George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba; South African 1912-2001; The Dice Players
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Notes : George Pemba met fellow artist Gerard Sekoto, circa 1942, who encouraged him to abandon his watercolour medium for oil and turn his attention to drawing on life in the 'locations' as inspiration.1 The present lot is an example of this uniquely South African genre. Throughout his illustrious career, Pemba created numerous compositional variations of dice players. This early and intimate example, painted a year after Clean Up (lot 125) in 1961, features three young men engrossed in intense concentration. The subject clearly resonated with the artist; as a game of chance, dice serve as a poignant allegory for the unpredictable nature of fortune and life, highlighting how luck only favours some. The gesture of the young man in the striking turquoise shirt, with active arm and hand, poised to release the die, propels this narrative and draws us into the game's atmosphere. Working in a style of Social Realism, Pemba tenderly captured the everyday moments within his community of New Brighton, infusing them with dignity and depth. 1. Jacqueline Nolte (1996) 'Sources and Style in the Oil Paintings of George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba' in Hayden Proud and Barry Feinberg (eds), George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba: Exhibition, Cape Town, South African National Gallery, 27.4.-28.7.1996, Cape Town: South African National Gallery, exhibition catalogue, page 35.
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