Kivuthi Mbuno (Kenyan, born 1947)
Kamba Hunters, 2011
signed ‘Kivuthi Mbuno’ (lower right)
acrylic on canvas
145 x 199cm
Ksh 550,000–650,000
US$ 6,250–7,390
Bought in
Provenance: Private Collection, acquired in 2011 direct from artist
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.