This painting was acquired from the Henry Tayali Gallery in Lukasa, one of the few places in the Zambian capital where it is possible to find a gem like this one. Mutulikwa, who was born in 1964 and later was apprenticed to the late Shadreck Simukanga, has long been one of the foremost artists of Zambia, repeatedly shown and widely respected. This canvas anticipates his exploration these days of traditional geometric patterns. The collector was astonished when he first saw “Clay Pots” hanging in a remote wall of the gallery, radiating an intensity of composition and style that was clearly the work of a master. The work was vaguely reminiscent of Giorgio Morandi’s still lifes, but it had been executed from a point of view wholly new to the collector.
