Lot 20 Gakunju Kaigwa
Lot 20 Gakunju Kaigwa
Gakunju Kaigwa (Kenyan, born 1958)
Bust, circa 1998
Signed ‘Kaigwa’ (back right of sculpture)
Vermont marble
48 x 32 x 20 cm
Ksh 600,000-800,000
(US$ 5,610-7,480)
Sold Ksh 704,400
Provenance: private collection of Marc van Rampelberg
Gakunju Kaigwa is an established Kenyan sculptor who has become known for his masterful handling of material, eloquently working in wood, glass, steel, bronze, granite and marble.
Kaigwa graduated from Kenyatta University, Nairobi with a BEd in Fine Art. He received a scholarship in 1988 to go to Italy to study Art in Carrara, a town world-famous for its high quality marble stone. In 1993 he completed an MFA in Public Art from the University of Dundee. He was then accepted by the Apprenticeship Programme at the Johnson Atelier Technical Institute of Sculpture in New Jersey, where he worked in the foundry and learnt to cast metal.
Working in the USA for several years, and attending numerous international workshops, Kaigwa returned to Kenya in 2003 and took a studio at Kuona Trust Centre for Visual Arts from where he works on public and private commissions.
Whilst in the USA, Kaigwa sourced the piece of marble from which he carved Bust, beautifully expressing human emotion.