William Kentridge:
The Great Storyteller    

On view September 10 through October 22, 2016

Internationally renowned South African artist William Kentridge was born in Johannesburg in 1955. His parents were both influential anti-apartheid lawyers.  Kentridge studied politics and African Studies before attending the Johannesburg Art Foundation for fine art and drama. In 1981, he lived in Paris for one year while studying film, theater, and mime before returning to Johannesburg where he continues to live. Kentridge has been included in over one hundred international exhibitions.

The narrative of Kentridge's work draws from South Africa's troubled history of apartheid; however, his art is not overtly political. His subject matter is nuanced and speaks of universal struggles such as  freedom and loss.

William Kentridge: The Great Storyteller highlights three new hand-colored, linocut editions published by Robert Brown Gallery. LULU, Countess Geschwitz, and Reclining Figure with Cat are inspired by a body of drawings that Kentridge created to accompany his production of Lulu, which was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in November 2015.

The National Gallery of Art will be exhibiting Kentridge's Portage as part of their East Wing reopening celebrations in September. Portage is inspired by the film Shadow Procession. In Portage, silhouettes migrate across seventeen pages of Le Nouveau Larousse Illustré Encyclopedia stretching nearly fourteen feet in length.

Kentridge's work is in the permanent collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and many other museums worldwide.