A rare signed original gouache, framed and ready to hang. Currently on display. Reference SN 1061.
The work was examined by Sekoto specialist Leigh Leyde, a researcher and cataloguer at Strauss Art Auctioneers in South Africa, and authenticated as a work from the artist’s 1970s period. Its handling of the medium is consistent with other works of this time. It is also comparable in style and period to Mother and Child, held by The Gallery at Hayling.
Born in 1913 at Botshabelo, a Lutheran mission station near Middelburg, Sekoto began drawing as a child. His introduction to coloured pencils as a teenager transformed his approach to art. He later produced vibrant paintings of Sophiatown, District Six and Eastwood, recording the cultural activity and tensions of communities whose neighbourhoods were subsequently demolished.
Sekoto moved to Paris in 1947 and never returned to South Africa. His life in France brought fresh inspiration as he revisited earlier subjects and explored new themes, retaining the deep sense of humanity that characterised his work.
Recognition grew towards the end of his life, supported by Barbara Lindop’s research and correspondence with him. Her work helped locate paintings previously thought lost and confirm details of his life before his death in 1993.
Sekoto exhibited widely in South Africa and internationally. His honours included an honorary doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand and recognition as a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in 1989. He was posthumously awarded the Order of the Ikhamanga in 2003.
