Monday 1 August 2011

Frank Bellamy and all things African

Click to enlarge

In the list of 'Unpublished' works - which I confess is a mixed bags of things I've seen, but have not necessarily got scans of, there are several animals of Africa, scenes from Africa and also Masai warriors (my best description). I know that Bellamy exhibited in various top shows in London with pictures listed with African names and unfortunately I haven't been able to match names to pieces. For example, he listed 'Oluwaru' which a quick search on the Net tells me is Masai for 'wild animal'. I have seen lions with Kilimanjaro in the background, but this sounds grander.

Anyway, Adrian Fear has contacted me to share a " drawing [which] actually belongs to my brother. He bought the drawing at a flea market about 10 years ago. The pictures dimensions are 530mm by 610mm. It is a pencil and pastels drawing on black paper/card then mounted."

I know that Nancy Bellamy proudly displays one such piece, of a head in profile, and others, on her walls in her home in Kettering, but this is a new one to me. I'm very grateful to Adrian for not only making contact but also sharing this photo.

The piece is the same as those I have seen and shows another side to Bellamy, who most people know as the comic artist and who Sir William Russell Flint respected for his African work. Praise like that does inspire!

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