Lot 36

Kivuthi Mbuno

Kenyan, born 1947

Kamba Hunters, 2011

signed ‘Kivuthi Mbuno’ (lower right)

acrylic on canvas

145 x 199cm

KES 550,000 – 650,000

USD 6,250 – 7,390

Provenance: Private Collection, acquired in 2011 direct from artist

Bought in

Prior to becoming an artist, Mbuno worked as a cook in the safari industry in Kenya, which led him to travel into the interior of both Kenya and Tanzania exposing him to nature and the wildlife living there. These long treks, and his memories of the traditional life of his Wakamba ethnic group, are the inspiration for his paintings. His distinctive style using ink, color pencils, pastels, and more recently acrylic, leads the viewer into a fantastical natural world, sometimes hostile, sometimes harmonious.

Mbuno has exhibited widely, in museums and private galleries across Europe including the Saatchi Collection in London and the Center for African Art in New York.