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| The Early Pioneer Artists of South Africa | |||||
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George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba ( 1912 - 2001 ) |
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| 11 March 2001 by Andries Loots | |||||
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Pemba was a passionate man who
lived for art and
his fellow men. When he started his long struggle in 1931 to become an
artist, it was against all odds as it was unlikely that any black
person could become a full time artist and yet it is here that he
achieved his fame. In 1944 he made a statement, "I do not know if
ever I will become a great artist........ ?"
Pemba however believed in himself and although nearly too late, it shows now in the prices people are prepared to pay for his work, now in high demand. He is now regarded as one of South Africa's greatest pioneering artists. His work is rich in colour, balance, perspective and there is always a harmonious arrangement of these elements. His work reflects his honesty, integrity and sincerity. He was not only a painter and illustrator of various books locally and internationally but also wrote two plays of which the most famous " Nonquase ", was based on a H.E. Dhlomo's play of a girl who had to kill to save her nation. He did a series of paintings to illustrate this story a few years after the play was completed. Pemba's main source of inspiration comes from the people from both the rural and the township areas that he captures in his paintings. He lived in Motherwell outside Port Elizabeth confined to a wheelchair and at last enjoyed the admiration that the people now show for his work. |
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Exhibitions : Represented: |
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Images
of Man, Contemporary South African Black Art and Artists,
Fort Hare University Press, E.J. De Jager, ISBN.
1-86810-015-4 Pemba, Retrospective Exhibition, South African National Gallery, SANG ISBN 1-874817-14-6 George Pemba, Painter of the People, Barry Feinberg, ISBN 1-874932-37-9 Land and
Lives, The story of early black artists, Human &
Rossouw, Elza Mils, ISBN 0798136588 |
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