Henry Munyaradzi
Encyclopedia
Henry Munyaradzi was a Zimbabwe
an sculptor. The sculptural movement of which he was part is usually referred to as "Shona sculpture" (see Shona art
and Art of Zimbabwe
), although some of its recognised members are not ethnically Shona
. He worked initially at the Tengenenge Sculpture Community, 150 km north of Harare near Guruve, which he joined in 1967. In that Community, and ultimately in the wider world of lovers of Zimbabwean art, he was known simply as 'Henry'.
Henry Munyaradzi died in February 1998 and is buried in the Mukaera Christian village on the outskirts of Guruve.
, Mashonaland in the far north of what was, in 1931, Southern Rhodesia
. He participated as a child in the traditional ceremonies such as the bira, a type of funeral procession, and in hunting. A Shona
speaker, Munyaradzi never attended school, and struggled with the English language
throughout his life. Henry was brought up by his uncle, Edward Chiwawa, who was a local carpenter; his education was practical and first-hand. He was influenced by a local itinerant Christian
preacher, Mukaera, whose Apostolic Church he joined and he learned to read the Bible in Shona. Eventually he became village blacksmith, and also worked as a carpenter
and tobacco
grader.
" – a source of serpentine rocks of many types including a hard variety locally called springstone. An early pre-colonial culture of Shona peoples settled the high plateau around 900 AD and “Great Zimbabwe
”, which dates from about 1250–1450 AD, was a stone-walled town showing evidence in its archaeology of skilled stone working. The walls were made of a local granite and no mortar was used in their construction. When excavated, six soapstone birds
and a soapstone
bowl were found in the eastern enclosure of the monument, so art forms in soapstone were part of that early culture. However, stone carving as art had no direct lineage to the present day and it was only in 1954 that its modern renaissance began. This was when Frank McEwen
became advisor to the new Rhodes National Gallery
to be built in Harare
and from 1955 to 1973 was its founding director (it opened in 1957). The Gallery had been intended to bring non-African art to Harare but when McEwen created the Workshop School to encourage new work in painting and sculpture, the local community of artists re-discovered latent talents for stone sculpture and a “first generation” of new Shona sculptors was born. These included Joram Mariga
and his nephew John Takawira
, and Thomas Mukarobgwa
who joined the gallery staff in 1957. This budding art movement was relatively slow to develop but was given massive impetus in 1966 by Tom Blomefield, a white South-African-born farmer of tobacco whose farm at Tengenenge near Guruve had extensive deposits of serpentine stone suitable for carving. A sculptor in stone himself, he wanted to diversify the use of his land and welcomed new sculptors onto it to form a community of working artists. This was in part because at that time there were international sanctions against Rhodesia’s white government led by Ian Smith, who had declared Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, and tobacco was no longer able to generate sufficient income. Appropriately, Tengenenge means “The Beginning of the Beginning” – in this case of a significant new enterprise that has lasted through to the present day.
Munyaradzi had married and was seeking employment when on the 10th September 1967 he was introduced to the Tengenenge Sculpture Community by Blomefield, who according to his profile of Henry suggested he work alone rather than be influenced by the other sculptors such as Lemon Moses who had already joined the community. Given his knowledge of woodwork and metal forging, he quickly learned the skills of a sculptor in stone, remaining largely self-taught for his entire career. His early work "The Insect God" was purchased by Henry McFadden and later exhibited in the Musée Rodin
for many years. Henry left the Community to work on his own in 1975. He also taught other sculptors, for example his cousin Edward Chiwawa
. Munyaradzi first exhibited his work at the Rhodes National Gallery in 1968. At that time, the work had to be transported the 150 km to Salisbury
, where it was appraised by Jenny Senior, the Exhibitions Officer for the sales gallery and who also helped organise the annual art exhibitions. According to Blomefield, when Henry was asked how he made such perfect shapes in his sculpture, he replied "I follow the shape of the stone. If the stone is standing there, I can see the different points which are important and I make it out of my instinct; there's a harmonious relationship between myself and the stone".
