Jak at Heinrich Boell in 2017 during a fund raiser organized by Kofi Osei
By
Margaretta wa Gacheru (posted 29 October 2018)
Jak
Katarikawe (1938-2018) was, until October 19th, a living legend who inspired
younger artists for both his talent and apparent financial success. He was
among the first East Africans whose artworks could sell for hundreds of
thousands of shillings a painting. He is also one of the first East Africans
whose artworks were exhibited abroad, in Europe and the USA.
Jak’s
legendary status was confirmed the same day he died, when news spread like
wildfire on social media that Jak had passed on. He’d been found alone and
unconscious by a cousin who’d come to his Forest Road flat to cook for him as
Jak’s wife Florence was back in Uganda. Friends had tried to get him to accompany
her home as he’d built a house for the family in Kabale, in Western Uganda. Yet
he refused.
'I love you baby' by Jak at the Nairobi Gallery
He died
while on route to the Hospital.
In his
prime, Jak was known as an ‘African [Marc] Chagall’, named after the 20th
century modern artist who, like Jak, created colorful, whimsical paintings that
invariably had an enchanting narrative to back up his imagery. In Jak’s case,
they were stories that were often about love triangles that he used to explain with
a merry twinkle in his eye.
Jak never
had a chance to go to school since his polygamous father had retired by the
time he was born and he was the last born of the old man’s youngest wife. But
Jak had natural talent. Plus his mother was artistic. Jak once recalled how she
used to paint lovely designs in ash all around her mud and wattle hut as a
means of attracting the old man to come for supper at her home. Jak also
recalled how he was inspired by the stained glass windows of the nearby church.
He said they’d taught him the value of translucent colors and the storytelling
power of art.
Jak’s big
break came when he became a driver for a Makerere University professor who found
his sketches stashed in the boot of his car. Professor David Cook could see
that Jak had talent. Cook then arranged for him to be mentored by Professor Sam
Ntiru, who at the time was head of Makerere’s Art Department.
After spending
some time at Makerere, Jak came to Kenya in the early 1970s and initially he
worked with Elimo Njau at Paa ya Paa. Subsequently he exhibited at Alliance
Francaise and at Gallery Watatu.
Jak at Gallery Watatu in 2006
Jak was
already established when the late Ruth Schaffner bought Gallery Watatu in 1985
from Yony Waite, co-founder of Watatu. She quickly took Jak under her wing and
soon became his mentor, mother-figure, accountant and bank. She took his art
worldwide, but after she died in 1996, Jak never recovered. He went into
mourning and never got over his grief.
Ruth’s death
also had a profound effect on his painting. Jak could never reactivate his
effortless style of visual storytelling. Despite being pestered for years by
art collectors from all over the world who frequently came personally to buy
his art, he could never regain his creative edge. He soon exhausted his supply
of the paintings that expressed the ‘old Jak’. Nonetheless, any time one of his
older paintings has gone up for auction, the prices have shot sky high. Many
people believe Jak’s art will only accrue in value over time, as it did for
other artists who died poor, such as Vincent Van Gogh, but now their paintings
sell for millions.
Yony Waite made prints of this Jak original as a fund-raiser for Jak
Jak will
primarily be remembered for the luminous artworks he created between the
mid-70s and mid-90s. But to his friends, he’ll be remembered as the
sweet-spirited gentleman whose skill in visual storytelling was sublime.
Jak was
buried quietly at his Kabale home on October 28th, just a week after
he passed. Tributes to him continue to pour in on social media. Plans are also
underway to have a memorial service for Jak in the near future.
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