Ídasse Malendza

Painted in 1982, Longa vida is the earliest Ídasse in the sale — four decades separate it from the works around it, and the distance is instructive. The palette of earth, bone and umber and the totemic interlocking of figures show the young painter already in command of the language he would spend a lifetime refining. As document and as painting, it anchors the promise of its own title: a long life, seen from both ends.