MOUNT KENYA BY ANTHONY MWANGI

ANTHONY MWANGI  (bn. 1969)

 Mount Kenya (5,199 m -17,057 ft) 

Kenya 

In Mount Kenya in the morning, oil on canvas 

The mountain
Mount Kenya (5,199 m -17,057 ft) is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa and Kiinyaa which mean "God's resting place" in all three languages. Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, about 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) south of the equator, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi.
Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.
Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift. Before glaciation, it was 7,000 m (23,000 ft) high. It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre. There are currently 11 small glaciers and 8 peaks of which the highest are :

- Batian (5,199 m - (17,057 ft) (middle of the painting above) 

- Nelion (5,188 m - 17,021 ft)) (on left in the painting above)

- Point Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft). 

 The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya.
There are several vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya, such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax. An area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi) around the centre of the mountain was designated a National Park and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. The park receives over 16,000 visitors per year.
The main ethnic groups living around Mount Kenya are Kikuyu, Ameru, Embu and Maasai.
The first three are closely related. They all see the mountain as an important aspect of their cultures. The most famous Maasai are semi-nomadic people, who use the land to the north of the mountain to graze their cattle. They believe that their ancestors came down from the mountain at the beginning of time. The Maasai name for Mount Kenya is Ol Donyo Keri, which means 'mountain of stripes', referring to the dark shades as observed from the surrounding plains. At least one Maasai prayer refers to Mount Kenya: " God bless our children, let them be like the olive tree of Morintat, let them grow and expand, let them be like Ngong Hills like Mt. Kenya, like Mt. Kilimanjaro and multiply in number. "

The artist
The kenyan artist Anthony Mwangi, born in 1969, is a painter and a photographer.

Apparently self educated in arts, he exhibited his works in Kenya and sold several pieces in Kenyan Galleries. Nowadays he works on commissions and sell canvas prints in his own local Gallery called Small Digger Art Gallery.
Unfortunately this very talented young artist is not very well known in Europe. His painting style is very close to Akseli Gallen Kallela's one. His palette often reminiscent of the great welsh landscaper Sir Kiffin Williams. The future will surely tell us more about his own style and his own pictorial orientations.
Anthony Mwangi, worked as well in 2D, 3D modeling and Animation film. In 2013, he worked on a 21 minute Animated Movie (Makmende II Begins).
To see more of Anthony Mwangi's works,  click here

___________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau

MOUNT KENYA PAINTED BY ANTHONY MWANGI

ANTHONY MWANGI  (bn. 1969)

Mount Kenya (5,199 m -17,057 ft) 

Kenya 

In Mount Kenya at dawn, oil on canvas 

The artist
The kenyan artist Anthony Mwangi, born in 1969, is a painter and a photographer. Apparently self educated in arts, he exhibited his works in Kenya and sold several pieces in Kenyan Galleries. Nowadays he works on commissions and sell canvas prints in his own local Gallery called Small Digger Art Gallery. 

Unfortunately this very talented young artist is not very well known in Europe, His painting style is very close to Askeli Gallen Kallela's one. His palette often reminiscent of the great welsh landscaper Sir Kiffin Williams. The future will surely tell us more about his own style and his own pictorial orientations.  

Anthony Mwangi, worked as well in 2D, 3D modeling and Animation film. In 2013, he worked on a 21 minute Animated Movie (Makmende II Begins).
To see more of his works  click here

The mountain 
Mount Kenya  (5,199 m -17,057 ft)  is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro.   The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa and Kiinyaa which mean "God's resting place" in all three languages.  Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, about 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) south of the equator, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi.
Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.
Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift.   Before glaciation, it was 7,000 m (23,000 ft) high. It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre.  There are currently 11 small glaciers and 8 peaks of which the highest are : Batian (5,199 m -  (17,057 ft), Nelion (5,188 m - 17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft).   The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya.
There are several vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya, such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax. An area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi) around the centre of the mountain was designated a National Park and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.  The park receives over 16,000 visitors per year.
The main ethnic groups living around Mount Kenya are Kikuyu, Ameru, Embu and Maasai.
The first three are closely related. They all see the mountain as an important aspect of their cultures.  The most famous Maasai  are semi-nomadic people, who use the land to the north of the mountain to graze their cattle. They believe that their ancestors came down from the mountain at the beginning of time.  The Maasai name for Mount Kenya is Ol Donyo Keri, which means 'mountain of stripes', referring to the dark shades as observed from the surrounding plains.  At least one Maasai prayer refers to Mount Kenya: " God bless our children, let them be like the olive tree of Morintat, let them grow and expand, let them be like Ngong Hills like Mt. Kenya, like Mt. Kilimanjaro and multiply in number. "
All these cultures arrived in the Mount Kenya area in the last several hundred years.