1969 was an important year for the new sculpture movement, because it was the time when McEwen took a group of works, mainly from Tengenenge, to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and elsewhere in the USA, to critical acclaim. It was also the year that his wife Mary (née McFadden)
established Vukutu, a sculptural farm near Inyanga
, where many artists later worked. The list of names of sculptors who would become internationally well-known grew to include Bernard Matemera
, Sylvester Mubai, Henry Mukarobgwa, Thomas Mukarobgwa
, Joseph Ndandarika
and Bernard Takawira
. All the sculptors mentioned so far, including Munyaradzi, contributed work to an exhibition called Arte de Vukutu shown in 1971 at the Musée National d'Art Moderne
and in 1972 at the Musée Rodin
. These were arranged by McEwen, who had lived and worked in Paris
prior to his appointment in Harare.
Henry soon gained worldwide recognition, with eight one-man shows at venues such as Los Angeles
, Berlin
and Heidelberg
. Following one of these, a 1984 exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute
in London
, he purchased a farm in Ruwa, Zimbabwe where he lived and worked until his death.
One of Henry’s works, called Wing Woman, was depicted on a Zimbabwean stamp issued to commemorate Commonwealth Day
on 14 March 1983. It formed the 9c value in a set completed with works by Joseph Ndandarika
, John Takawira
and Nicholas Mukomberanwa
. The stamp carries the name “Henry Mudzengerere”! Another, called Spirit Python was the 30c value in a set issued on 14 April 1988 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the opening of the National Gallery
.
Munyaradzi derived his subject matter from the natural world, combining it with Christian
imagery and depicting it in an unusual, deeply personal fashion. Celia Winter-Irving, in her book on Stone Sculpture (see Further Reading) wrote “Like Paul Klee
, Henry takes a line for a walk but he reins it in after the first steps”. The evolution of his style and its connection to European sculpture is discussed by Jonathan Zilberg.
Munyaradzi’s sculptures are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe
, the Chapungu Sculpture Park
, the Museum fur Völkerkunde, Frankfurt
, the Indianapolis
Museum, the McEwen collection of the British Museum
, and many others. Most include human or animal faces in which the eyes are carved as simple circles and the eyebrows and nose are cut with straight lines in a T shape. Some of his exhibition pieces, such as Saviour and Child (1989), have toured worldwide; for example to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
in 1990, where the works on display included examples from all the artists who had contributed to the 1971 Musée Rodin exhibition.
The catalogue “Chapungu: Culture and Legend – A Culture in Stone” for the exhibition at Kew Gardens in 2000 depicts Henry’s sculptures Mhondoro – Great Lion Spirit (Springstone, 1986) on p. 48-59 and The Spirit Medium and the Interpreter (Springstone, 1995) on p. 84-85.
Images of Munyaradzi’s work are easily found on the World Wide Web, for example from the Richard Handelsman’s collection where Prayer for the rain (203 cm high) is typical.
Some of Munyaradzi’s early sculptures were signed by him the name "Enri", for example for the exhibition Arte de Vukutu, but most had the name "HENRY" chiselled in capital letters and many have commanded relatively high prices on the international market. For that reason, forgeries are known to exist. He used several types of serpentine (e.g. springstone, green and red serpentine) and the rarer semi-precious stone verdite for his sculptures. As remarked by Olivier Sultan
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
an sculptor. The sculptural movement of which he was part is usually referred to as "Shona sculpture" (see Shona art
Shona art
Shona art is the name applied to the visual culture of Zimbabwe. The term is used despite the fact that many artists now working there are not ethnically Shona and logically it should include art produced by settlers or visitors to Zimbabwe, especially in the colonial period...
and Art of Zimbabwe
Art of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean art includes decorative esthetics applied to many aspects of life, including art objects as such, utilitarian objects, objects used in religion, warfare, in propaganda, and in many other spheres. Within this broad arena, Zimbabwe has several identifiable categories of art...
), although some of its recognised members are not ethnically Shona
Shona people
Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...
. He worked initially at the Tengenenge Sculpture Community, 150 km north of Harare near Guruve, which he joined in 1967. In that Community, and ultimately in the wider world of lovers of Zimbabwean art, he was known simply as 'Henry'.
