Gerard Sekoto, Man At A Desk ,c.1945
Provenance : Mr. J. Kilian
Exhibited : Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, Gerard Sekoto: Unreserved ties, 1 November 1989 to 10 February 1990
Literature : Spiro, L. (1989). Gerard Sekoto: Unreserved ties. Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery, illustrated in colour on p.80.
Notes : This intimate portrayal by Gerard Sekoto of a man at his desk carries notable compositional similarities to post-impressionist Vincent Van Gogh’s The Bedroom (also affectionately known as Bedroom in Arles) from 1888. Sekoto himself had been shown copies of the great Dutch painter’s works in the 1930s whilst teaching at the Khaiso Secondary School. His colleague, the artist Ernest Mancoba, much admired the works and used them as a comparison for the struggle that both Mancoba and Sekoto faced as black artists in a segregated South Africa. Van Gogh’s bedroom in bright, contrasting colours was created (along with a series of works of the same theme) shortly after the artist’s arrival in Arles in the South of France. Sekoto, in comparison, painted this more subdued interior scene upon his arrival in Eastwood, Pretoria, where he resided with his mother and stepfather in the years prior to his self-exile to Paris. Unbeknownst to Sekoto, just years after his depiction of this humble bedroom in Eastwood, the suburb would fall victim to forced removals, and its population relocated — along with the communities of Sophiatown — to the Ga-Rankuwa township. This private view and sincere depiction of a man quietly working at his desk, gives unique representation to, and intimate insight into a since uprooted community. Today, Pretoria acts as a symbol of South Africa’s democracy, and Eastwood is a suburb populated by embassies and ambassadors—situated less than a kilometre from the Union Buildings, where in 1994 South Africa’s first democratically elected leader Nelson Mandela was inaugurated. LT
Condition_report : The overall condition is fair. This painting has had previous restoration, scratches in areas, paper abrasions in areas, two large creases right portion, card slightly warped and minor paint losses in areas.
