Geoffrey Mukasa (Ugandan, 1954–2009)
Lady in Green, before 2006
signed ‘Mukasa’ (centre left)
mixed media on paper
60 x 45cm
Ksh 250,000–300,000
US$ 2,840–3,410
Sold Ksh 563,520
Provenance: Acquired direct from the Estate by Red Hill Art Gallery
Mukasa spent part of his childhood in the King’s palace in Buganda and left during the time of Idi Amin to study at Lucknow College of Arts and Crafts, India. This was a period when experimentation in formal content and subject mattered. Informed by both Indian and European aesthetics, Mukasa flourished. He was deeply influenced by celebrated Indian artist, M.F. Hussain and when he returned to Uganda had developed a style that was distinctly different from that of his peers from Makerere School of Fine Art: his works retained a raw energy and luminosity. A concise draughtsman, Mukasa’s deeply symbolic work frequently focuses on man’s relationship with the environment and the interaction between humans, flora, and fauna.
His work is widely collected, and frequently exhibited, both in Uganda and internationally. Publications include the recent – ‘Mukasa Geoffrey – the artist’s life in Uganda’, AKA Gallery Kampala/Uganda published by Maria Fischer, Rose Kirumira, Paul Lubowa and Josephine Mukasa (2011).