Lot 33

George Lilanga (Tanzanian, 1934 – 2005)
Untitled, 2002 – 2005
Signed ‘Lilanga’ (lower middle)
Enamel on canvas
140 x 187 cm
Ksh 330,000 – 450,000
(US$) 2,900 – 3,900
Provenance: Acquired by the current owner from the artist himself, there is an accompanying photograph of him and the artist in front of the painting.
Sold Ksh 880,500

George Lilanga is one of Tanzania’s best-known artists internationally. He fused influences from traditional Makonde carving with surreal, modern observations to create his much celebrated, idiosyncratic sculptures and paintings.
Lilanga began training as a sculptor in 1961, making wood carvings in the traditional Makonde form. He moved to Dar es Salaam in 1970, where he encountered the Tingatinga School, which had a profound effect on his work. In 1979 he participated in a group exhibition of African artists in Washington DC, where the artist Keith Haring saw Lilanga’s paintings and later acknowledged the significant impact this encounter had made on his own work.

Today Lilanga’s work is widely collected, featuring in many important private and institutional collections of African art. This painting was bought by the current owner from the artist and there is an accompanying photograph of Lilanga in front of his painting.

The painting has been cleaned but there is some craquelure on the surface of the work.