Godfrey Ndaba (Born 1947) South African, Family Portrait Mixed Media on Paper. Pastels and ink depict a mother, a father, and the young baby they cradle in their arms together. Signed and dated '81 bottom left. Framed. 

Condition: Sun damage on the paper indicates it has been reframed at some point. Commensurate with age. 

Overall Size: 21 1/4 x 30 in. 

Sight Size: 13 x 23 in. 

Godfrey Sipho Ndaba was born in 1947 in Soweto, Johannesburg in South Africa. At an early age painting became an obsession for him, and he made portraits of all his family and friends. In his early teens he began to explore sculpture, digging his own clay out of the river near his home. Twice a week after primary school he would study at the Jubilee Art Centre, taught by artists like Cecil Skotness and Sidney Khumalo. After completing a teacher’s course he went on to study at the Ndaleni Art School in Kwazulu-Natal. His first major success was for a prize-winning sculpture entered in a competition at Fort Hare University, which is now kept on permanent display in their museum. He began to divide his time between there and his home studio in Johannesburg, and by the 1980s he was regarded as one of the best South African artists of his generation, passing his techniques on to thousands of students. Although he is less known outside of Africa, this is primarily because he has devoted his life to promoting homegrown artists, particularly nurturing those in his home town. Nevertheless he has found success as part of group exhibitions in Israel, Germany, Greece, and the United States, particularly after his first solo world tour in 1972. One of his biggest collectors was Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa from 1999 to 2008, who has supported numerous showings of his work since 2005.

Sun damage on the paper indicates it has been reframed at some point. Commensurate with age.