29th Oct, 2025 12:00
Modern & Contemporary African & Middle Eastern Art
17
MALANGATANA NGWENYA (MOZAMBICAN 1936-2011)
WOMEN IN MOTION
signed and dated Malangatana 2003 lower right
ink on paper
24 x 20cm; 9 1/2 x 8in
29.2 x 24.4cm; 11 1/2 x 9 1/2in (framed)
Property of a Private Collector, Kent
Provenance
Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York
Malangatana Valente Ngwenya stands among Mozambique’s most celebrated painters and poets, his vivid compositions fusing myth, memory and social commentary. Born in rural Mozambique, Malangatana’s early life was shaped by his mother—a traditional healer and tattooist—whose practices and symbols would later animate his art with teeth, claws, and metamorphic human forms.
Executed in 2003, Women in Motion distils the dynamism and communal spirit central to his oeuvre. The densely interwoven figures, rendered in urgent, rhythmic linework, evoke both ritual dance and collective resistance. Though created decades after Mozambique’s independence, the work carries the same emotional charge that defined his paintings of the liberation period: the assertion of vitality against struggle. Women in Motion exemplifies Malangatana’s lifelong ability to merge mythology, politics and personal expression into a language of movement and hope.
Sold for £850
WOMEN IN MOTION
signed and dated Malangatana 2003 lower right
ink on paper
24 x 20cm; 9 1/2 x 8in
29.2 x 24.4cm; 11 1/2 x 9 1/2in (framed)
Property of a Private Collector, Kent
Provenance
Contemporary African Art Gallery, New York
Malangatana Valente Ngwenya stands among Mozambique’s most celebrated painters and poets, his vivid compositions fusing myth, memory and social commentary. Born in rural Mozambique, Malangatana’s early life was shaped by his mother—a traditional healer and tattooist—whose practices and symbols would later animate his art with teeth, claws, and metamorphic human forms.
Executed in 2003, Women in Motion distils the dynamism and communal spirit central to his oeuvre. The densely interwoven figures, rendered in urgent, rhythmic linework, evoke both ritual dance and collective resistance. Though created decades after Mozambique’s independence, the work carries the same emotional charge that defined his paintings of the liberation period: the assertion of vitality against struggle. Women in Motion exemplifies Malangatana’s lifelong ability to merge mythology, politics and personal expression into a language of movement and hope.
Auction: Modern & Contemporary African & Middle Eastern Art, 29th Oct, 2025
If you want to start collecting striking modern and contemporary art in a newly developing market, our sales are for you. Each spring and autumn, the Modern and Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Department hold tightly curated, live and online auctions. Expect to find Arab artists such as Tahia Halim, Seif Wanly, Mahmoud Said and Mohanna Durra. African artists featured have ranged from modern masters such as Ablade Glover, Sam Ntiro and Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, to contemporary artists George Lilanga, Jilali Gharbaoui, Famakan Magassa, Christano Mangovo, Oluwole Omofemi, Esther Mahlangu and Brett Seiler.
PUBLIC EXHIBITION:
Sunday 26th October: 12pm to 4pm
Monday 27th October: 10am to 8pm (Drinks 5-8pm)
Tuesday 28th October: 10am to 5pm
