Lot 20

George Lilanga (Tanzanian, 1934 – 2005)
Nafurahi sana sasa nimepata mke wa pili anae nipenda (I’m happy to have found a second wife who loves me), between 1992-94
Signed ‘Lilanga’ (lower left)
Enamel paint on board
60 x 60 cm
Ksh 200,000 – 280,000
(US$) 1,800 – 2,500
Provenance: Private collection

Sold Ksh 292,750

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 woodcarvings 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 infamous graffiti artist Keith Haring saw his paintings and later acknowledged the significant impact this encounter had made on his work.

Today Lilanga’s work features in many important, private and institutional collections of African art.