Portrait of Three Women,c 1952-5 by artist Gerard Sekoto belongs in a series of paintings of similar subject matter painted by the artist during the early 1950’s.
The South African artist, Gerard Sekoto had left his country of birth, South Africa, at the end of 1947. Sekoto was admitted to St Anne’s Hospital in 1949, due to difficulties in his personal living circumstances. After three months there, he was discharged and with the help of a friend, managed to find more stability, settling into accommodation at No 15 Rue Des Grands Augustins.
This newfound security enabled Sekoto to begin to focus on producing a new body of work, which included imagery of Basotho Women, of which this work in question forms a part. The rounded figures, their attire and headpieces form a musical repetition repeated in the daubs of blues, reds and golden tones, a theme offered with variations in several similar works.
A gradual emotional withdrawal of memories of South Africa is revealed as both time away from ‘home’ and the immediacy of imagery was removed from his recollection.
When in South Africa he created unique works, whereas now living in France he began to develop a system of ‘series’ of subject matter, similar and yet each exploratory, using shape and colour to create his compositions.
