Masterpieces Of Africa

African Art

BATANAI was founded by Paul Gunner when he started collecting African Art in 1982 after a journey into Africa.

When Paul arrived in a small town of Mutare on the outskirts of Eastern Zimbabwe, chance or perhaps fate had brought him to meeting for the first time Casper Darare and his African Tribal brother Fanuael Mutemesango.

The friendship that formed led Paul to begin exploring African Art, particularly stone art created by the Shona people of Zimbabwe and resulted in Paul developing an understanding of stone and quality artwork.

Subsequently, Paul developed lasting friendships with many other African artists, including TM Gidi, David Sibanda, Tony Cande, Zachariah Njobo, Washington Matafi, Tawanda Mutem, DCN Moyo, and many others.

This resulted in a mutual exchange of knowledge with an understanding of quality workmanship, stone selection, and the choice of finishes required to create masterpieces that will be, and are, passed from generation to generation as inheritance pieces.

In 1992 Paul started Batanai Artworks in Rosebank, a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. The art attracted many admirers and collectors throughout the world resulting in sales and exports to Holland, England, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, France, Spain, Belgium, Australia, Singapore, China, Japan, and Dubai.

A presentation piece was selected by the management of Toyota South Africa for presentation to Mr. Akio Toyoda the President of Toyota Motor Corporation.

From the Desk of Paul

When I discovered Shona art I was fascinated. I met many talented men with astonishing creative imaginations and skills who are still my friends today Their art were different and unlike the “normal” art I was accustomed to.

The language was different: e.g. they used the word “creation” which (after many years) I discovered meant “abstract”. So I embarked on a journey of discovery which has so far lasted more than 40 years.
My journey was exploring and understanding the quality of stone (the MOHS scale) and the workmanship required to produce fine quality artwork. The joy of sharing this knowledge and understanding with clients is one of the most satisfying aspects of my life.

I also researched the history of Shona art (please see the articles on Shona art history, and notes on H. Rider Haggard and Pablo Picasso).

I have studied art pricing and auctions. Very few Shona pieces are auctioned (Sotheby’s etc) and I have found that quality art consistently gained between 10% and 16% in value per year.