George Mnyalaza Milwa Pemba (South African, 1912-2001) Harvesters, a pair 18.5cm (7 5/16in) diameter each
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Notes : The present lot is a rare pair of early oil paintings, most likely executed in the mid-1940s. In 1941, Pemba won a second bursary from the Bantu Welfare Trust, which allowed him to travel to Cape Town and study under Maurice van Essche. During his time in Cape Town, he met John Mohl and Gerard Sekoto, who encouraged the young Pemba to switch from watercolours to oil painting, because they were more saleable. In 1944, Pemba secured a further grant from the Bantu Welfare Trust to tour South Africa:"This loan was intended to enable me to see the beautiful plains and mountains of my own land...I longed to see the Zulus, from whence the Xhosas originated, and the Basutos, the original people...I was proud of being a Bantu artist, of painting the soul of my nation." (the artist, as quoted in Hudleston 1996, p.40)BIBLIOGRAPHY:S. Hudleston, Against all odds: George Pemba: His life and works, (Johannesburg, 1996)
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