Lot 39

Sam Ntiro (Tanzanian 1923-1993)
Working in the Fields, circa 1970s
Signed ‘S.J. Ntiro’ (lower right)
Oil on canvas
77 x 155 cm
KES 900,000 – 1,400,000
(US$) 7,000 – 11,000
Provenance: Private collection

Sam Joseph Ntiro was born on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He was educated in a Lutheran mission school, and studied art at Makerere College, University of East Africa, in Kampala, Uganda, under Margaret Trowell where he later taught painting from 1948. Between 1952 and 1955 he furthered his education at the Slade School of Art after being awarded a Colonial and Welfare Fund Scholarship.  During this time, he published his book Desturi za Wachagga (Traditions of the Chagga) in 1953. Sam Ntiro held a debut solo exhibition entitled Paintings of Africa at Piccadilly Gallery in 1955 where he sold over thirty works.
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Ntiro was awarded the Carnegie Travel Grant and spent ten weeks in the United States where he had a solo exhibition at the Merton B.Simpson Gallery in New York. Ntiro’s artwork toured America under the auspices of The American Society, and Nitro’s artworks were purchased by numerous prominent buyers including historian Dr. Horace Mann Bond and the Museum of Modern Art. After graduating from the Slade, Ntiro returned to Uganda and his teaching role at Makerere College, until Tanzania gained independence in 1961. Prime Minister Nyerere appointed Ntiro as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom 1961-1964. Ntiro later taught at Kyambogo Technical Institute in Kampala and the University of Dar Es Salaam where he founded the Department of Music, Arts and Culture. He was then invited by President Nyerere to become Commissioner of Culture for the newly independent Tanzania.

In 1962 Ntiro’s paintings were shown at the Sorsbie Gallery in Nairobi and his artwork is represented in collections worldwide, including in notable collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, Chase Manhattan, Rockefeller, Commonwealth Institute in London, and Stevenson Gallery.

Marking the debut of this celebrated master in the auction, this painting was acquired by a fellow artist in Tanzania and has been unseen by the public for many decades.