Ephraim Ngatane: Symphony of Soweto

A retrospective exhibition of Ephraim Ngatane's work, will run at the Standard Bank Gallery from 9 February to 13 March 2010.

Cecil Skotnes said that Ngatane "put his thumbprint on the history of South African art". In the course of his short-lived but illustrious career, Ngatane made a marked impression on the art of the 1950s and 1960s, creating artworks that captured the essence of township living and that conveyed emotion and depth.

Ngatane studied under Skotnes at the Polly Street Art Centre from 1952-1954, during which time he developed his unique method. Here he also experimented with different media, from gouache and watercolour to oil paint. Although many artists of that time used the township as their subject matter, what set Ngatane apart was his approach - he used abstract, geometric shapes and a wide spectrum of colour to create compositions that are both aesthetically appealing and emotive.

Through his art Ngatane portrayed life in Soweto: emotions spanning from despair to hope; the soul of the township; its beggars, bicycles and barbershops; and the wind, snow and sun. While his work serves as a narrative of the hardship of living in Soweto, which was overcrowded and impoverished, Ngatane was also concerned with depicting the music, sport and social life of the township.  

The style of Ngatane's work ranges from documentary realism to abstract painting, but is always distinctively his own and focuses on the gritty reality of township life. Ngatane died of tuberculosis in 1971 at almost 33 years of age, but his work remains important to an understanding of South African art and township life under apartheid.

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