___________________________________________

2019 - Wandering Vertexes...

by Francis Rousseau 

OL-OLOKWE PAINTED BY PILLY TURNER

PILLY TURNER (active 1955-1970)

Ol- Olokwe (1,934m  - 6,345 ft) 

Kenya

In Mount 0l Olokwe, watercolour - N.F.P. Kenya Card,  East Africa Women's League

The mountain 
Ol- Olokwe (1,934m  - 6,345 ft)  meaning Sacred Mountain, is a flat topped mountain located in the NFD of Kenya, a few kilometres north of the Samburu National Park. Rising out of the northern rift valley it is one of the most striking natural features in Kenya and well worth the visit. "Ol- Olokwe, a huge, square-shaped mountain, beckoned us and, as we drew closer, its magnificence increased... The enormity of the cliff face was so awe inspiring, and the colors of the granite were a deep tan splashed with orange and streaked with black and white - the white being bird of prey droppings" 
The hiking takes about 3-5 hours with an option of camping on the top. In the nearby area there is the Samburu National Park, the Matthews range and the small town of Archers Post (last stop for supplies).

The artist
Pilly Turner is a kenyan watercolourist, active during the 1955-1970 's. The watercolor she painted are always very realistic, and  with exemples of wild life animals and animals of the country. There are no other information available about this artist and only a few amount of paintings on the art market  (more than 10).

___________________________________________
2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

OIL NOYNO EBURRU BY ROBERT MC LELLAN-SIM

ROBERT MC LELLAN-SIM  (1907-1985)

Ol Doinyo Eburru (2,856m- 9,370ft)

 Kenya

 In Mount Eburu and Lake Navaisha, oil on canvas, 1960 

The mountain 
Ol Doinyo Eburru (2,856m- 9,370ft) is an active complex of volcanoes in the Great Rift Valley, Kenya to the northwest of Lake Naivasha.  The volcanic complex has an area of 470 square kilometres (180 sq mi). There are two summits, Eburru hill and West hill.[1] There are young craters on the eastern part of the ridge. It is being exploited for geothermal energy. Soysambu Conservancy is located to the north of the massif, between Lake Elmenteita to the east and Lake Nakuru to the west.

The painter 

Robert Mc Lellan Sim (RMS) attended Newport Secondary School from 1919 to 1924. In 1926 he won three prizes for graphic arts at the National Eisteddfod of Wales and in 1926 he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Newport School of Arts and Crafts (now part of the University of Wales). After finishing college with a Board of Education Teachers Certificate he attended the Newport Institute for Research into Art and Design (N.I.R.A.D.). 

RMS was a prolific artist, and during his time in East Africa (he travelled throughout Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and Zanzibar) he completed as many as 40 paintings a year. His work was in great demand, mostly in Kenya and purchased by many eminent people and was extremely popular as an official gift or a farewell present. The Colony of Kenya presented a McLellan-Sim painting to HM The Queen on the occasion of her Coronation in 1953, and HM The Queen Mother was presented with another to commemorate her Visit to Kenya in 1959. 

RMS’s move to Kenya in 1947 was a search for colour and space. His brief war service in the Far East obviously gave him a taste for warmer climes, brighter colours and wide spaces, aspects that were to feature strongly in his African paintings. He is on record as saying that he preferred landscapes and seascapes to portraits because he could go away on his own, often combining his field trips with fishing expeditions, during which he could turn to his sketch book when the trout would not jump! 

MOUNT KENYA IN VINTAGE POSTCARDS 1940

VINTAGE POSTCARDS 1940 

Mount Kenya (5,199 m -17,057 ft) 

Kenya 

 In  Mount Kenya, The Commonwealth institute London, Anonymous painter, 1940, Posstcard 

The mountain 
Mount Kenya  (5,199 m -17,057 ft)  is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro.   The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa and Kiinyaa which mean "God's resting place" in all three languages.  Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, about 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) south of the equator, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.
Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift.   Before glaciation, it was 7,000 m (23,000 ft) high. It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre.  There are currently 11 small glaciers and 8 peaks of which the highest are : Batian (5,199 m -  (17,057 ft), Nelion (5,188 m - 17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft).   The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya.

