Ephraim Ngatane: Bridal ceremony - SOLD
Ephraim Ngatane
Bridal ceremony
Watercolour
48,5 x 66,5 cm
Signed bottom right
Sold - 2009
Born Ephraim Mojalefa Ngatane on 22 August 1938, Maseru, Lesotho
Died March 1971 at the age of 33, Soweto, Johannesburg
Ephraim Ngatane’s artistic inspiration came from his daily experience of urban black township life on the Witwatersrand during the 1950’s and 60’s. His paintings are, today, regarded as important documents of social realism, authentically depicting township life during this period.
At the Mooki Memorial College in Orlando, Ngatane’s artistic talent was recognised by his primary school teacher Mrs E.L. Mooki, who convinced his parents to allow him to pursue an artistic career. The loose, free-flowing watercolour technique taught by Cecil Skotnes at the Polly Street Art Centre appealed to Ngatane during his studies there between 1952 and 1954, and he developed an individual approach which stylistically differed from the prevailing tradition of township expressionism.
Ngatane documented township life in all its forms; from the overcrowded living conditions to the social entertainment events like parties and weddings, sports, and memorable occasions like when it snowed in Johannesburg during the 1960’s. As an accomplished jazz alto-saxophonist, he also painted lively music and dance scenes, where his individual abstract style managed to successfully capture the energy and movement. Stylistically, his masterful command of the watercolour medium displays a painterly sense of abstraction which distinguishes his work from the descriptive styles of most other township artists.
Although Ngatane experimented with different techniques, he only started working predominantly in oils by the mid 1960’s. Many of his later oil paintings were composed in a much more abstract style, where his subject matter became fragmented, often to the point where it disintegrated purely into compositions of form and colour, creating its own rhythmic balance. Ngatane’s successful grasp of abstraction and his ability to apply it to his preferred subject matter in watercolour as well as oils, definitely confirms his status as one of the great talents of South African Modernism.
Provenace:
Collection of Mrs. Adeline Pohl – bought from the artist
Illustrated:
Steven Sack (Curator), The Neglected Tradition: Towards a New History of South African Art (1930–1988), Johannesburg, 1988, p76
Lucy Alexander & Evelyn Cohen, 150 South African Paintings – Past and Present, Cape Town, 1990, p 141
Bibliography:
Elza Miles, Polly Street: The Story of an Art Centre, Johannesburg, 2004, p 42 and 94 to 97
Ivor Powell and Hayden Proud (Ed.), Revisions – Expanding the narrative of South African art, Cape Town, 2006, p 154
Johans Borman and Warren Siebrits, Aspects of South African Art 1903 – 1999, Johannesburg, 2001, ref. no’s. 21 and 22
To view the Ephraim Ngatane web page click here
To view the Ephraim Ngatane biography click here