The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize 2022 Benefit Auction | Hosted by Sotheby’s

Henry Mzili Mujunga

Red Blanket and Devine

Lot Closed

February 22, 05:04 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Henry Mzili Mujunga

Ugandan

b.1971

Red Blanket and Devine

signed and dated 2020 (lower right)

oil on canvas

120 by 100cm., 47¼ by 39¼in.

Please be aware of the Conditions of Sale when bidding. As a benefit auction, there is no buyer’s premium charged. The only additional costs due to the winning bidder are applicable sales tax and shipping. Works auctioned are sold “as is,” and condition reports are included with lot descriptions as available. In-person previews of the auction artwork will be available at Norval Foundation at 4 Steenberg Rd, Tokai, Cape Town, 7945, South Africa from 26 January – 22 February, Monday to Sundays 9 AM – 5:00 PM (Closed on Tuesdays). Please note that while this auction is hosted on Sothebys.com, it is being administered by Norval Foundation (“the museum”), and all post-sale matters (inclusive of invoicing and property pickup/shipment) will be handled by the museum. As such, Sotheby’s will share the contact details for the winning bidders with the museum so that they may be in touch directly post-sale.

This work has been kindly donated by the artist

Henry Mujunga ‘Mzili’ (b. 1971, Uganda) is an artist whose works reference his immediate environment. Fascinated by mundane human scenes and by the delicacy of plants and flowers he establishes intimate connection with his subjects. Family is currently one of the most common motifs in his paintings, where he creates scenarios of heroism – the intimate and every-day kind of heroism which brings to light human strength and empathy.

Red Blanket and Devine is a contemplation of our present in relation to the past. It shows a woman joyfully playing a West African talking drum as she is lying down on a blanket. An ancestral sculpture to the left of the figure represents the past; a mask/net covering her face represents the present. The figure can be interpreted as the medium playing the talking drum as a means to communicate between the past and the present.