There are several vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya, such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax. An area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi) around the centre of the mountain was designated a National Park and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.  The park receives over 16,000 visitors per year.
The main ethnic groups living around Mount Kenya are Kikuyu, Ameru, Embu and Maasai.
The first three are closely related. They all see the mountain as an important aspect of their cultures.  The most famous Maasai  are semi-nomadic people, who use the land to the north of the mountain to graze their cattle. They believe that their ancestors came down from the mountain at the beginning of time.  The Maasai name for Mount Kenya is Ol Donyo Keri, which means 'mountain of stripes', referring to the dark shades as observed from the surrounding plains.  At least one Maasai prayer refers to Mount Kenya: " God bless our children, let them be like the olive tree of Morintat, let them grow and expand, let them be like Ngong Hills like Mt. Kenya, like Mt. Kilimanjaro and multiply in number. "
All these cultures arrived in the Mount Kenya area in the last several hundred years.

MUGI HILL BY AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA

AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA  (1865-1931)

Mugi Hill (3,541 m - 11,617 ft)

Kenya 

In  Wakamba Plain, Mugi Hill, 1909, oil on canvas

The spot 
Mugi Hill (3,541 m - 11,617 ft ) and the Giant's Billiards Table offers some of the best hillwalking in Kenya. It  is part of the Mount Kenya National Park, established in 1949, protects the region surrounding the volcano itself.  Currently the national park is within the forest reserve which encircles it.  In April 1978 the area was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.The national park and the forest reserve, combined, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
The Government of Kenya had four reasons for creating a national park on and around Mount Kenya. These were the importance of tourism for the local and national economies, preserve an area of great scenic beauty, conserve the biodiversity within the park and to preserve the water catchment for the surrounding area.
Kenya’s government has announced a project to discourage animals from straying into small holdings surrounding the Park and devastating crops.  Since 2014,  the Park  is enclosed by an electric fence with five electrified strands.

The painter 
Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Swedish-speaking Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity. He changed his name from Gallen to Gallen-Kallela in 1907. In 1884 he moved to Paris, to study at the Académie Julian and became friends with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt, the Norwegian painter Adam Dörnberger, and the Swedish writer August Strindberg.
In December 1894, Gallen-Kallela moved to Berlin to oversee the joint exhibition of his works with the works of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. Here he became acquainted with the Symbolists.
On his return from Germany, Gallen studied print-making and visited London to deepen his knowledge, and in 1898 studied fresco-painting in Italy.
For the Paris World Fair in 1900, Gallen-Kallela painted frescoes for the Finnish Pavilion. In these frescoes, his political ideas became most apparent.Gallen-Kallela officially finnicized his name to the more Finnish-sounding Akseli Gallen-Kallela in 1907.
In 1909, Gallen-Kallela moved to Nairobi in Kenya with his family, and there he painted over 150 expressionist oil paintings and bought many east African artefacts. But he returned to Finland after a couple of years, because he realized Finland was his main inspiration. Between 1911 and 1913 he designed and built a studio and house at Tarvaspää, about 10 km northwest of the centre of Helsinki.
From December 1923 to May 1926, Gallen-Kallela lived in the United States, where an exhibition of his work toured several cities, and where he visited the Taos art-colony in New Mexico to study indigenous American art. In 1925 he began the illustrations for his "Great Kalevala". This was still unfinished when he died of pneumonia in Stockholm on 7 March 1931, while returning from a lecture in Copenhagen, Denmark
His studio and house at Tarvaspää was opened as the Gallen-Kallela Museum in 1961

MOUNT LONGONOT BY RAY NESTOR

RAY NESTOR  (1888-1989)

Mount Longonot (2, 776 m - 9, 108 ft)

Kenya 

In Mount Longonot in the background, watercolour, Private collection

The mountain 
Mount Longonot (2, 776 m - 9, 108 ft) is a stratovolcano located southeast of Lake Naivasha in the Great Rift Valley of Kenya, Africa. It is thought to have last erupted in the 1860s. Its name is derived from the Maasai word Oloonong'ot, meaning "mountains of many spurs" or "steep ridges".
Mount Longonot is protected by Kenya Wildlife Service as part of Mount Longonot National Park.
A 3.1 km trail runs from the park entrance up to the crater rim, and continues in a 7.2 km loop encircling the crater. The whole tour (gate-around the rim-gate) of 13.5 km takes about 4–5 hours allowing for necessary rest breaks - parts of the trail are heavily eroded and very steep. The gate is around 2150 m asl and the peak at 2780 m asl but following the jagged rim involves substantially more than the 630 m vertical difference.
A forest of small trees covers the crater floor, and small steam vents are found spaced around the walls of the crater. The mountain is home to various species of wildlife, notably plains zebra, giraffe, Thomson's gazelle, buffaloes and hartebeest. African leopards have also been reported but are extremely difficult to spot.
Mount Longonot is 60 kilometres northwest of Nairobi and may be reached from there by a tarmac road. A nearby town is also named Longonot.
The Longonot satellite earth station is located south of the mountain.

