Gerard Sekoto
After graduating as a teacher in 1938, Gerard Sekoto taught at the Khaiso School, an Anglican institution situated near Polokwane (Pietersburg). While there, Ernest Mancoba (1904–2002), a colleague, encouraged Sekoto to go to Paris to further his career as an artist. Mancoba himself left for Paris soon afterwards. However, Sekoto decided to stay for a while longer in South Africa to broaden his experience of the country and to develop himself further as an artist. Interestingly, quite a different point of view was held by another artist represented in the Campbell Smith Collection, John Koenakeefe Mohl (1903–1985), (qv.). Contrary to Mancoba’s advice, Mohl urged Sekoto to stay in South Africa as the country needed black artists ‘who could paint our people, our way of life, our way of living, not speaking in the spirit of apartheid or submission’. Read More…
