Lot 29: Samuel Githui (Kenyan, born 1973) Fruit Vendor, 1999

Samuel Githui (Kenyan, born 1973) Fruit Vendor, 1999 Signed ‘signature’ (lower right) Oil on paper 43 x 34.5 cm

43 x 34.5 cm

Oil on paper

1999

Direct from the artist

Born in 1973, Samuel Githui has been drawing from a young age, since he was about five or six years old. He has always paid close attention to his surroundings, and his impressions of his the spaces, people, and events around him are the material for his artwork. Githui relies on his observation of typical events to investigate societal shifts, politics, and the lives of people working to make their place in a world that does not always work in their favour. This previously unseen autobiographical work was made at the beginning of Githui’s art career. At the time, while an artist at the Kuona Trust Museum Art Studio, Githui was also working as a fruit vendor to supplement his income.