The watercolorist

Ray Nestor was born in India in 1888. He came to Kenya in 1912 as a surveyor and was between 1932 and 1950 farmed at Kipkarren where he did most of his paintings. Ray Nestor modesty as a printer stood between him and the wider recognition of his work. He never courted publicity being content to record his impressions of a fascinating country and its diverse peoples for his own satisfaction and that of his friends. In all his time in Africa, Ray Nestor was seldom without his paints and sketch book, alert to capture the fugitive moment : an old woman in her beads and bangles drawing on her long pipe ; a dhow in full sail beyond the coral reef outside Mombasa harbour ; the stupendous view from his farm house over down and forest, rolling away towards Mount Elgon;

a pair of rhinos threading their way through the bush under the snows of Kilimandjaro.  These sketches are what they claim to be, with all their freshness sponteneity. Ray Nestor died in England in June 1989. 

RONGORI PAINTED BY AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA

AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA  (1865-1931)

Rongori (1,176m - 3,858ft)

Kenya

The mountain 

Rongori  (1,176m - 3,858ft)  is a mountain  in Kenya, considered like a " hill ",  located in the county of Embu, in the central part of the country, 90 km northeast of the capital Nairobi.  The terrain around Rongori is mainly flat. Rongori is located on an altitude that goes north-south.  The highest point nearby is Twoinoini 1, 314 m- 4,311ft above sea level, 3.0 km north of Rongori. Around Rongori, it is quite densely populated, with 96 inhabitants per square kilometer.  The area around Rongori consists mainly of grasslands. 

Savann climate prevails in the area.  The annual average temperature  is 25 ° C.

The painter 
Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Swedish-speaking Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity. He changed his name from Gallen to Gallen-Kallela in 1907. In 1884 he moved to Paris, to study at the Académie Julian and became friends with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt, the Norwegian painter Adam Dörnberger, and the Swedish writer August Strindberg.
In December 1894, Gallen-Kallela moved to Berlin to oversee the joint exhibition of his works with the works of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. Here he became acquainted with the Symbolists.
On his return from Germany, Gallen studied print-making and visited London to deepen his knowledge, and in 1898 studied fresco-painting in Italy.
For the Paris World Fair in 1900, Gallen-Kallela painted frescoes for the Finnish Pavilion. In these frescoes, his political ideas became most apparent.Gallen-Kallela officially finnicized his name to the more Finnish-sounding Akseli Gallen-Kallela in 1907.
In 1909, Gallen-Kallela moved to Nairobi in Kenya with his family, and there he painted over 150 expressionist oil paintings and bought many east African artefacts. But he returned to Finland after a couple of years, because he realized Finland was his main inspiration. Between 1911 and 1913 he designed and built a studio and house at Tarvaspää, about 10 km northwest of the centre of Helsinki.
From December 1923 to May 1926, Gallen-Kallela lived in the United States, where an exhibition of his work toured several cities, and where he visited the Taos art-colony in New Mexico to study indigenous American art. In 1925 he began the illustrations for his "Great Kalevala". This was still unfinished when he died of pneumonia in Stockholm on 7 March 1931, while returning from a lecture in Copenhagen, Denmark
His studio and house at Tarvaspää was opened as the Gallen-Kallela Museum in 1961

MOUNT KENYA PAINTED BY AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA

AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA (1865-1931) 

Mount Kenya (5,199 m -17,057 ft) 

Kenya 

1. In  Mount Kenya, November 1909, oil on canvas, Private collection 

2. In  Mount Kenya, 1910, oil on canvas, Private collection 

The mountain 
Mount Kenya  (5,199 m -17,057 ft)  is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa and Kiinyaa which mean "God's resting place" in all three languages.  Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, about 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) south of the equator, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi.
Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.
Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift.   Before glaciation, it was 7,000 m (23,000 ft) high. It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre.  There are currently 11 small glaciers and 8 peaks of which the highest are : Batian (5,199 m -  (17,057 ft), Nelion (5,188 m - 17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft).   The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya (...)

