Gerard Sekoto — Portrait of a Man in Blue
Details
Signed lower right “G SEKOTO” in blue pigment.
Sizes:
Artwork: 38.5 × 28 cm | 15.2 × 11 in
This intense and soulful portrait is a significant example of Gerard Sekoto’s work during his long exile in Paris. The subject is rendered with a haunting, statuesque quality, emerging from a deep indigo and obsidian background. Sekoto utilizes a sculptural application of paint, using thick, rhythmic brushstrokes to build the features of the face, which are highlighted with flashes of ochre and white.
The use of a predominantly blue palette imbues the work with a sense of “Blue Note” melancholy, reflecting Sekoto’s dual life as a painter and a jazz musician in the clubs of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The closed eyes and serene expression suggest a moment of deep introspection or spiritual resilience, a recurring theme in Sekoto’s depictions of the human condition. This work captures the transition of his style from the social realism of his South African years (District Six and Sophiatown) to the more atmospheric, psychological abstraction of his European period.
Provenance
Private collection, Paris, France.
Acquired from the above.
Condition Report
Good vintage condition; the work features a heavy, expressive impasto; stable paint layers with minor age-appropriate surface wear; original wooden stretcher.
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Gerard Sekoto
Gerard Sekoto is widely considered the father of modern Black art in South Africa. In 1947, shortly before the formal onset of Apartheid, he left for Paris to seek artistic freedom. There, he became a part of the vibrant Ecole de Paris, living a Bohemian life as both an artist and a pianist.
His work is celebrated for its dignity and profound empathy. Today, Sekoto is a national hero in South Africa, with his works held in the Johannesburg Art Gallery, the South African National Gallery, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art.
