Simon Mpata (Tanzanian, 1940-1982)
Untitled (Hairdressing Day), undated
Signed ‘S.G. Mpata’ (lower left)
Enamel paint on board
64 x 64 cm
Ksh 264,000-308,000
(US$ 2,400-2,800)
Sold Ksh 258,280
Provenance: private collection of the Emerson Foundation, Zanzibar
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.