Geoffrey Mukasa
Untitled (Faces)
NAIROBI – 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 64
Geoffrey Mukasa
Untitled (Faces)
About this Item
signed
Provenance
Private Collection.
Notes
Geoffrey Mukasa is widely recognized as one of East Africa’s most influential painters. Born to a medical doctor and the daughter of a Chief, Mukasa spent part of his childhood in the King’s palace in Buganda. Following the coup by Idi Amin, Mukasa left Uganda in exile to study Fine Art at the Lucknow College of Art and Crafts in India. This period for Mukasa was one of much formal experimentation, shaped by his research into both Indian and European art movements. When Mukasa returned to Uganda he had developed a distinctive style of painting, frequently focusing on relationships and interactions between humans and their environment. During the early 1990s, Mukasa became a key figure in the movement to revive cultural life in Kampala. This movement was seen as a unifying force and an inspiration for the nation’s recovery after years of military dictatorship. Mukasa returned to Uganda with great influence from his Indian mentor, the master painter M.F Husain, the depth of which was cemented by his inclusion in an exhibition of Indian Modern Art at Villa Vassilieff Gallery, Paris, 2017. In 2016, Mukasa’s work was shown in a solo presentation at Art Dubai Modern. His work is held in collections in America, Europe, and Africa and appears frequently at international auctions, including Sotheby’s and Bonhams. Publications include Mukasa Geoffrey – the Artist’s Life in Uganda, AKA Gallery Kampala published by Maria Fischer, Rose Kirumira, Paul Lubowa, and Josephine Mukasa, 2011.
Biography courtesy of Circle Art Gallery.
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