Sane Wadu (Kenyan, born 1954)
World Trade Center: New York series, 1988
each painting individually signed ‘Sane Wadu’ lower right
acrylic on paper
65 x 276cm
Ksh 530,000–650,000
US$ 6,025–7,400
Sold Ksh 1,526,200
Provenance: Direct from artist
Sane Wadu gave up his teaching profession in the early 1980s to start painting and was one of Gallery Watatu’s most successful artists and co-founder of the Ngecha Artists’ Association. Considered eccentric by people who knew him as a teacher, he adopted the name Sane as a reaction to their attitude. Wadu is still actively engaged with the Kenyan art scene, supporting young artists through The Sane Wadu Trust alongside his artist wife Eunice. Renowned for his narrative paintings of people and animals in a distinctive, energetic style, Wadu is also an excellent printmaker: he has had solo exhibitions in New York and his work has been shown in the U.S. and Europe. During a visit to New York in 1988, Wadu painted this highly unusual work on paper, inspired by his experience there. The artist has kept this work for 25 years. It is an exceptional piece and although it is being sold as a single entity, it could be displayed as six individual works.