Larry (Laurence Vincent) Scully (South African, 1922-2002) ‘Nkosi Sikele
Provenance : [Timeline chronologique]
1998-01-01 | Acquired directly from the artist by the current owner, 1998
[Propriété non datée]
- Larry Scully›s art has been informed by many cultural influences
- His artistic ability was soon recognised
- When the Second World War broke out in 1939, Scully was employed as a draftsman in the South African Permanent Forces
- Following the end of the war, he obtained a grant to study at the University of Witwatersrand, where he met fellow artists, Cecil Skotnes and Christo Coetzee
- In the late 1940s, Scully took up a teaching position at the Polly Street Art Centre in Johannesburg, the first institution to offer art education to black students
- In the 1970s, he was appointed to head a committee organising the Johannesburg Biennale
- However, when ordered by the South African government to exhibit only white artists, he resigned from the post
- Nkosi Sikelel› iAfrika was completed in 1998
- It celebrates a new South Africa, unified under the leadership of Nelson Mandela
- Nkosi Sikelel› iAfrika is a hymn, originally composed by the Xhosa clergyman, Enoch Sontonga in 1897
- It became the anthem of the ANC, and an important symbol of the anti-Apartheid movement
- As such, it was banned by the regime until the ANC came to power in 1994
- Scully described the motivations behind the work thus: Painting is for me visual music and visual thinking
- My inspiration comes from the colours, textures and forms and light of Africa, and is a continuing search for unity out of diversity
- Nkosi Sikelel› iAfrika was originally intended to hang in the Head Office of South African Airways in Johannesburg
- However, Scully was persuaded to sell it to the current owners instead, as they were so captivated by the work
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