Artwork Page for Fountain of Blood

Details / Information for Fountain of Blood

Fountain of Blood

1961

Malangatana Ngwenya

(Mozambican, 1936–2011)
Culture
Africa, Mozambique, 20th century
Medium
oil on fiberboard
Measurements
Framed: 119.4 x 147.3 cm (47 x 58 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Lloyd H. Ellis Jr. 2012.67
Copyright
© Malangatana Ngwenya / DALRO, Johannesburg / ARS, NY
This artwork is known to be under copyright.
Location
Not on view
Print
?

Did You Know?

Fountain of Blood was featured in the 1962 First International Congress of Culture exhibition, a major festival that showcased African art in Europe, and was one of Ngwenya's first exhibited works outside Mozambique.

Description

Born in Mozambique under Portuguese rule, Malangatana Ngwenya's work focuses on the clash between local Mozambican traditions and European colonialism. His highly expressive paintings often comprise dense compositions packed with religious and mythological symbolism and tormented figures—a response to the violence he witnessed. In Fountain of Blood he incorporates a local myth: when one group moves into another people's land, their spirits battle. Ngwenya's pro-independence political views resulted in the artist's imprisonment for 18 months in 1964, contributing to his national reputation as a political artist and supporter of colonial resistance.
Horizontally oriented oil painting depicting abstracted, nude, round-limbed and bodied figures with green, blue, orange, red, and cream skin tones spread evenly across a black background, red streaks of blood dripping down from severed heads and limbs, sometimes into vials. At the center sits a grave-like box with a cross laid over a white figure within and a blue cross standing above, and over which straddles a skeleton. Many figures bear rows of white teeth.

Fountain of Blood

1961

Malangatana Ngwenya

(Mozambican, 1936–2011)
Africa, Mozambique, 20th century

See Also

Visually Similar by AI

    Contact Us

    The information about this object, including provenance, may not be currently accurate. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about this object, please email collectionsdata@clevelandart.org.

    To request more information about this object, study images, or bibliography, contact the Ingalls Library Reference Desk.

    All images and data available through Open Access can be downloaded for free. For images not available through Open Access, or any image with a color bar, request a digital file from Image Services.