John Takawira (1939-1989) - Shona Princess

\Artist: John Takawira (1939-1989)
Technique: Sculpture sur serpentine\Signature: Hand signed
John Takawira was a Zimbabwean sculptor, part of the first generation of Shona sculptors. His works are exhibited in many museums and collections, including those of Prince Charles of England and the Rockefellers. A pupil of Joram Mariga, he joined the National Gallery School in Salisbury in 1961. Ten years later, he was one of the highlights of the Rodin Museum exhibition in Paris. His style is extremely inventive, powerful and massive. Mostly carving in solid black springstone, he leaves the stone half polished, giving his creatures the unsettling appearance of beings in apparition. Austere, powerful, tense and lyrical, his sculptures of women with oversized necks and torn faces exude a deep mystery.