Sow spent most of his adult life between Dakar and Paris, where he first moved when he was 22.

Famed for his monumental sculptors of Nubian wrestlers, he produced a series of striking bronzes of muscular African men.

The series included “The Massai”, “The Zulus” and “The Fulani” and were widely exhibited in France and at the prestigious Documenta festival in Germany as well as in Venice Biennale.Sow also sculpted the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela as a goalkeeper, an image of which he said “he extends his hand to keep corrupt African heads of state at bay”.

Born in Dakar in 1935, the former physiotherapist, only began working seriously as an artist at the age of 50.

Although he sculpted imposing creations, he is said to have done that without the use of a model.

He became the first African to be admitted to the French Academy of Fine Arts.

For the full story, go to http://www.africanews.com/2016/12/01/famed-senegalese-sculptor-ousmane-sow-dead-at-81/Senegal