Henry Munyaradzi died in February 1998 and is buried in the Mukaera Christian village on the outskirts of Guruve.
Early life and education
Munyaradzi was the son of a mhondoro, one of the traditional spiritual leaders of his community in Chipuriro (Sipolilo Tribal Trust land) about 30 km from GuruveGuruve
-Districts and areas:*Roundhouse*Delaware Mine*Natasha Valley...
, Mashonaland in the far north of what was, in 1931, Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
. He participated as a child in the traditional ceremonies such as the bira, a type of funeral procession, and in hunting. A Shona
Shona language
Shona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...
speaker, Munyaradzi never attended school, and struggled with the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
throughout his life. Henry was brought up by his uncle, Edward Chiwawa, who was a local carpenter; his education was practical and first-hand. He was influenced by a local itinerant Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
preacher, Mukaera, whose Apostolic Church he joined and he learned to read the Bible in Shona. Eventually he became village blacksmith, and also worked as a carpenter
Carpenter
A carpenter is a skilled craftsperson who works with timber to construct, install and maintain buildings, furniture, and other objects. The work, known as carpentry, may involve manual labor and work outdoors....
and tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
grader.
Development of Zimbabwean stone sculpture
Central Zimbabwe contains the "Great DykeGreat Dyke
The Great Dyke is a linear geological feature that trends nearly north-south through the centre of Zimbabwe passing just to the west of the capital, Harare. It consists of a band of short, narrow ridges and hills spanning for approximately . The hills become taller as the range goes north, and...
" – a source of serpentine rocks of many types including a hard variety locally called springstone. An early pre-colonial culture of Shona peoples settled the high plateau around 900 AD and “Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city that was once the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe, which existed from 1100 to 1450 C.E. during the country’s Late Iron Age. The monument, which first began to be constructed in the 11th century and which continued to be built until the 14th century, spanned an...
”, which dates from about 1250–1450 AD, was a stone-walled town showing evidence in its archaeology of skilled stone working. The walls were made of a local granite and no mortar was used in their construction. When excavated, six soapstone birds
Zimbabwe Bird
The stone-carved Zimbabwe Bird is a national emblem of Zimbabwe, appearing on the national flags and coats of arms of both Zimbabwe and Rhodesia, as well as on banknotes and coins...
and a soapstone
Soapstone
Soapstone is a metamorphic rock, a talc-schist. It is largely composed of the mineral talc and is thus rich in magnesium. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occurs in the areas where tectonic plates are subducted, changing rocks by heat and pressure, with influx...
bowl were found in the eastern enclosure of the monument, so art forms in soapstone were part of that early culture. However, stone carving as art had no direct lineage to the present day and it was only in 1954 that its modern renaissance began. This was when Frank McEwen
Frank McEwen
Francis Jack "Frank" McEwen, OBE was an English artist, teacher, and museum administrator. He is best remembered today for his efforts to bring attention to the work of Shona artists in Rhodesia, and for helping to found the National Gallery of Zimbabwe...
became advisor to the new Rhodes National Gallery
National Gallery of Zimbabwe
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, dedicated to the presentation and conservation of Zimbabwe’s contemporary art and visual heritage...
to be built in Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
and from 1955 to 1973 was its founding director (it opened in 1957). The Gallery had been intended to bring non-African art to Harare but when McEwen created the Workshop School to encourage new work in painting and sculpture, the local community of artists re-discovered latent talents for stone sculpture and a “first generation” of new Shona sculptors was born. These included Joram Mariga
Joram Mariga
Joram Mariga has been called the “Father of Zimbabwean Sculpture” because of his influence on the local artistic community starting in the 1950s and continuing until his death in 2000...
and his nephew John Takawira
John Takawira
John Takawira was a Zimbabwean sculptor. The background to the sculptural movement of which he was a leading member is given in the article on Shona art.-Early life and education:...
