UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND, JOHANNESBURG

WAM - Sekoto Collection

The Sekoto Collection

Gerard Sekoto, considered to be one of the pioneers of modern South African art, left South Africa in the 1947. He spent the rest of his life in self-imposed exile, mostly in Paris, where he died in 1993. This major collection of over 300 drawings and sketches was produced by the artist between the 1940s and 1980s. The collection includes drawings from South Africa, Senegal and Paris, and encompasses preparatory studies for artworks, portraiture, genre and figure studies and street scenes.

It was purchased and repatriated from France by the Sowetan Newspaper and has been housed at Wits University since 1989. In 2010 the collection was formally donated to WAM.

Gerard Sekoto, South Africa, Black Hair, Charcoal on paper, 1949, The Sekoto Collection