Notes

South African born Gerard Sekoto left his home country in 1947, and settled in Paris where he remained for the rest of his life. He did, however, return to the African continent in 1966 as a participant in the First Festival of Negro Arts, as a guest of Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first President of Senegal. Sekoto very much enjoyed his stay and many of his subsequent works reflected the influence that this visit had on him.

“My looser and freer lines were aroused during my stay in Senegal…but the slow, elegant movement of the people was mostly like that of a fairy tale to me…These are real examples of Senegal women – stately, aristocratic, and tall. They walk as though they have no concern at all with their surroundings”.¹

In this work the Senegalese women are juxtaposed next to the River Seine in Paris, a fusion of two different worlds.

^1. Gerard Sekoto quoted in Barbara Lindop (1995) Sekoto: The Art of Gerard Sekoto, London: Pavillion Books Limited, page 60.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the previous owner.

Alan Inggs, Johannesburg.

Private Collection.