Ephraim Ngatane – A Setting Apart
R1 500.00
Authors: Rory Bester, Natalie Knight, David Koloane
Edited by: Rory Bester, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-620-45433-9
Copyright: © 2009 Blank Books, Johannesburg and Individual Authors
Edition: First edition, Edition of 1000
Cover image: The Begger (1969) by Ephraim Ngatane
Hard Cover with dust jacket, Size 25 x 25 cm, 80 Pages with colour illustrations
Ephraim Ngatane was just 32 years old when he collapsed and died of tuberculosis-related complications at Baragwanath Hospital in March 1971. Yet this student of Polly Street, who became a prolific painter and teacher from the mid-1950s onwards, left an indelible impression on subsequent generations of South African artists. As a personality in the cultural life of Soweto in the 1960s, Ngatane was a man for all seasons, playing the pennywhistle in jazz bands and boxing when not producing his technically innovative watercolours and acutely observed oil paintings of township life. This first comprehensive introduction to Ngatane’s oeuvre offers an intimate reflection on the artist’s tragically short life and showcases more than 80 of his most important works in public and private collections. The works illustrated were all on show at the Standard Bank Gallery in 2010.
