Lukama N’gazu
Modern Green Bar
About the SessionNAIROBI – Following their successful collaboration in 2025, Strauss & Co, Africa’s leading auction house, and Danda Jaroljmek, Director of Art Auction East Africa, will present Art Auction East Africa | Strauss & Co, a 67-lot sale bringing together modern and contemporary art from East Africa and the wider continent. The live-virtual sale will be held at Circle Art Gallery in Nairobi on Wednesday, 28 October, 2026, 7pm EAT. The catalogue spans a diversity of East African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda, alongside works by artists from Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique and Nigeria. Works on paper, photography and sculpture complements the strong painting consignment. “The selection invites collectors to discover East Africa’s diverse modernist histories, particularly those beyond the Anglophone world,” says Susie Goodman. “In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in East African modernists, with artists associated with the Khartoum School shown in museums and fairs globally. Our work as an auction house rooted in Africa is ensuring this rediscovery is not temporary. We are delighted to partner with Danda Jaroljmek in cultivating a sustainable secondary market for East African modernists active during the era of decolonisation and independence.” A preview exhibition will be held at Circle Art Gallery, Victoria Square, Riara Road, Nairobi, during the two weeks preceding the auction on Wednesday, 28 October 2026.
LOT 42
Lukama N’gazu
Modern Green Bar
About this Item
signed; inscribed with the artist's name and the title on the reverse
Provenance
Private Collection.
Notes
Little is known about the artist Lukama N’gazu, besides that he was an artist practising in Kenya in the 90s. N’gazu’s artwork was featured in a 2018 exhibition, Feedback: Art, Africa and the 1980s, curated by Ugochukwu-Smooth C. Nzewi. He created a series of paintings in the early 1990s of the iconic bar, The Modern Green Bar, in downtown Nairobi. As depicted in the present lot, it was a popular bar frequented by people from all walks of life.