Curatorial notes
George Pemba painted this portrait of a Xhosa woman smoking a pipe in 1945, and it's like he mixed his colours straight from the earth. There’s a real warmth in the painting, from the sun-baked background to the woman’s weathered face. The brushwork is loose and expressive, giving the whole piece a lively feel. Look at how the light catches the folds of her blue headscarf, each stroke feels like a discovery. Pemba wasn’t trying to hide the process; he wanted you to see how the painting came to be. I love the way he's captured the texture of her skin, the way it seems to tell a story. It reminds me a little of Alice Neel, with that same unflinching honesty and empathy. Painting’s a bit like that, isn’t it? An ongoing conversation, each artist responding to those who came before, finding new ways to see the world.
