Strauss & co - 7 October 2019, Cape Town

222 628 Ephraim Ngatane SOUTH AFRICAN 1938-1971 Composition with Figures and Houses signed and dated ‘69 oil on board 60 by 75cm R80 000 - 120 000 “Ngatane painted township life in all its forms, from its overcrowding living conditions to social entertainment, sports and memorable events. Stylistically, his masterful command of the watercolour medium displays a painterly sense of abstraction which distinguished his work from the descriptive styles of most other so-called township artists (see lot 576). Although Ngatane experimented with different techniques, he only started working predominantly in oils in the mid-1960s. Many of his later oil paintings were composed in a much more abstracted style, where his subject matter became fragmented, often to the point where it disintegrated into purely abstracted shapes and colours, forming its own rhythmic balance.” Michael Stevenson and Joost Bosland (2008) ‘Take your road and travel along’: The advent of the modern black painter in Africa , Cape Town: Michael Stevenson, Michael Graham-Steward & Johans Borman. Page 128.