Two works by late Tanzanian painter Msangi go on sale in Nairobi on 28 October

Two works by Kiure Francis Msangi, a Tanzanian painter, printmaker, graphic designer, illustrator, calligrapher and educator who taught at Kenyatta University from 1986 until his death in 2003, go on sale in Nairobi on 28 October. A retrospective of his work closed at Circle Art Gallery on 10 October.

Lot 21 is “My First Wife” (1987), estimated at KSh 900,000 to KSh 1.5 million (US$7,000 to US$11,800). Lot 22 is “Mt Kilimanjaro at Dawn”, edition 13/197, estimated at KSh 270,000 to KSh 500,000 (US$2,100 to US$3,900). The estimates and the dollar figures are the organisers’.

Both lots are in Art Auction East Africa, presented by Circle Art in association with Strauss & Co. The organisers name Msangi and Edward Saidi Tingatinga as the Tanzanian highlights of a sale of 67 lots by artists from nine countries, split evenly between modern and contemporary work.

The sale starts at 7pm on 28 October at the gallery on Victoria Square, Riara Road, and is broadcast on the Strauss & Co Invaluable platform. The organisers’ website links a registration and bidding form, and registration enquiries go to [email protected].

The retrospective’s list has an entry titled “Mt Kilimanjaro at Dawn”, also edition 13/197, and one titled “His First Lady (AKA My First Wife)”, dated 1987.

The gallery’s biography traces Msangi back to Mpwapwa Teachers’ College, where he received his early teacher training. He went on to Makerere University in Uganda, won the Trowell Prize and graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Fine Art and a Diploma in Education.

The exhibition’s online list, which has 46 works, reaches back to those years. “Untitled (woman in lesos)”, a charcoal on paper dated 1962, measures 46 by 28 centimetres. “The Twist” is also dated 1962, and a portrait of his wife Grace is dated to the mid-1960s.

Works dated 1967 include “Ujamaa (Arusha Declaration)”, “Women carrying water” and “Untitled (mother and child under the new moon)”. “Ujamaa (Arusha Declaration)” is listed as edition 48/100, and many other entries carry edition numbers.

In the United States he took a BFA in graphic design in 1975 and an MA in art education, with distinction, in 1977, both at the California College of Art and Craft in San Francisco. He earned a Doctor of Education at Stanford University in 1987. Two works in the list are dated 1977: “Implantation of the Soul (Reincarnation)” and “When the Silver Chord Breaks (At Death)”.

Msangi wrote “Art in East Africa” (1972) and “Art Handbook for Schools” (1975) and illustrated the children’s book “Samaki Mdogo Mweusi” (1981). His work was documented in African Arts magazine, and it is held in collections including Stanford University, San Jose State University and that of the late Maya Angelou.

Circle Art Gallery in Lavington, Nairobi, showed “Kiure Francis Msangi: From Makerere to Stanford and the Nairobi Years” from 9 September to 10 October. The gallery said it was “proud to present a major retrospective for Kiure Francis Msangi in Nairobi” on behalf of his family, who would attend the opening. The show spanned more than four decades and brought together paintings, prints, drawings and archival material.

Other titles in the list include “Pounding Maize”, “Braiding”, “Baganda Women”, “Burning the Slums of Nairobi” (about 1970 to 1973), “Karatina Market” (about 1980), “Convent Drive” (1987) and “Making Njohi (in color)” (1990). “Bastion of Apartheid: The Dutch Reformed Church in SA” is dated about 1970 to 1973.

Before the sale, the organisers list an event in Nairobi. “Under the Hammer”, a conversation between Danda Jaroljmek, Director of Art Auction East Africa, and Peter Holmes à Court, is on 22 October from 6pm to 8pm at Afrika House in Hardy. It is by RSVP only, at [email protected].

All the lots are on display at Circle Art Gallery.