The painter 
Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Swedish-speaking Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity. He changed his name from Gallen to Gallen-Kallela in 1907. In 1884 he moved to Paris, to study at the Académie Julian and became friends with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt, the Norwegian painter Adam Dörnberger, and the Swedish writer August Strindberg.
In December 1894, Gallen-Kallela moved to Berlin to oversee the joint exhibition of his works with the works of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. Here he became acquainted with the Symbolists.
On his return from Germany, Gallen studied print-making and visited London to deepen his knowledge, and in 1898 studied fresco-painting in Italy.
For the Paris World Fair in 1900, Gallen-Kallela painted frescoes for the Finnish Pavilion. In these frescoes, his political ideas became most apparent (...)

_______________________________
2017 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

OL DONYO SABUK BY AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA

 AKSELI GALLEN-KALLELA (1865-1931)

Ol Donyo Sabuk or Kilimambogo (2, 145m- 7, 037ft) 

Kenya

 In Mount Donia Sabuk, 1909, oil on canvas,  Finish National  Gallery.

The mountain 
Ol Donyo Sabuk (2, 145m- 7, 037ft) also called  Kilimambogo in Kikuyu) is a mountain and an adjacent small town near Thika central Kenya. The peak was named by Maasai pastoralists, meaning big mountain. The Kikuyu name, Kilimambogo, means Buffalo Hill or Mountain.  The town is located in Kyanzavi Division, at the border between Machakos County and Kiambu County.
Lord William Northrop Macmillan (1872-1925) was the first white man to settle here, and everything else that has happened since is largely attributed to him. The town is quite dusty, due to deforestation and loose ground cover, compounded by occasional rainfall. However, the area is adorned with lots of untamed beauty.  Near the peak is the grave of Lord Macmillan,  his wife and their dog. Also, there is an extra grave of one Louise, who started working for the Macmillan's when she was age 13 until her death. It was, once, one of the biggest ranches in Kenya, with nothing less than five towns inside the former Juja Ranch. The rural area is a multi-ethnic community in farms owned by people who were former squatters and his farm labourers. The mountain peak is inside a game park, and the rest is partially owned nowadays by the Kenyatta family.
The name of this park established in 1967, Ol Donyo Sabuk, means large mountain in Maasai and Kamba language. It is situated 65 km (40 mi) north of Nairobi and has an excellent and clear view of Nairobi and other lowland areas. Wildlife species that can be spotted here include buffalo, colobus monkeys, baboons, bushbuck, impala, duiker, and abundant birdlife.
Ol Donyo Sabuk National Park is a common one-day trip out of Nairobi, only 65 km (40 mi) away. The mountain is the highest peak in the park, covering 20.7 km2 (8.0 sq mi).  One approach to the park is via the Fourteen Falls on the Athi River. The park's attraction is its beauty and views of both Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro. It teems with game including baboon, colobus, bushbuck, impala, duiker and many birds. Today, some 250 buffalos roam the slopes. Kikuyu traditionalists also call the mountain by Kea-Njahe, known as the 'Mountain of the Big Rain', one of Ngai's lesser homes.


The painter 
Akseli Gallen-Kallela was a Swedish-speaking Finnish painter who is best known for his illustrations of the Kalevala, the Finnish national epic. His work was considered very important for the Finnish national identity. He changed his name from Gallen to Gallen-Kallela in 1907. In 1884 he moved to Paris, to study at the Académie Julian and became friends with the Finnish painter Albert Edelfelt, the Norwegian painter Adam Dörnberger, and the Swedish writer August Strindberg.
In December 1894, Gallen-Kallela moved to Berlin to oversee the joint exhibition of his works with the works of Norwegian painter Edvard Munch. Here he became acquainted with the Symbolists.
On his return from Germany, Gallen studied print-making and visited London to deepen his knowledge, and in 1898 studied fresco-painting in Italy.
For the Paris World Fair in 1900, Gallen-Kallela painted frescoes for the Finnish Pavilion. In these frescoes, his political ideas became most apparent. Gallen-Kallela officially finnicized his name to the more Finnish-sounding Akseli Gallen-Kallela in 1907.
In 1909, Gallen-Kallela moved to Nairobi in Kenya with his family, and there he painted over 150 expressionist oil paintings and bought many east African artefacts (watercolor above). But he returned to Finland after a couple of years, realizing Finland was his main inspiration. Between 1911 and 1913 he designed and built a studio and house at Tarvaspää, about 10 km northwest of the centre of Helsinki.
From December 1923 to May 1926, Gallen-Kallela lived in the United States, where an exhibition of his work toured several cities, and where he visited the Taos art-colony in New Mexico to study indigenous American art. In 1925 he began the illustrations for his "Great Kalevala". This was still unfinished when he died of pneumonia in Stockholm on 7 March 1931, while returning from a lecture in Copenhagen, Denmark His studio and house at Tarvaspää was opened as the Gallen-Kallela Museum in 1961.

