International interest in art from East Africa has been confirmed with strong sales reported from the 1:54 art fair in the heart of London.

Buyers from the US and Europe snapped up 30 paintings and drawings by Kenyan artists Beatrice Wanjiku, Peterson Kamwathi, Paul Onditi and Gor Soudan.

The work was presented by Lavinia Calza of ARTLabAfrica who reports total sales valued at around $120,000.

Sculptures by the expat Kenyan Arlene Wandera and paintings by the Ethiopian Merikokeb Berhanu proved to be a harder pitch, although a curator of Tate Britain was said to have waxed lyrical about the little known Berhanu.

So, success abroad.

But will the prophets be honoured in their own countries?

A chance to find out comes next week, with the third annual auction of modern and contemporary East African art organised by the Circle Art Agency of Nairobi.

Of the 51 lots, a slender majority has been sourced directly from the artists, which points to the difficulty of fulfilling one of the agency’s aims — to stimulate the secondary market. Or, to put it another way, to sell work already owned by collectors who now wish in that delightful phrase to “refresh” their collections. As opposed to cashing in hoped-for investments or raising a few bob as the bills flood in. Or both.

The artworks can currently be seen at Circle’s gallery on James Gichuru Road, Nairobi, before being carted off to the Babylonian splendours of the city’s Villa Rosa Kempinski for the auction, on November 3.

Highlights this time come from Tanzania and Uganda, with a stunning group of six Tingatinga paintings plus a sculpture by George Lilanga of one of his mouse men, gaily painted in enamels, holding a cellphone and smoking a fag. It has a top estimate of $4,000.

Of the Tingatingas, surely the star is by the founder of the movement, Eduardo Saidi Tingatinga. It is of an elephant, painted in 1971 and estimated to sell for up to $4,300. Teetering on spindly legs, it boasts a ravishing combination of orange, lemon and greys with highlights of an almost iridescent green.

A superb painting by his cousin Kaspar Henrick Tedo also took my eye. It shows a couple alongside their bright yellow car watching fishermen cast their net — yours for up to $1,500, they reckon, and as fresh as the day it was made.

These works come from the Emerson Foundation of Zanzibar, and their immaculate provenance is likely to stimulate brisk bidding.

Geoffrey Mukasa and Eli Kyeyune, both sadly no longer with us, wave the flag for Uganda. Their two paintings really do demonstrate the value of embedding art in a country’s education system from primary level onwards.

The Kyeyune, of a woman, in a classical semi-nude pose, glows darkly from the board; the Mukasa, in his typical post-Cubist style and with a predominantly blue palette enlivened by touches of sienna, is likely to be the most expensive picture in the sale, if the upper estimate of $17,500 is proved to be valid.

Called At Home, this oil on canvas is typical of Mukasa’s more important works. It was exhibited in 1992 at the Galerie am Stubentor in Austria as part of a show trumpeting Ugandan art, alongside works by the Naturalist Fabian Mpagi and Francis Nnaggenda.

An interesting piece by another artist who left us too soon is the final lot of the sale. A richly painted and decorated chair, it is called My Throne, and is by Ashif Malaba of the Maasai Mbili collective, who died earlier this year aged only 43. All proceeds, including the agency’s 15 per cent commission, go to the family.

Also attractive are a large charcoal drawing (151cm x 183cm) by Peterson Kamwathi from his Peri Urban Encounters series, and a commanding panel of clothing labels stitched together by the sculptor Peter Walala — his wry critique of consumerism.

The magnificent Lakeside Images II by Justus Kyalo is another delight. Painted in 1997, it marks the beginning of his move towards abstraction.
So if those are a few of the highlights, what about the lowlights?

A couple bashfully reveal themselves — a poorly-inked sepia linocut by Geraldine Robarts of the oft-seen Tree of Life motif that would look much better a quarter the size and as a kitchen tile; and a kneeling nude, oil on paper, by Tabitha wa Thuku dating from 2003, in which one buttock is coyly lifted, as though the model is breaking wind.

Then there are the curious cases of Lots 34 and 35 — confident linocuts by John Muafangejo, probably Namibia’s best known artist. Namibian? Surely that is South West Africa, not the East.

Maybe his presence is part of an attempt to widen the scope of the auction to make it pan-African rather than regional.

If that is the case, there may the future lie.

Frank Whalley runs Lenga Juu, an arts and media consultancy based in Nairobi.