Lot 56

Hussain Shariffe (Sudanese, 1934 – 2005)
Untitled, 1988
Signed ‘Shariffe 88.’ (upper left)
Ink on collaged paper
23.5 x 18 cm
KES 360,000 – 540,000
(US$) 2,800 – 4,300
Provenance: Private collection

Hussein Mamoun Shariffe was a painter, poet and filmmaker. Shariffe was educated at Victoria College, Alexandria in Egypt where he first attempted painting. He began his tertiary education at Cambridge University where he studied Modern History as his father did not support his interest in art. Feeling unfulfilled, Shariffe shifted academically to study Architecture at the University of Sheffield, before attending the Slade School of Fine Arts where he was taught by Lucien Freud. Shariffe held two solo exhibitions in England during this time and was awarded the John Moores prize for Young Artists.

Shariffe returned to Sudan in 1960, where he worked for a while as a lecturer at the School of Fine Arts in Khartoum. This was followed by a time of experimentation, painting and exhibiting. However, Shariffe’s intense connection to his Sudanese roots and desire to reach the masses resulted in his change to focus on filmmaking. Political instability in Sudan eventually resulted in Shariffe settling in Cairo, Egypt, where he spent the last decade of his life where he continued to reflect on his deep Sudanese roots whist pioneering Sudanese modernism through his interdisciplinary works in painting, poetry and filmmaking.

Marking another notable debut in the auction, this delicate work by the Sudanese master carries a personal history, having been given as a gift to the current owner.