Dumile Feni (South Africa 1939-1991)
Untitled (Toiling Couple)

charcoal and pastel on paper

Literature: Dube, P. M. (2011). 'Dumile Feni: The Story of a Great Artist (Volume 1)', Johannesburg: Real African Publishers, illustrated on p.14.
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(1)

176 x 100 cm; framed size: 192 x 113 x 5 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

Grosvenor Gallery, London.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

In this large-scale charcoal drawing, two gaunt figures stand over furrowed earth, their bodies rendered in Dumile Feni’s signature bold, gestural line and stark chiaroscuro. The scene of humble labour speaks powerfully to shared hardship and quiet endurance. By working in unison, the couple evoke companionship and mutual resilience, as if literally building (or planting) a common future from the ground up.

Feni’s oeuvre is renowned for confronting suffering with unflinching dignity and empathy. Often called the ‘Goya of the townships,’ he drew inspiration from the raw material of Black life in apartheid-era Soweto, creating hauntingly expressive works. Yet, as seen in Toiling Couple, he also captured moments of humanity and strength amid adversity.

This motif of collective endurance lends the drawing a quiet, hopeful tone: the furrow they dug became a metaphorical bond, tethering them to a shared vision of survival and solidarity. The drawing reminds of Jean-François Millet’s etching The Gleaners, created in 1855 shortly after the French Revolution, which dignified the humble labour of the rural poor. Millet’s sympathetic portrayal was scorned by the ruling and upper classes for its sympathetic focus on workers. Similarly, Feni’s – rooted in South African soil – are joined by shared toil, embodying the grace and gravity of subsistence work.

Jean-François Millet, The Gleaners (1855). Collection: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

A fearless honesty infuses the drawing. Rendered in charcoal and conté, it exemplifies Feni’s austere expressionism. His draftsmanship is intense and uncompromising. Lines are loose yet tensile, figures built from vigorous, looping strokes that exaggerate and contort human form to heighten emotional resonance.

Though the bodies are distorted, they radiate empathy and compassion in equal measure. As with Goya, there is a raw humanity at play, filtered here through the lens of South African struggle. The couple’s shared labour becomes a symbol of mutual support under oppression, an analogy for endurance, hope, and the will to persist together.

Stylistically, Toiling Couple dates from a pivotal moment in Feni’s life. In 1967–68, he lived in Johannesburg under the care of fellow artist Bill Ainslie, awaiting a passport to leave South Africa. It was a paradoxically productive period. He represented South Africa at the São Paulo Biennale and Expo ’67, yet lived under constant threat from the regime’s repressive pass laws. Ainslie later noted that some of Feni’s finest drawings were made during this turbulent time.

By late 1968, mounting political pressure forced Feni into self-imposed exile. Toiling Couple stands at the threshold of that departure ­– both a culmination of his South African period and an emotional farewell. With its emotional intensity and potent symbolism, the drawing captures a moment of profound transition, making it a key milestone in Feni’s career.

Drawings of this kind are exceptionally scarce in South African private and public collections. Many of Feni’s works from the late 1960s were taken abroad when he left for London. Toiling Couple, one of the few known works from this pivotal period to have been repatriated, stands as a rare and significant testament to Feni’s pre-exile vision.

Marelize van Zyl

COLLECTOR'S NOTE

• Accompanied by a Grosvenor Gallery Certificate of Authenticity.

COLLECTIONS:

The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably Johannesburg Art Gallery; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Javett Art Centre, Pretoria; Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein; Museum of Modern Art, Oxford and the South African Department of Arts and Culture.