The paintings hang silently in the One Off Contemporary Art Gallery, Nairobi, in what would have been an exhibition, but it isn’t.
They are visual dirges to an artist whose work once plied its trade across these same hallways. They are the last of Timothy Brooke’s paintings, a master artist whose love for art, music, colour, wilderness, poetry, literature, living simply and fishing echoes in his works.
The paints were found by Jill Brooke, his wife while she was clearing up his studio, a place she has avoided ever since he passed away three years ago, in a process she called difficult and heartbreaking.
The paintings are works that Timothy was working on at the time of his death, drawings of larger projects he hoped to complete in his usual flair of oil on canvas, while cleaning, Jill found them and not knowing what to do, she handed them over to Carol Lees of Contemporary Art Gallery that hung them up in her gallery and for months, they have stayed there as a silent tribute to a man whose works didn’t fall far off from the footprints of master renaissance artists.
A portrait by Timothy Brooke showing at the One Off Art Gallery.
Photo credit: Pool
The prices of the portraits in the exhibition range from between Sh620,000 to Sh3.9 million.
The drawings are in hues of grayscale and colour, some to a near sketch others to a full-blown regal, Timothy is what you would have described as a craftsman with a creative rugged finesse.
They highlight wildlife in blocks of solid colours with hazes of grayed backgrounds in the manner that Timothy understood light and canvas.
Timothy loved Kenya and it reflected in his works. He was built up in his childhood memories which had an impact on who he became. He was a crocodile Dundee type of person, who especially loved fishing and the outdoors.
For a painter whose work is reputed itself (his most expensive painting is reputed to have cost about Sh4 million) Timothy is said to have been oblivious to the money, he cared more about his art than he did with the money prospect.
His wife Jill, who is the family financier, recalls Timothy as being uninterested in money. He just wanted to paint, be with his animals and as long as he could go fishing in the cold rivers at the foot of Mt Kenya, he was a happy lad.
One of the last drawings of Timothy Brooke showing at the One Off Art Gallery.
Photo credit: Pool
It would explain why he trusted Carol for years and would take paintings to her and let her do the rest. He was one of the founder artists to work with the One Off Contemporary Art Gallery, which would explain the level of cohesion and trust he had with her.
It is no wonder that three years after his death, Carol chose to showcase his last works in the gallery for months now. It is a tribute to a friend and coworker in a way that evokes a remembrance of his name.
Timothy didn’t paint what he thought would sell, wasn’t sterilised in this thought frame about the art he was meant to produce. He painted what he wanted to paint.
He painted the Kenya in the light he wanted it to be remembered for, the glistening nostalgic days of his youth and in the wealth of its light.
As an artist, he was an impressionist and a colourist and is quoted as saying that in all the places that he has painted at, there is nowhere that one will be able to find the kind of light that there is in Kenya. This light played a large part in his paintings, he would play with his streaks of vibrant and dull, almost playfully.
The ‘Last Word’ is a sneak peek of his brilliant manipulation of figures and colours, as it was a work in progress to larger projects which came to an untimely end because of his death.
To the viewer, the elicit nostalgic pangs of what just could have been had time been granted to a man whose legacy is common knowledge in the art circles that look up to him as something of a nonchalant deity.
His paintings have a knack for drawing you in and even from a distance, each piece looks better than it does up-close. It is a rugged shout-out to nature and a reverence for its ability to paint feelings in our minds.
He was largely influenced by the impressionists whose work was his study bible. The Italian Renaissance artists formed part of the grand masters whose work he worshipped and his visits to Paris and the Louvre were some of his lifetime highlights.
A painting of Elephants by Timothy Brooke at the One Off Art Gallery.
Photo credit: Pool
His art required a select palate. Whereas realism and the photographic depiction of images on canvas to a near exact seemed to be a fan favourite in the art circles, it was a tad different with Timothy. He was the absolute opposite and preferred not to paint in the absolute realistic but in the classical figurative.
Timothy’s love for light, and his memories for vivid colour were the signature of his craft essence. He had a fresh approach to his work and is quoted by his wife as saying that “one of the greatest problems with art is knowing where to stop and knowing that a project is finished.”
Jill recalls him as a man who was not embarrassed to show his emotions and would cry and laugh openly.
He had an arrogance to himself and believed in what he was doing.
Every artist needs a cockiness to their spirit about the worth of their work. If you don’t believe in yourself, it is hard to sell that belief to others.
