Unknown

Blue, Yellow, and Brown Abstract Figurative Horse Chase Western Landscape

Mid-20th Century

Abstract folk art painting of a western scene by an unknown artist. The work features a cowboy wearing spurs in a corral with a white bulldog and a pair ...

Oil painting on canvas board of a sledge pulled by oxen. The painting is done in an impressionist style. The canvas board is signed by the artist on the front and titled, signed and dated on the back. The board is not framed. Artist Biography: John Koenakeefe Mohl was born on 29 September 1903 in Dinokana, Zeerust in the North-West Province. Mohl's father was a carpenter who sculpted objects such as chairs and mealie stampers. During his youth, Mohl drew with 'pepa' on rocks and made clay objects. He attended primary school in Dinokana where his teachers reprimanded him for constantly drawing in class. Mohl's father eventually withdrew him from school to tend to the goats. Nevertheless, Reverend Hale soon recognized Mohl’s talent and convinced his father to allow him to draw. Mohl attended the Moeding Training Institute (later known as Tigerkloof Training School) where he attained a teacher’s diploma. He subsequently accompanied a German artist to South West Africa (now Namibia) where he studied painting at the Windhoek School of Art. The Missionary Society and the Lutheran Church then sent him to Dusseldorf, West Germany where he studied art at the Kunst-Akademie during the following five years. The artist later returned to South Africa and settled in Sophiatown, where he started running art classes from his home. His art school was known to his peers as the ‘White Studio’. He was one of the first Black artists to be involved in art education and training. In the late 1950s, he was prevented from operating a business; therefore he established the Apollo Art...