Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired at Paa Ya Paa Gallery, c. 1965-68;
A private collection.

Sam Joseph Ntiro is widely recognised today as an icon of the Tanzanian artist landscape. Born in the Kilimanjaro region in the North-West of Tanzania, in a village called Ndereny, he studied at the Makerere College of the University of East Africa. He then studied Art and Education at the University of London before completing a postgraduate degree at the Slade School of Fine Art. Continuing his passion for artistic education, he developed the Department of Music, Arts and Culture at the University of Dar es Salaam where he also served as a Lecturer.

While impactful in artistic education and practise, Ntiro's significance also lies in his political work. He served as the First East African High Commissioner of Saint James in London and as the Ambassador to Ireland from the Tanganyika Territory during the years of independence from 1961 to 1964. From 1967 to 1973, Ntiro served as the Commissioner of Culture for the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania. During this time, he also researched extensively across America in Fine Art and African studies at universities in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Wisconsin.

Thematically, Ntiro's style often explores notions related to identity and social issues. The present work is a splendid example of his landscape scenes that depict a reminiscent view of his childhood environment. This scene likely depicts a village near Kampala or in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania where he was born. Primarily comprised of earth tones, the work's composition is stylised accordingly to contribute to the overall flow of the work. Swirling blue tones portraying a flowing river are also present in the delicately applied leaves of the trees, unifying the work and contributing to a cohesive atmosphere. While simplistic to a degree, it could be concluded that this work also possesses an ethos of Socialist undertones in championing the marginalised and rural communities. Ntiro further sympathised with these ideas in his politics, eventually serving in a position in Tanganyika's Socialist government as Commissioner of Culture after 1967.