Grard Sekoto belongs to that pantheon of artists who have received too little too late. Today he is regarded – whether accurately or not – as the father of South African painting. Yet his life epitomised the contradictory standards applied to black and white artists during apartheid. Although the source of his art-making was derived from childhood activities, like many of his peers, he received some formal art education, and as an urban artist gained access to modern methods and languages of art-making.
Yet he remained caught in the racial vice that demanded black artists be kept “unspoilt” and separated from their white counterparts, even in exhibition catalogues. In 1947, he paid his own way to Paris. He died in 1993 at the age of 80 – shortly after a major retrospective of his work was held in South Africa – alone, impoverished and in exile.
1913: Sekoto was born on a mission station near Middelburg. There he received his school education and subsequently trained as a teacher in Pietersburg.
1933: he chose his artistic vocation and enrolled in part-time art classes conducted by the Reverend Roger Castle of St Peter’s School in Rosettenville Johannesburg.
1939: He first exhibited in a group exhibition at the Gainsborough Galleries in Johannesburg. His work aroused considerable attention and he was persuaded to submit work to the South African Academy.
1939: Pretoria was introduced to Sekoto’s work when he held his first solo show in that city.
1947: He went into voluntary exile in Paris, with financial assistance from a patron. There, he supported himself playing cocktail piano and guitar. His health suffered and he was hospitalised.
1948 to 1949: He was the only black artist included in the Overseas Exhibition of South African Art. His contribution caught the attention of the European public. His work was purchased by the Guildhall Gallery in Chicago and was featured in a group show in Paris.
1950 to 1962: He became a familiar figure in the bohemian quarter of Paris, participating in group exhibitions and dividing his iconography between portraying the local scene and depicting nostalgic African township images. He held solo exhibitions in Europe and America.
1966: Sekoto exhibited in the First Festival of Negro Arts in Senegal, remaining on in that country for a short while thereafter. From the late 1960s to the early 1980s he regularly exhibited in Europe, re-examining some of the early themes of his South African recollections.
1983: He was severely injured in a bus accident and confined to hospital, where he suffered from depression and was unable to paint.
1984: He moved into an old age home and began painting vigorously again.
1991: He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Wits University, Johannesburg, but refused to return to collect it because he was afraid of being used as a political pawn.
1993: He died in March of that year.
– Hazel Friedman