Review 2011

George Pemba A Portrait of a Young Man signed; inscribed with the title on the reverse, as well as on a label on the reverse oil on canvas 34 by 29cm Sold R 467 880, May 2011 Pemba has created an astonishing portrait that is full of ambiguity. It is this degree of complexity in a painting that has made Pemba the celebrated artist that he is today. Ivor Powell ( ‘Art by Remote Control’ Vryeweekblad , 3 July, 1992, page 35 ) describes the ‘poignant humanity’ of his earlier works and ascribes this intensity to the artist’s admiration for life in both its simpler events and its more significant moments. Emma Bedford, Senior Paintings Specialist, Strauss & Co 42