oil on canvas

Artwork date: 1960
Signature details: signed and dated bottom right; inscribed with the artist's name and the title on a Michael Stevenson label on the reverse

(1)

27 x 41 cm; framed size: 45 x 59 x 6 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

Michael Stevenson, Cape Town.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Paris in the late 1940s was a city alive with creativity and possibility, a beacon for artists, writers, and dreamers from around the world. In the winding streets of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Latin Quarter, poets scribbled verses in dimly lit cafés, jazz drifted through smoky bars, and painters, draped in worn coats, traded ideas over late-night drinks. This was la vie bohème [1] – a life both gritty and glamourous, where hardship and inspiration met at every corner. The brasseries, alive with the hum of conversation and clinking of glasses, were sanctuaries for those who found themselves drawn to Paris’ magnetic energy, determined to carve out a space for themselves in its storied streets.[2]

Sekoto playing piano in a café in the Latin Quarter, Paris.

Into this scene stepped Gerard Sekoto, a South African artist in search of freedom and a new beginning. Leaving South Africa on the Carnarvon Castle ship, he arrived in Europe in 1947 with a fervent desire for creative freedom and a yearning to experience life unrestrained by the political shackles back home.[3] As Sekoto said, he longed to be “where a man is free, where a man finds freedom”.[4] He arrived in Paris, a stranger, yet immediately at home among the city’s free-spirited soul.

Robert Doisneau, Brasserie Lipp, Paris, 1949

One of Sekoto's most frequented café-bars in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris.

Though the heights of Bohemian Paris had passed, the area remained steeped in a rebellious, artistic spirit.[5] Sekoto quickly became a familiar figure in the dynamic quarters of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, frequenting iconic spots like Brasserie Lipp and Restaurant Clair de Lune.[6] These vibrant spaces, bustling with artists, intellectuals, and fellow expatriates, offered Sekoto both community and inspiration. He spent his days painting and his nights playing piano, mingling with South African exiles and Parisians alike. His canvases captured the lively warmth of these bar-restaurants, with glowing interiors and intimate gatherings, reflecting Paris as both muse and refuge.

Sekoto and his friends at a café in Paris.

In the Bar (1960) is suffused with rich, moody blue hues and punctuated with delicate touches of yellow that cast a glow over the scene, as if dim lights illuminate figures resting at ease in the soft shadows of a Parisian evening. While the figures are engaged in their own worlds – some gathered in spirited exchange, others absorbed in quiet solitude or passing by with purpose – the scene feels deeply personal. Even after over a decade of living in Paris, Sekoto maintained his keen sense of social observation. The artist’s perspective remains unflinchingly observant, yet tender, as if he has found solace in bearing witness to the swirling stories and the lives unfolding around him. Paris offered him not only artistic freedom, but also a sense of belonging that embraced him as an artist of colour in post-war Europe, liberating Sekoto from the confines of apartheid and allowing him to fully inhabit his identity.

Amy Carrington

^{[1] Manganyi, N.C. (2004). Gerard Sekoto: I am an African. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, p.87.}

^{[2] Ibid, p.89}

^{[3] Stevenson, M. & Bosland, J. (2008). Take your road and travel along: The advent of the modern black painter in Africa. Cape Town: Michael Stevenson, Michael Graham-Smith and Johans Borman, p.54.}

^{[4] Ibid}

^{[5] Manganyi, N.C. (2004). Gerard Sekoto: I am an African. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, p.87.}

^{[6] Ibid, p.106.}

COLLECTOR'S NOTE

• This work, created in 1960, shows Sekoto’s use of blue hues, which would become a defining feature of many of his pieces throughout the sixties, with art historians affectionately terming it his ‘Blue Period’.

• Sekoto currently features in the prestigious, 60th International Art Exhibition, Foreigners Everywhere, at The Venice Biennale, curated by Adriano Pedrosa and running from 20 April to 24 November 2024.

• The Wits Art Museum, in collaboration with the Gerard Sekoto Foundation, celebrated Sekoto’s life and work with a retrospective titled Song for Sekoto 1930-2013, which took place from 24 April – 2 June 2013. This was accompanied by a seminal publication of the same name.

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Municipal Collection of the City of Paris; Gallery Guildhall, Chicago; La Ville de Paris; The Nedbank Art Collection South Africa; The MTN Art Collection, South Africa; The South African Reserve Bank Collection, Johannesburg; The Sanlam Art Collection, Johannesburg; Standard Bank Collection, Johannesburg; Johannesburg Art Gallery; Javett Art Centre, Pretoria; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town and the William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley.