Lot 29 – 2014

Francis Nnaggenda (Ugandan, 1936)
Mother and Child, 2002
Unsigned
Wood
79 x 35 x 50cm (including base)
Ksh 710,000-800,000
US$ 8,000-9,000
Sold Ksh 833,540

Provenance: Max Rohrer Collection

Francis Nnaggenda was raised in Buganda, central Uganda. During the era of Idi Amin, he went into exile and studied art in Germany and France. He is a former head of the Department of Sculpture at Makerere University and attended Freibourg University in Switzerland and Bayerische Akademie der Schonen Kunste in Germany.

In 1968, he moved to Kenya where he taught art at the University of Nairobi. During this time he met Joseph Murumbi, Kenya’s second vice president who was an admirer of his artwork and one of his first collectors. Nnaggenda sculpture ‘Mother and Child’ is a landmark outside the Nairobi National Museum.

Nnaggenda is recognised as one of the most important artists of his generation in East Africa, his expressionistic work, especially sculptures, have drawn considerable acclaim. He is still practicing at 74 and is one of the selected artists of KLA ART 014, Kampala Contemporary Art Festival 2014.