, and Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa was a Zimbabwean painter and sculptor who worked as a gallery attendant for much of his career.Mukarobgwa was born in Nyanga, in the countryside of what was then Rhodesia, and had limited education. His first contact with art came in 1956 when he met Frank McEwen, the newly...
who joined the gallery staff in 1957. This budding art movement was relatively slow to develop but was given massive impetus in 1966 by Tom Blomefield, a white South-African-born farmer of tobacco whose farm at Tengenenge near Guruve had extensive deposits of serpentine stone suitable for carving. A sculptor in stone himself, he wanted to diversify the use of his land and welcomed new sculptors onto it to form a community of working artists. This was in part because at that time there were international sanctions against Rhodesia’s white government led by Ian Smith, who had declared Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965, and tobacco was no longer able to generate sufficient income. Appropriately, Tengenenge means “The Beginning of the Beginning” – in this case of a significant new enterprise that has lasted through to the present day.
Munyaradzi had married and was seeking employment when on the 10th September 1967 he was introduced to the Tengenenge Sculpture Community by Blomefield, who according to his profile of Henry suggested he work alone rather than be influenced by the other sculptors such as Lemon Moses who had already joined the community. Given his knowledge of woodwork and metal forging, he quickly learned the skills of a sculptor in stone, remaining largely self-taught for his entire career. His early work "The Insect God" was purchased by Henry McFadden and later exhibited in the Musée Rodin
Musée Rodin
The Musée Rodin in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919 in the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds. It displays works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin....
for many years. Henry left the Community to work on his own in 1975. He also taught other sculptors, for example his cousin Edward Chiwawa
Edward Chiwawa
Edward Chiwawa is a Zimbabwean sculptor. Born northwest of Guruve, he learned to sculpt by working with his cousin, Henry Munyaradzi. From 1971 until 1973 he was a resident of the Tengenenge Sculpture Community. His sculptures are often heavily abstracted. Chiwawa has exhibited in Europe and...
. Munyaradzi first exhibited his work at the Rhodes National Gallery in 1968. At that time, the work had to be transported the 150 km to Salisbury
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
, where it was appraised by Jenny Senior, the Exhibitions Officer for the sales gallery and who also helped organise the annual art exhibitions. According to Blomefield, when Henry was asked how he made such perfect shapes in his sculpture, he replied "I follow the shape of the stone. If the stone is standing there, I can see the different points which are important and I make it out of my instinct; there's a harmonious relationship between myself and the stone".
1969 was an important year for the new sculpture movement, because it was the time when McEwen took a group of works, mainly from Tengenenge, to the Museum of Modern Art in New York and elsewhere in the USA, to critical acclaim. It was also the year that his wife Mary (née McFadden)
Mary McFadden
Mary Josephine McFadden is an American fashion designer and writer.-Family:McFadden is the only daughter of Alexander Bloomfield McFadden, a cotton broker, and her mother was the former Mary Josephine Cutting, a socialite and concert pianist. Her father died in 1948, when he was killed in an...
established Vukutu, a sculptural farm near Inyanga
Inyanga
Inyanga is a Zulu word for a traditional herbal healer.An inyanga is a traditional South African herbalist, herb doctor, or medicine man or woman. The Southern African word inyanga is related to the Central African nganga, meaning a priest and medicine man...
, where many artists later worked. The list of names of sculptors who would become internationally well-known grew to include Bernard Matemera
Bernard Matemera
Bernard Matemera was a Zimbabwean sculptor. The sculptural movement of which he was part is usually referred to as "Shona sculpture" , although some of its recognised members are not ethnically Shona...
, Sylvester Mubai, Henry Mukarobgwa, Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa
Thomas Mukarobgwa was a Zimbabwean painter and sculptor who worked as a gallery attendant for much of his career.Mukarobgwa was born in Nyanga, in the countryside of what was then Rhodesia, and had limited education. His first contact with art came in 1956 when he met Frank McEwen, the newly...
, Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika was a Zimbabwean sculptor known for his figurative works.A member of the Shona tribe, Ndandarika was the grandson of a highly respected n'anga, and spent some time as his apprentice before becoming a sculptor. He joined Frank McEwen's Workshop School in Harare in 1962, beginning...
and Bernard Takawira
Bernard Takawira
Bernard Takawira was a Zimbabwean sculptor, the younger brother of John Takawira.Takawira was born in the mountainous Nyanga district, third of six children. Their father was often absent for work, and their mother, Mai, assumed a dominant role...
. All the sculptors mentioned so far, including Munyaradzi, contributed work to an exhibition called Arte de Vukutu shown in 1971 at the Musée National d'Art Moderne
Musée National d'Art Moderne
The Musée National d'Art Moderne is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou in the 4th arrondissement of the city. Created in 1947, it was then housed in the Palais de Tokyo and moved to its current location in 1977...
and in 1972 at the Musée Rodin
Musée Rodin
The Musée Rodin in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919 in the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds. It displays works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin....
. These were arranged by McEwen, who had lived and worked in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
prior to his appointment in Harare.
Later life and exhibitions
Munyaradzi and his wife had seven daughters and two sons. One son, Mekias (Mike), who attended Manchester University and became a commercial pilot, follows in his father’s footsteps as a sculptor.Henry soon gained worldwide recognition, with eight one-man shows at venues such as Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
. Following one of these, a 1984 exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute
Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Institute was an educational charity connected with the Commonwealth of Nations, and the name of a building in West London formerly owned by the Institute...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he purchased a farm in Ruwa, Zimbabwe where he lived and worked until his death.
One of Henry’s works, called Wing Woman, was depicted on a Zimbabwean stamp issued to commemorate Commonwealth Day
Commonwealth Day
Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations held on the second Monday in March, and marked by a multi-faith service in Westminster Abbey, normally attended by HM Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, with the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth High...
on 14 March 1983. It formed the 9c value in a set completed with works by Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika
Joseph Ndandarika was a Zimbabwean sculptor known for his figurative works.A member of the Shona tribe, Ndandarika was the grandson of a highly respected n'anga, and spent some time as his apprentice before becoming a sculptor. He joined Frank McEwen's Workshop School in Harare in 1962, beginning...
, John Takawira
John Takawira
John Takawira was a Zimbabwean sculptor. The background to the sculptural movement of which he was a leading member is given in the article on Shona art.-Early life and education:...
and Nicholas Mukomberanwa
Nicholas Mukomberanwa
Nicholas Mukomberanwa was a Zimbabwean sculptor. He was among the most famous products of the Workshop School.-Life:Mukomberanwa was born in the Buhera District and spent his childhood in a rural environment. He was interested in art from an early age, being introduced to the craft of woodcarving...
. The stamp carries the name “Henry Mudzengerere”! Another, called Spirit Python was the 30c value in a set issued on 14 April 1988 to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the opening of the National Gallery
National Gallery of Zimbabwe
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, dedicated to the presentation and conservation of Zimbabwe’s contemporary art and visual heritage...
.
Munyaradzi derived his subject matter from the natural world, combining it with Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
imagery and depicting it in an unusual, deeply personal fashion. Celia Winter-Irving, in her book on Stone Sculpture (see Further Reading) wrote “Like Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
, Henry takes a line for a walk but he reins it in after the first steps”. The evolution of his style and its connection to European sculpture is discussed by Jonathan Zilberg.
Munyaradzi’s sculptures are in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Zimbabwe
National Gallery of Zimbabwe
The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is a gallery in Harare, Zimbabwe, dedicated to the presentation and conservation of Zimbabwe’s contemporary art and visual heritage...
, the Chapungu Sculpture Park
Chapungu Sculpture Park
The Chapungu Sculpture Park is a sculpture park in Msasa, Harare, Zimbabwe, which displays the work of Zimbabwean stone sculptors. Its was founded in 1970 by Roy Guthrie, who was instrumental in promoting the work of its sculptors worldwide...
, the Museum fur Völkerkunde, Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, the Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
Museum, the McEwen collection of the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, and many others. Most include human or animal faces in which the eyes are carved as simple circles and the eyebrows and nose are cut with straight lines in a T shape. Some of his exhibition pieces, such as Saviour and Child (1989), have toured worldwide; for example to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Yorkshire Sculpture Park
The Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England is an open-air gallery showing work by UK and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth...
in 1990, where the works on display included examples from all the artists who had contributed to the 1971 Musée Rodin exhibition.
