Representing over 80 African artists : Posting over 600 original African
paintings : Sold over 2,400 paintings : Online since 1999
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Representing over 80 African artists : Posting over 600 original African
paintings : Sold over 2,400 paintings : Online since 1999 |
One who eats straight from the cooking pot will have heavy rain on his wedding day - Swahili of East Africa superstition Robert Aswani
Left: Robert Aswani with one of his paintings. This photo was taken in Tanzania by a fan and collector of Aswani's paintings. Thanks for the contribution! I asked Aswani to write a small biography to be included in the website and he wrote the following: "I was born in Kenya in 1971, and grew up in a rural part of western Kenya known as Luanda. While growing up as a kid, I loved going to the market just to get the excitement of seeing many people gathered together. After my High School education, I came to Nairobi to live with my aunt. Luckily there was a neighbor who was an artist, so I received my informal lessons in the evenings. This is my best part of my approach to painting, my ability to learn and watch, and translate this onto paper or canvas.
Robert has become a household name in Arusha, Tanzania, and currently makes his home in Nairobi, Kenya. Concerning the paintings on this website: The rural and informal marketplaces that he would visit as a young boy with his mother were an early inspiration for him. "The marketplace is full of life, color, and the closeness of people", says Aswani, "The intermingling of people in these informal places provides me with the excitement to paint". One thing you will always see in Aswani's market scenes is at least one character in white (see detail above left). I asked Robert about this and he laughed saying, "Oh yes, he must be there! He is the life of the scene and all others surround him. I love to paint him the most because he is so easy, he's just space without color!"
Update - 17 October 2007: I have just added these unique as well as serene watercolor and acrylic paintings by Aswani. I actually caught up with him as he was boarding a shuttle from Nairobi to Arusha, TZ, and gave him a list of the paintings that I needed. He sent the paintings back to Nairobi for me through his brother Zak, who is also a talented artist. Though I only saw Aswani for a short time, we communicated often while I was in Nairobi and it was really nice to see him. His paintings are always innovative and set trends among the artists circles in Kenya and across the frontier to Tanzania, where he has set up his own gallery. Below are the six new paintings that I acquired from Aswani, in a style that is proving to be very popular. Note that the long paintings in the middle have a very defined textural element in the sky. I believe Aswani has used a mixture of newsprint and glue (machete) to give the sky a dimensional effect that contrasts highly with the waviness of the oceanscape. This makes fro a fascinating and evocative image that stands alone in paintings from East Africa. Nobody is doing this magic!
21 October 2005 - We were sold out, but now have added several new wonderfully colorful Market Scenes by Aswani. Be sure to scroll throughout the page until the bottom to see all your choices. Thanks! If you are interested in any of these paintings, please write down the artist's name, painting title, and price - and click to go to the Purchasing Form. Or, you can always Make an Offer and see what happens!
13 April 2006 - I have added the paintings below. It's great that Aswani has added to his painting repertoire with some additional styles. The 'dusk' paintings below are incredibly beautiful! Click on the detail (center) to see how textured the dusk paintings are.
The Maasai portrayals below are more a study of color and contrast than actual paintings of the Maasai. Each painting blends wonderfully bold colors with a single character bleeding color to the background. Though they are fairly narrow, the vibrant colors draw the eye from far. They look best seen in numbers as opposed to alone. The edges of some of the paper used in all of these paintings are 'natural'. Please note that because of the color combinations I had a difficult time duplicating these paintings in Photoshop. The colors are similar to the real piece, but some of the blues are actually purples. If you have any doubts about the colors, please ask and I will clarify.
The paintings below are approximately twice the size of those above. Because of this added dimension you get a better feel for space as well as the energy and chaos that pervade markets of this nature. There are more people and activities packed into these paintings, though both sizes reflect the energy and vibrancy of the markets in Africa! These paintings, as all of Aswani's work, are truly interesting and fun to look at; the type of painting that you never tire of admiring.
And finally we come to the end of the market scenes. Wow! There are a lot of them! The paintings below are exceptional! The one on the left is 'poster size' and can easily be the focal point of any room. Imagine this painting framed! The two next to it are also very big and would make a fantastic addition to any room or office - they are wonderful!
The Maasai paintings below are similar to those at the top of this page except larger and a bit more detailed. The background of 'Maasai Pose med1' is exceptional in the abstract touch. Do not be fooled! 'Maasai Pose large' is a very big painting even though the thumbnail looks the same as the others. It is twice the size and this makes it more spectacular! Though these are sold, click on the images below to appreciate the larger picture.
Please see
the Maasai artist Ole Kolii Paul's Inside African Art homepage to learn
more about the Maasai! | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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On
a recent trip to Kenya, I had the good fortune to meet up with Robert Aswani at
the Sarit Center in Nairobi. (see photo,
right)
We had a pleasant lunch at the
new Monsoon Restaurant and discussed his paintings and recent successes in
discovering a new style and medium. After painting wildlife and real-life scenes
to please a mass audience, he is now painting in a style that not only pleases
his own eye, but seems to have found a nice following in Kenya, and especially
in Tanzania where he displays his paintings at a gallery/cafe in Arusha.
Being mostly self-taught, I love to
experiment with many painting styles, but I have settled on watercolor inks for
now. The market scenes are a true reflection of the market places in my rural
home in western Kenya."
