Zimbabwe, 1947
7 3/4 x 6 3/4 top
9 3/4 x 7 1/2 bottom
14 1/2 x 12 5/8 frame
ink and watercolor on paper

Two drawings produced by students at the Cyrene Mission School, founded by Scottish clergyman Edward Paterson in 1940, within Southern Rhodesia, the former British occupied territory ruled by a White settler minority. Art practice was encouraged, though under faulty White savior pretexts, and the school eventually became a destination for aspiring young artists from around Africa.

As international recognition for the work being produced by the students of Cyrene, several traveling exhibitions were mounted between 1949 and 1953. Following the exhibitions, the works were placed in storage and resurfaced in 1978 when they were acquired by the Belvedere Trust, who has since shown them in London as part of a show titled "The Stars are Bright," which traveled to Zimbabwe in 2022.

Attempts have been made to repatriate these works via donation without response.

Both signed to recto. One with typed annotation to verso [this watercolour drawing was made by an African schoolboy at Cyrene, Southern Rhodesia. 1949. The name of the boy is ...]. Other with stamp to verso [CYRENE BAG P. 130 BULAWAYO] and hand annotations.

Good overall; not inspected out of frame. Catalog Projects encourages bidders to request complete condition reports via email, info@catalogprojects.com. Notes provided here may be incomplete.