Thomas Mukarobgwa (1924–1999) was a

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

who worked as a gallery attendant for much of his career. Mukarobgwa was born in

Nyanga Nyanga may mean: *Nyanga Province, of Gabon * Nyanga River, in Gabon and Congo *Nyanga people, an ethnic group from Congo *Nyanga, Zimbabwe, a town *Nyanga District, Zimbabwe *Nyanga National Park in Zimbabwe * Nyanga, Western Cape, a township in S ...

, in the countryside of what was then

Southern Rhodesia Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally kn ...

, and had limited education. He is believed to have taken his first art classes with Ned Paterson at school in Salisbury. With his interest in art piqued he met

Frank McEwen Francis Jack McEwen, OBE (19 April 1907 – 15 January 1994) was an English artist, teacher, and museum administrator. He is best remembered today for his efforts to bring attention to the work of Shona artists in Rhodesia, and for helping ...

, the newly appointed director of the

National Gallery of Zimbabwe The National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) is a gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, dedicated to the presentation and conservation of Zimbabwe's contemporary art and visual heritage. The original National Gallery of Rhodesia was designed and directed by ...

. McEwen hired him as a gallery attendant and gave him artistic materials, inviting him to join an art school which was then being formed in the basement of the museum. Mukarobgwa thus became one of the original members of what was to become known as the Workshop School. Mukarobgwa acted as a kind of gatekeeper for McEwen, finding young men to join the workshop who fitted into McEwen's preferred profile. In particular, McEwen preferred to have uneducated, pagans who could act as tabula rasa for his artistic training theories. Mukarobgwa seems to have trained those who did not fit this profile to pretend that they did and cover up various aspects of their backgrounds. Mukarobgwa began his artistic career as a painter, and was one of McEwen's early standouts along with Joseph Ndandarika. He exhibited regularly in the early 1960s, and had four works acquired by

MoMA Moma may refer to: People * Moma Clarke (1869–1958), British journalist * Moma Marković (1912–1992), Serbian politician * Momčilo Rajin (born 1954), Serbian art and music critic, theorist and historian, artist and publisher Places ; Ang ...

in 1962. but turned towards sculpture as this medium took off amongst his peers; he returned to painting only in the early 1990s. One of his sculptural works, called ''Spirit Bird carrying People'' was the 35c value in a set of postage stamps issued on 14 April 1988 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the opening of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

. Mukarobgwa kept working as a gallery attendant until his retirement in 1997. He planned to devote his remaining years to painting at his country house, but he died in

Harare Harare (; formerly Salisbury ) is the capital and most populous city of Zimbabwe. The city proper has an area of 940 km2 (371 mi2) and a population of 2.12 million in the 2012 census and an estimated 3.12 million in its metropolitan ...

before getting the chance. Mukarobgwa's art was inspired by his native landscape and by the legends and culture of the

Shona people The Shona people () are part of the Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population, as well as Mozambique, South Africa, and a worldwide diaspora including global celebriti ...

, from whom he was descended. His compositions were simple, and frequently used bright colors and bold contrasts. His sculptures were generally more rounded and smooth, with minimal carving into their surfaces.

References

Biography
1924 births 1999 deaths People from Manicaland Province 20th-century Zimbabwean sculptors 20th-century Zimbabwean painters {{africa-painter-stub