HARGREAVES NTUKWANA OIL AND INK ON PAPER FRAMED

Hargreaves Ntukwana was born at Crown mines on June 17, 1938.  He went to school locally - and then disappointed his father, a mine clerk, by rejecting medicine as a career and instead studying fine art and music. He worked as a messenger and clerk to pay for his tuition in fine art.  He studied with Cecil Scotties at the African School of Art in Harare and privately at the Artists' Colony in Toledo, Spain under the master Costa Lidas who died at the age of 100 in 1979.  He also lectured on South African art both in Africa and in the USA.  He was the first black artist to attend the Alder Fielding Gallery in Johannesburg.. Hargreaves started his artistic career in music, playing tenor sax and piano but never felt comfortable. The fast life was not for him so he sold his instrument and began painting.  He filled his paintings with glorious rich colors of Africa in a style unique and contemporary.  

Hargreaves first gained recognition for his art when he designed a cover for the album "Dollar Brand Underground in Africa."  He went on to design for Letta Mbulu's record company, and also painted the designs for the costumes of the cast of the multiracial show "Black and White is Beautiful" which toured overseas with Welcome Msomi.