MOUNT ELGON PAINTED BY RAY NESTOR

RAY NESTOR  (1888-1989)

Mount Elgon (4,321 m -14,177 ft)

Uganda  - Kenya

In Mount Elgon in the far 

The mountain 

Mount Elgon is an extinct shield volcano on the border of eastern Uganda and western Kenya,  north of Kisumu and west of Kitale. The mountain's highest point, named "Wagagai" (4,321 m -14,177 ft), is located entirely within the country of Uganda. Elgon is the seventeenth-highest mountain of Africa. Its vast form, 80 kilometres (50 mi) in diameter, rises 3,070 metres (10,070 ft) above the surrounding plains.  Its cooler heights offer respite for humans from the hot plains below, and its higher altitudes provide a refuge for flora and fauna.
Mount Elgon consists of five major peaks: Wagagai (4,321 m -14,177 ft), in Uganda ; Sudek (4,302 m -14,114 ft)) on the Kenya/Uganda border ; Koitobos (4,222 m -13,852 ft), a flat-topped basalt column in Kenya ; Mubiyi (4,211 m- 13,816 ft) in Uganda ;  Masaba (4,161 m - 13,652 ft) in Uganda.
Although there is no verifiable evidence of its earliest volcanic activity, geologists estimate that Mount Elgon is at least 24 million years old, making it the oldest extinct volcano in East Africa.
Other features of note are: The caldera  (Elgon's is one of the largest intact calderas in the world) ;
the warm springs by the Suam River ; Endebess Bluff (2,563 m - 8,409 ft) ; Ngwarisha, Makingeny, Chepnyalil, and Kitum caves . The cave contains salt deposits and it is frequented by wild elephants that lick the salt exposed by gouging the walls with their tusks. It became notorious following the publication of Richard Preston's book The Hot Zone in 1994 for its association with the Marburg virus after two people who had visited the cave (one in 1980 and another in 1987) contracted the disease and died. The mountain soils are red laterite. The mountain is the catchment area for the several rivers such as the Suam River, which becomes the Turkwel downstream and drains into Lake Turkana, and the Nzoia River and the Lwakhakha River, which flow to Lake Victoria. The town of Kitale is in the foothills of the mountain. The area around the mountain is protected by two Mount Elgon National Parks, one on each side of the international border.
Mount Elgon and its tributaries are home to four tribes, the Bagisu, the Sapiinjak, the Sabaot and the Ogiek, better known in the region under the derogatory umbrella term Ndorobo.

The watercolorist

Ray Nestor was born in India in 1888. He came to Kenya in 1912 as a surveyor and was between 1932 and 1950 farmed at Kipkarren where he did most of his paintings. Ray Nestor modesty as a printer stood between him and the wider recognition of his work. He never courted publicity being content to record his impressions of a fascinating country and its diverse peoples for his own satisfaction and that of his friends. In all his time in Africa, Ray Nestor was seldom without his paints and sketch book, alert to capture the fugitive moment : an old woman in her beads and bangles drawing on her long pipe ; a dhow in full sail beyond the coral reef outside Mombasa harbour ; the stupendous view from his farm house over down and forest, rolling away towards Mount Elgon;

a pair of rhinos threading their way through the bush under the snows of Kilimandjaro.  These sketches are what they claim to be, with all their freshness sponteneity. Ray Nestor died in England in June 1989. 

MOUNT KENYA PAINTED BY PILLY TURNER

PILLY TURNER (active 1955-1970) 

Mount Kenya (5,199 m -17,057 ft) 

