George Mnyalaza Milwa Pemba (South African, 1912-2001) The Victoria Hospital at Lovedale in the Eastern Cape, with the Hogsback beyond unframed
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Notes : PROVENANCE:Gifted by the artist to Dr Ethel Rolfe, circa 1932-3Gifted by Dr Rolfe to the current owner's father, circa 1970EXHIBITED:Cape Town, South African National Gallery, George Pemba Retrospective, cat. no.8LITERATURE:S. Hudleston, Against All Odds George Pemba: His Life and Works, (Johannesburg, 1996), illustrated p.96In 1931, the young Pemba was studying at the Lovedale Teacher Training College at Alice in the Eastern Cape, when a burst appendix landed him in the Victoria Hospital, where he sketched the doctors, nurses and fellow patients during his long recuperation. On seeing his portrait, one of these patients, a man called Ngcobo, remarked "But I never thought you could draw souls." The drawing of Ngcobo was taken to Ethel Smythe, who taught art at the nearby Fort Hare University. She was so impressed that she offered to teach Pemba for five weeks, and introduced him to the techniques of watercolour painting - his first formal art training. Dr Ethel Rolfe was one of the doctors who treated Pemba at the Victoria Hospital. The artist gifted these watercolours to her as a mark of his appreciation.
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