Lot 53: Peter Elungat (Kenyan, born 1978) 'Weeping in the Mist'

Peter Elungat (Kenyan, born 1978)
'Weeping in the Mist'
signed and dated 'Peter S. Elungat/ 2000' (lower right)
oil on canvas
94.5 x 59cm (37 3/16 x 23 1/4in).
Footnotes

Provenance
Purchased by the current owner in 2001, Nairobi.


Born in Teso, Western Kenya in 1978, Peter Elungat was the eighth of twelve children. He received no formal artistic training; his older brother acted as his mentor, encouraging him to sketch scenes of village life and the surrounding landscape.

The present lot, Weeping in the Mist, draws on central themes in the artist's oeuvre: his muse Angelina, and his love of music. Angelina stands at the centre of the canvas holding a strange, stringed instrument. She inclines her head in sympathy with the music. Her long, flowing hair and billowing skirt echo the curve of her bow.

The shimmering golden background and disregard for anatomical proportions lend the work a mystical, medieval quality. In Elungat's work, women and Angelina in particular, symbolise purity and spiritual receptivity. The choice of palette is also of symbolic significance; blue and black represent hardship and suffering, whilst brown and white represent rebirth.

The artist is himself an adept flautist and singer. He wrote the following verses to accompany the painting:

WEEPING IN THE MIST
I saw her, and she smiled,
She is a violin, and she sang,
I also saw it, covered in the mist,
O, I hate to be hatched,
And the bird wept.

Humans communicating with nature: birds, insects and environment.
I saw red tears, the brilliant crimson,
It turned green, and then to white,
But the woman sang
A song of a loved one,
And the birds wept.

Hmmm, I heard a voice,
It was sad, from the spiral bird.
The eyes were dull, trying to smile.
I tried to smile, but all in vain,
And again, the bird wept.