Lever de Lune is a quiet homage to Grand-Bassam, the former colonial capital of Ivory Coast - the town where artist Mansan once lived, before his journey led him to the Netherlands.
Part of the evocative series Magic Bassam, this work does not seek to document, but to summon. Grand-Bassam is portrayed not as a place frozen in time, but as a living memory - a space where ghosts and stories still linger in the humid air, and where beauty coexists with quiet decay.
It is a city that opens itself only to the romantics, those sensitive enough to feel its soft melancholy. In Lever de Lune, we sense this delicate tension - the grace of a place both fading and eternal, where tenderness grows in the cracks of chaos.
Here, moonrise is not just a moment - it is a memory taking shape, a light returning to the ruins of feeling.
Originally created: 2021
Subject: Feminine Poise, Black Womanhood, Cultural Identity, Nostalgia, Symbolism, Stillness
Material: Canvas
Medium: Oil
Styles: Realism, Romanticism, Figurative, Cinematic
