Ernesto Shikhani, (Mozambican , 1934-2010)

Lição de artes (A lesson of art)

Lição de artes (A lesson of art)
signed and dated 'SHIKHANI/ 74' (upper right); numbered 3, signed and titled (verso)
oil on canvas
100 x 50cm (39 3/8 x 19 11/16in).

Provenance
Acquired from the artist in Zambia by Mr Guglielmo Riccitelli, an aircraft technician for Zambia Airways.
Thence by direct descent.

Shikhani was born in the Marracuene District of Maputo Province. He trained under the Portuguese sculptor Lobo Fernades at Núcleo de Arte, an artists cooperative in Maputo.

Following his first solo show in Maputo in 1968, Shikhani was awarded a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon in 1973. The grant enabled the artist to exhibit internationally. However, when his works went on display in Lisbon, their overtly political nature and nationalist sentiment soon attracted the attention of the PIDE (Portuguese International and State Defense Police). The exhibition was shut down and Shikani's works confiscated.

At the time this painting was executed, a ceasefire had just been negotiated been FRELIMO and Portugal, bringing a decade of violence to an end. This was a pivotal moment for the artist, finally freed from the constraints of colonial censorship.