conté on paper

Signature details: signed bottom right; inscribed with “Saturn and the fallen Gods”, “’DETHRONED’ or ‘THE FALLEN KINGS’ or ‘KINGS IN A DUNGEON’” on the reverse; accompanied by a Piccadilly Gallery label inscribed with the artist’s name, date, title, and "Godfrey Smith Esq."
Exhibited: Piccadilly Garden, London, African Painters & Sculptors from Johannesburg, 15 June to 10 July 1965.
Literature: Beinart, J. (1965). African Painters & Sculptors from Johannesburg. London: Piccadilly Gallery, illustrated in black and white on p.6. [Exhibition catalogue].

(1)

71 x 114 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Leicestershire, United Kingdom.

Godfrey Smith Esq.

Piccadilly Gallery, London.

Note:

In an email from Louis Maqhubela to Marilyn Martin, curator of the exhibition, A Vigil of Departure – Louis Khehla Maqhubela, A Retrospective 1960-2010, at the Standard Bank Gallery in Johannesburg in 2010, the artist described The Fallen Kings as a depiction of “indigenous figures languishing in a cave, as representing the Rivonia trial group”. [1]

Often referred to as ‘the trial that changed South Africa’, the Rivonia Trial led to the imprisonment of numerous important ANC leaders including Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki and Walter Sisulu. The arrests were a significant blow to the ANC and the struggle for liberation, but they also sparked global attention. Watched by the world, the trial focused scrutiny on South Africa and its oppressive regime, increasing pressure against apartheid from the International Community.

Maqhubela memorialises this historical event in the powerfully expressive The Fallen Kings. After the group was arrested, police held them under the 90-day detention law. The controversial law allowed the state to hold detainees for 90 days without trial. During this time, the public were not entitled to any information and detainees were often kept in appalling and in-humane conditions.

Maqhubela’s tired bodies – confined to a claustrophobic cave – suggest a state of limbo. Their solid figures are weighed down by large heavy limbs, as the men waited – firstly in detention to find out what fate would be imposed upon them and then in prison cells in the many years of incarceration that followed. The Rivonia trialists would remain in prison for over 20 years, the first – Denis Goldberg – only released in 1985 after 22 years.

The Fallen Kings, alternatively titled Dethroned or Kings in a Dungeon is a rare example of a short phase in Maqhubela’s oeuvre from the 1960s. Drawing in conté crayon, works from this period are characterised by densely drawn geometric sculptural forms, reminiscent of the work of fellow South African artist Sydney Kumalo, who was an important influence on Maqhubela. Other notable works from the period include Peter’s Denial (1966) which won the Adler Fielding Gallery’s annual Artists of Fame and Promise Award in 1966 (judges were Walter Battiss, Esmé Berman and Nel Erasmus), Wood Collectors (1965) – selected for an exhibition of African art at the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1965 and Exiled King. Exhibited alongside The Fallen Kings at the Piccadilly Gallery, London in 1965. Exiled King was sold by Aspire Art in the company’s inaugural Cape Town auction in March 2017. Achieving R341 400, this remains a world record at auction for the artist.

Sarah Sinisi

[1] Email from the artist to Marilyn Martin, 12 January 2017.