Born around 1939 in Yaba, in the Plateaux department (Congo), Marcel Gotène arrived in Brazzaville in 1951 and discovered the École de Poto-Poto, where Pierre Lods opened the studio to him and provided materials without imposing any direction: "Do what you want, what you see." From 1953 onwards, he broke away to follow a solitary path. In 1963, a grant from the French Cooperation enabled him to spend a few months with Jean Lurçat before joining the Académie des Arts Plastiques in Paris, where he learned oil painting.

A second stay in France (1969-1971) took him to the Collège Technique d'Arts Graphiques, from which he graduated in silkscreen printing, and to the École Nationale de la Tapisserie d'Aubusson. He exhibited in Paris thro...