The catalogue “Chapungu: Culture and Legend – A Culture in Stone” for the exhibition at Kew Gardens in 2000 depicts Henry’s sculptures Mhondoro – Great Lion Spirit (Springstone, 1986) on p. 48-59 and The Spirit Medium and the Interpreter (Springstone, 1995) on p. 84-85.
Images of Munyaradzi’s work are easily found on the World Wide Web, for example from the Richard Handelsman’s collection where Prayer for the rain (203 cm high) is typical.
Some of Munyaradzi’s early sculptures were signed by him the name "Enri", for example for the exhibition Arte de Vukutu, but most had the name "HENRY" chiselled in capital letters and many have commanded relatively high prices on the international market. For that reason, forgeries are known to exist. He used several types of serpentine (e.g. springstone, green and red serpentine) and the rarer semi-precious stone verdite for his sculptures. As remarked by Olivier Sultan
"Known simply as 'Henry', the most widely known Zimbabwean sculptor is like a magician, a sage who knows how to find the essential and is, therefore, able to translate the essence of any being or spirit into stone. With care and tenderness, he selects the stone which he feels contains the spirit of an animal, a man, the moon or even the wind. He then relentlessly works to free the spirit, immortalizing it on the face of steleSteleA stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
with an hypnotic gaze."
Selected solo or group exhibitions
- 1968 New African Art: The Central African Workshop School, New York, USA
- 1971 Sculpture Contemporaine des Shonas d’Afrique, Musée RodinMusée RodinThe Musée Rodin in Paris, France, is a museum that was opened in 1919 in the Hôtel Biron and surrounding grounds. It displays works by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin....
, Paris, France - 1978 MOMA, New York, USA
- 1982 Janet Fleischer Gallery, Philadelphia, USA
- 1984 Henry of Tengenenge, Commonwealth InstituteCommonwealth InstituteThe Commonwealth Institute was an educational charity connected with the Commonwealth of Nations, and the name of a building in West London formerly owned by the Institute...
, London - 1985 Kustchatze aus Africa, FrankfurtFrankfurtFrankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, Germany - 1985 Henry of Tengenenge, Feingarten Gallery, Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, USA - 1989 Zimbabwe op de Berg, Foundation Beelden op de Berg, WageningenWageningen' is a municipality and a historical town in the central Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. It is famous for Wageningen University, which specializes in life sciences. The city has 37,414 inhabitants , of which many thousands are students...
, The Netherlands - 1990 Contemporary Stone Carving from Zimbabwe, Yorkshire Sculpture ParkYorkshire Sculpture ParkThe Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton, Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, England is an open-air gallery showing work by UK and international artists, including Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth...
, UK - 1994 Henry of Tengenenge, Contemporary Fine Art Gallery Eton, BerkshireEton, BerkshireEton is a town and civil parish in Berkshire, England, lying on the opposite bank of the River Thames to Windsor and connected to it by Windsor Bridge. The parish also includes the large village of Eton Wick, 2 miles west of the town, and has a population of 4,980. Eton was in Buckinghamshire until...
, UK - 2000 Chapungu: Custom and Legend – A Culture in Stone, Kew Gardens, UK
Further reading
- Winter-Irving C.Celia Winter-IrvingCelia Winter-Irving , was an Australian artist and art critic who wrote extensively about the Art of Zimbabwe, especially Shona sculpture, when she lived in Harare from 1987-2008 .-Early life:...
“Stone Sculpture in Zimbabwe”, Roblaw Publishers (A division of Modus Publications Pvt. Ltd), 1991, ISBN 0908309147 (Paperback) ISBN 0908309112 (Cloth bound) - Winter-Irving C. “Pieces of Time: An anthology of articles on Zimbabwe’s stone sculpture published in The Herald and Zimbabwe Mirror 1999-2000”. Mambo Press, Zimbabwe, 2004, ISBN 0869227815