Pioneer South African artist Gerard Bhengu (also spelt as Benghu or Bengu) was born at an outstation of Mariannhill Mission Station at Centecow, Bulwer district in Southern Natal. Bhengu's remarkable skill attracted wide attention from a largely White patronage. Despite the support of some of these patrons, he was ultimately prevented from embarking on formal art training for fear that it would spoil and corrupt his 'natural' gift. As a Christian, he was a virtual outcast in terms of his own culture, but at the same time he was considered by Whites to be a part it, and called upon to accurately record it. His paintings were exclusively in watercolour and sepia ink on paper. Bhengu's earliest paintings and drawings date from 1926. His art works are seldom inscribed with a date, although they are almost always signed. He died in 1990.

Source:

Sack, S. (1988). The Neglected Tradition, Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery.

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