In 1999, crowds of Parisians walked across the Pont des Arts, a footbridge over the Seine, to see an extraordinary exhibition. Dozens of larger-than-life figures stood along the bridge: muscular Nuba wrestlers, Maasai herders, Zulu warriors and scenes from the Battle of Little Bighorn. Their creator was Ousmane Sow, a Senegalese sculptor who had spent most of his working life as a physiotherapist. He only began exhibiting seriously in his fifties, yet he became one of the most celebrated African artists of his time.
Early life and the Nuba series
Sow was born in Dakar in 1935. He moved to France and trained as a physiotherapist, a profession he practised for many years in France and Senegal. His understanding of anatomy and muscles shaped his sculptures, which show the human body with great power. He sculpted privately for years before devoting himself fully to art in the 1980s.
Sow developed his own materials, applying a secret mixture over metal frames and straw to create textured surfaces. His first major series depicted Nuba wrestlers of Sudan, inspired by photographs.
Little Bighorn, Pont des Arts and the Académie
He went on to create series on the Maasai, the Zulu and the Fulani. His series on the Battle of Little Bighorn depicted Native American and US soldiers in dramatic scenes. The 1999 exhibition on the Pont des Arts drew millions of visitors and made him famous in France. Later, some of his works were cast in bronze.
In 2013, he became the first African elected to the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Ousmane Sow died in Dakar in December 2016. His house in Dakar has become a museum of his work.
Scale and photographs
Many of Sow’s figures stand taller than a person, and visitors often describe feeling small beside them. The size gives the sculptures a monumental presence, but the detail of the muscles, faces and gestures draws viewers close. That combination of grandeur and intimacy is part of what made his work so popular with the public.
His Nuba series was inspired by photographs of Nuba wrestlers. He then imagined the figures in three dimensions, using his knowledge of the body. Sow spent decades treating patients’ muscles and joints as a physiotherapist. When he turned to sculpture, the bodies he made were known for their muscles.
