "Marc Leo Felix"". Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Retrieved 4 September 2025.
  10. ^ "Marc L. Felix". Musical Instrument Museum. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  11. ^ "VMFA exhibit explores Congo masks from the 17th to 20th centuries". Style Weekly. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  12. ^ "People's Atlas of Africa". ArcGIS WorldMap. Esri. Retrieved 15 September 2025.
  13. ^ "Marc L. Felix". Musical Instrument Museum. Retrieved 2025-09-14.
  14. ^ See Felix in Jens Jahn (ed.), 1994, pp. 31–74
  15. ^ "Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa". Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  16. ^ Exposition exceptionnelle sur les arts africains au Wall House, Le Journal de Saint-Barth, 17 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Masks of Central Africa – a traveling exhibition". Duende Art Projects. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  18. ^ "The Art of the Kingdom of Kongo Exhibition". Guangdong Museum of Art. Retrieved 2025-09-03.
  19. ^ "Masks of Central Africa – a traveling exhibition". Duende Art Projects. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  20. ^ Jens Jahn (ed.), 1994
  21. ^ "Masks of Central Africa – a traveling exhibition". Duende Art Projects. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  22. ^ "Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa". Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Retrieved 2025-09-02.
  23. ^ Trimble, Lynn (November 19, 2019). "New MIM Exhibit Pairs Music With Masks in Phoenix". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  24. ^ Exposition exceptionnelle sur les arts africains au Wall House, Le Journal de Saint-Barth, 17 March 2022.
  25. ^ Felix, Marc Leo; Baeke, Viviane (2018). Marc Leo Felix (ed.). Congo Masks: Masterpieces from Central Africa: A Book and Catalogue. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. ISBN 9780300238754. OCLC 1029880009. Retrieved 2025-09-03.


Category:African art Category:Research institutes in Belgium Category:Brussels