Kenya

Two paintings of Mount Kenya in 1963

The mountain 
Mount Kenya  (5,199 m -17,057 ft)  is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro.   The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa and Kiinyaa which mean "God's resting place" in all three languages.  Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, about 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) south of the equator, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi.
Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.
Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift.   Before glaciation, it was 7,000 m (23,000 ft) high. It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre.  There are currently 11 small glaciers and 8 peaks of which the highest are : Batian (5,199 m -  (17,057 ft), Nelion (5,188 m - 17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft).   The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya.
There are several vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya, such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax. An area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi) around the centre of the mountain was designated a National Park and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.  The park receives over 16,000 visitors per year.
The main ethnic groups living around Mount Kenya are Kikuyu, Ameru, Embu and Maasai.
The first three are closely related. They all see the mountain as an important aspect of their cultures.  The most famous Maasai  are semi-nomadic people, who use the land to the north of the mountain to graze their cattle. They believe that their ancestors came down from the mountain at the beginning of time.  The Maasai name for Mount Kenya is Ol Donyo Keri, which means 'mountain of stripes', referring to the dark shades as observed from the surrounding plains.  At least one Maasai prayer refers to Mount Kenya: " God bless our children, let them be like the olive tree of Morintat, let them grow and expand, let them be like Ngong Hills like Mt. Kenya, like Mt. Kilimanjaro and multiply in number. "
All these cultures arrived in the Mount Kenya area in the last several hundred years.
Climbing routes 
Most of the peaks on Mount Kenya have been summited. The majority of these involve rock climbing as the easiest route, although some only require a scramble or a walk. The highest peak that can be ascended without climbing is Point Lenana (4,985 m -16,355 ft).  The majority of the 15,000 visitors to the national park each year climb this peak.  In contrast, approximately 200 people summit Nelion and 50 summit Batian, the two highest peaks.
Mount Kenya's climbing seasons are a result of its location only 20 km (12 mi) from the equator. During the northern summer the rock routes on the north side of the peak are in good summer condition, while at the same time the ice routes on the south side of the peak are prime shape. The situation is reversed during the southern summer. The two seasons are separated by several months of rainy season before and after, during which climbing conditions are generally unfavorable.
Mount Kenya is home to several good ice routes, the two most famous being the Diamond Couloir and the Ice Window route. Snow and ice levels on the mountain have been retreating at an accelerated rate in recent years, making these climbs increasingly difficult and dangerous.
The satellite peaks around the mountain also provide good climbs. These can be climbed in Alpine style and vary in difficulty from a scramble to climbing at UIAA grade VI.

The artist
Pilly Turner is a kenyan watercolourist, active during the 1955-1970 's. The watercolor she painted are always very realistic, and  with exemples of wild life animals and animals of the country. There are no other information available about this artist and only a few amount of paintings on the art market  (more than 10).

___________________________________________
2017 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau 

MOUNT KENYA PAINTED BY ROBERT McLELLAN-SIM

ROBERT McLELLAN-SIM (1907-1985)

Mount Kenya (5,199 m -17,057 ft) 

Kenya 

The mountain 

Mount Kenya  (5,199 m -17,057 ft)  is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro.   The origin of the name Kenya is not clear, but perhaps linked to the Kikuyu, Embu and Kamba words Kirinyaga, Kirenyaa and Kiinyaa which mean "God's resting place" in all three languages.  Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, about 16.5 kilometres (10.3 mi) south of the equator, around 150 kilometres (93 mi) north-northeast of the capital Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the Republic of Kenya.

Mount Kenya is a stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African rift.   Before glaciation, it was 7,000 m (23,000 ft) high. It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years. This has resulted in very eroded slopes and numerous valleys radiating from the centre.  There are currently 11 small glaciers and 8 peaks of which the highest are : Batian (5,199 m -  (17,057 ft), Nelion (5,188 m - 17,021 ft)) and Point Lenana (4,985 m - 16,355 ft).   The forested slopes are an important source of water for much of Kenya.

There are several vegetation bands from the base to the summit. The lower slopes are covered by different types of forest. Many alpine species are endemic to Mount Kenya, such as the giant lobelias and senecios and a local subspecies of rock hyrax. An area of 715 km² (276 sq mi) around the centre of the mountain was designated a National Park and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.  The park receives over 16,000 visitors per year.

The main ethnic groups living around Mount Kenya are Kikuyu, Ameru, Embu and Maasai. 

The first three are closely related. They all see the mountain as an important aspect of their cultures.  The most famous Maasai  are semi-nomadic people, who use the land to the north of the mountain to graze their cattle. They believe that their ancestors came down from the mountain at the beginning of time.  The Maasai name for Mount Kenya is Ol Donyo Keri, which means 'mountain of stripes', referring to the dark shades as observed from the surrounding plains.  At least one Maasai prayer refers to Mount Kenya: " God bless our children, let them be like the olive tree of Morintat, let them grow and expand, let them be like Ngong Hills like Mt. Kenya, like Mt. Kilimanjaro and multiply in number. "

All these cultures arrived in the Mount Kenya area in the last several hundred years.

Climbing routes 

Most of the peaks on Mount Kenya have been summited. The majority of these involve rock climbing as the easiest route, although some only require a scramble or a walk. The highest peak that can be ascended without climbing is Point Lenana (4,985 m -16,355 ft).  The majority of the 15,000 visitors to the national park each year climb this peak.  In contrast, approximately 200 people summit Nelion and 50 summit Batian, the two highest peaks.

