Simon Mpata (Tanzanian, 1940 – 1982)
Untitled (3 Birds), undated
Signed ‘By S.G.MPATA’ (lower right)
Enamel on board
61 x 59 cm
Ksh 270,000 – 330,000
(US$) 2,500 – 3,000
Provenance: Private collection
Sold Ksh 281,760
Simon Mpata is the youngest half-brother of E.S. Tingatinga. Mpata learnt to paint from his brother and is generally viewed as the artist who kept his style the closest to Tingatinga’s. After Tingatinga’s death, Mpata left Tanzania to open a studio in Nairobi where he lived and worked until his death in 1982.
Mpata’s work has been extensively collected and shown in numerous exhibitions worldwide and is considered second in value and technique only to his celebrated mentor and brother.