About the artist:

Ben Macala was an important 20th-century South African artist. Working primarily in sculptures and drawing, his oeuvre focused on portraits of stylized, wide-eyed faces, with a particular focus on the motif of Madonna and child. Born on April 21, 1938 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, he was largely self-taught and is said to have spent much of his time as a youth drawing on rocks in the countryside while herding cattle. Macala is remembered for his pioneering historical importance, as he went on to be one of the few black South African artists whose work was exhibited during the brutal oppression of Apartheid. He died in 1997 in Soweto, South Africa.