Sambo

Sambo was painted three years after Selwyn Muru became a full time artist in 1962 and during a period in which he exhibited widely in Auckland and received critical acclaim. This portrait is amongst a series of portraits that were painted between 1964 and 1965.

The portraits’ flattened forms, stark outlines, and muted colour palette demonstrate Muru’s interest in Maori rock drawings as well as medieval art that developed between 1963 and 1965. In particular, the reduction of form to simple, flattened geometric shapes demonstrates Muru’s interest in artists such as Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso, which he amalgamated and incorporated with Māori motifs to forge his approach to art.

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