Lot 51 Sane Wadu
Sane Wadu (Kenyan, born 1954)
When God Met Man, 1989Signed ‘Sane Wadu 89’ (lower right)
Mixed media on canvas
91.2 x 132 cm
Ksh 500,000 – 800,000
(US$) 5,250 – 8,450
Provenance: Direct from the artist
Sold Ksh 528,300
Sane Wadu began painting professionally in the 1980s, having given up his career as a teacher, and became one of Gallery Watatu’s most successful and iconic artists. Over a long and distinguished career, his distinctive, energetic and often humorous paintings have been exhibited worldwide, including in the USA, Germany, South Africa, Japan and the UK, most notably in the seminal exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Seven Stories about Modern Art in Africa in 1995 and its accompanying book. Other publications include Angaza Africa by the African curator at the British Museum, Chris Spring, 2008 and Contemporary African Art by Sydney Kasfir, 2000.
Wadu co-founded the Ngecha Artists’ Association in the 1990s with fellow artists Eunice Wadu, Wanyu Brush and Chain Muhandi, and alongside his artist-wife Eunice continues to support young artists through The Sane Wadu Trust where they teach workshops every weekend from their studio in Naivasha.
Best known for his thickly applied impasto oils on canvas, this is an exceptional work from the 80s.