When ascended directly, Batian is usually climbed via the North Face Standard Route, UIAA grade IV+ (or 5.6+ YDS).  It was first ascended on 31 July 1944 by Firmin and Hicks.  The route is usually climbed in two days. The Normal Route is the most climbed route up Nelion, and thence across to Batian. It was first climbed by Shipton and Wyn-Harris on 6 January 1929.  It is possible to traverse between the two peaks, via the Gates of Mist, but this often involves spending a night in the Howell hut on top of Nelion. There is a bolted abseil descent route off Nelion. 

Mount Kenya's climbing seasons are a result of its location only 20 km (12 mi) from the equator. During the northern summer the rock routes on the north side of the peak are in good summer condition, while at the same time the ice routes on the south side of the peak are prime shape. The situation is reversed during the southern summer. The two seasons are separated by several months of rainy season before and after, during which climbing conditions are generally unfavorable.

Mount Kenya is home to several good ice routes, the two most famous being the Diamond Couloir and the Ice Window route. Snow and ice levels on the mountain have been retreating at an accelerated rate in recent years, making these climbs increasingly difficult and dangerous. The Diamond Couloir, a steep ice couloir fed by the fusion of the upper Diamond Glacier and pioneered in 1975 by Yvon Chouinard and Michael Covington, was once climbable in summer or winter but now is virtually unclimbable in summer conditions and is seldom deemed in climbable condition even in winter.  Last climbing reports describe the route very difficult, especially in the lower section. The route has changed into a modern ice climb with a very difficult 60m first pitch, starting with 8m of overhanging M7 dry tooling, followed by 50m of USA Grade V ice and by others 6 pitches of moderate climbing on good ice and finally one pitch of water ice USA Grade IV+ ice at the headwall before getting to the Upper Diamond Glacier.

The satellite peaks around the mountain also provide good climbs. These can be climbed in Alpine style and vary in difficulty from a scramble to climbing at UIAA grade VI. 

The painter 

Robert Mc Lellan Sim (RMS) was born in Newport, Gwent, Wales.  He attended Newport Secondary School from 1919 to 1924. In 1926 he won three prizes for graphic arts at the National Eisteddfod of Wales and in 1926 he was awarded a scholarship to study at the Newport School of Arts and Crafts (now part of the University of Wales). After finishing college with a Board of Education Teachers Certificate he attended the Newport Institute for Research into Art and Design (N.I.R.A.D.). Years later NIRAD merged with its sister institute from Cardiff to create the Wales Institute for Research into Art and Design.  

RMS was a prolific artist, and during his time in East Africa (he travelled throughout Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika and Zanzibar) he completed as many as 40 paintings a year. His work was in great demand, mostly in Kenya and purchased by many eminent people and was extremely popular as an official gift or a farewell present. The Colony of Kenya presented a McLellan-Sim painting to HM The Queen on the occasion of her Coronation in 1953, and HM The Queen Mother was presented with another to commemorate her Visit to Kenya in 1959. Many a departing dignitary at the time of independence received a McLellan-Sim painting as a farewell gift. Both Jake Fletcher and Amoeba Walker took McLellan-Sim works of art home with them to England when they left the Prince of Wales School. The Kenya Regiment presented a McLellan-Sim painting to Sir Patrick Renison as their departing Commander-in -Chief when he retired as Governor of Kenya in 1961. 

RMS was a successful commercial artist, with his clients including the East African Tobacco Company, the East African Standard and the Uganda Tourist Board. His public works included the murals for the Kenya Agricultural Stand in the Rhodes Centenary Exhibition of 1952 in Bulawayo, the Nakuru Railway Station murals of 1957 and the 1960 mural for the National Assembly Building in Nairobi. 

RMS designed the 1954 blue 10 shilling postage stamp depicting the Royal Lodge at Sagana.

RMS’s move to Kenya in 1947 was a search for colour and space. His brief war service in the Far East obviously gave him a taste for warmer climes, brighter colours and wide spaces, aspects that were to feature strongly in his African paintings. He is on record as saying that he preferred landscapes and seascapes to portraits because he could go away on his own, often combining his field trips with fishing expeditions, during which he could turn to his sketch book when the trout would not jump! 

In 1958, when back in England on home-leave, he told The Worthing Herald: 

”I always paint sunshine. It was the sunshine that attracted me. I can’t paint greyness and cloudy skies, so Kenya is definitely the place for me.”