Princess of the Dawn

It seems like everything is pretty straightforward in this painting. Day and night, life and death, but there is something deeper: for the Mitsogo people, red symbolizes Good while black, on the other hand, symbolizes Evil. That’s what the guide in Libreville said. I made a post earlier about a “Pravy Sektor” mask from Gabon. Red and black coloring together symbolizes a fight between Good and Evil in which Good is victorious: we see this with the presence of white coloring. That’s why the Mitsogo people whiten their masks. So, what was Sam trying to say with this work?

I didn’t get the chance to ask him. Do we perhaps see a princess of his on the canvas – one who is kinder to him at night than she is during the day?

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