Henry Tayali (1943–1987)

Argyll and Bute Council

About this resource

How can composition, colour, and mark-making be used to create a bustling, lively atmosphere in painting?

This resource takes an in-depth look at Zambian artist Henry Tayali's untitled painting of a busy café or bar.

Through discussion and analysis, students will explore the inspirations behind the painting and the visual elements used by the artist. The resource also includes suggestions for a painting project inspired by Henry Tayali's work with research links to other modern and contemporary artists.

This lesson plan resource can be used to support students in:

discovering the work of Henry Tayali
analysing how visual elements and concepts can be used to convey mood and atmosphere in painting
responding to painting through discussion of ideas, thoughts, and feelings
researching and developing ideas for a painting project

This Art and Design resource offers a series of activities that can be used together as a lesson plan or as individual components to integrate into your own scheme of work. It is devised for CfE Level 3 / Key Stage 3 but may also be useful for Level 4 / Key Stage 4 students.

National Curriculum for England

Art and design
- Evaluate and analyse creative works
- Actively engage in the creative process of art
- Know about great artists and understand the historical and cultural development of their art forms
- Produce creative work, explore ideas

Northern Ireland Curriculum

Art and design
- Developing students' own personal and creative responses
- Developing creative thinking skills through designing and making

Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence

Art and design
- I have experimented with a range of media and technologies to create images and objects, using my understanding of their properties (EXA 3-02a)
- Through observing and recording, I can create material that shows accuracy of representation (EXA 3-04a)
- I can respond to the work of artists and designers by discussing my thoughts and feelings. I can give and accept constructive comment on my own and others' work (EXA 3-07a)

National Curriculum for Wales (2008)

Art and design
- Students use their knowledge about the work of other artists to enrich and inform their work through analysis and evaluation
- Students use a variety of processes
- Students evaluate their work through discussion
- Students explore, experiment with and apply the visual, tactile and sensory language of art

New Curriculum for Wales (2022)

Expressive Arts

Exploring the expressive arts is essential to developing artistic skills and knowledge and it enables learners to become curious and creative individuals.

Progression step 4:

I can explore and experiment with my own and others’ creative ideas, demonstrating increasingly complex technical control, innovation, independent thinking and originality to develop my work with confidence, being able to explain my reasons behind choices made and evaluate their effectiveness on my creative work

I can explore creative work, understanding the personal, social, cultural and historical context, including the conventions of the period in which it was created.

I can investigate and understand how meaning is communicated through the ideas of other artists and performers.

Progression step 5:

I can explore and experiment with my own creative ideas and those of others, demonstrating technical control, innovation, independent thinking and originality, showing confidence to take risks and developing resilience in order to overcome creative challenges.

I can investigate and analyse how creative work is used to represent and celebrate personal, social and cultural identities.

Responding and reflecting, both as artist and audience, is a fundamental part of learning in the expressive arts.

Progression step 4:

I can effectively evaluate my own creative work and that of others showing increasing confidence to recognise and articulate strengths, and to demonstrate resilience and determination to improve.

I can apply knowledge and understanding of context when evaluating my own creative work and creative work by other people and from other places and times.

I can evaluate the effectiveness of a wide range of artistic techniques in producing meaning.

Progression step 5:

I can critically and thoughtfully respond to and analyse the opinion and creative influences of others in order to independently shape and develop my own creative work.

I can critically evaluate the way artists use discipline-specific skills and techniques to create and communicate ideas.

Creating combines skills and knowledge, drawing on the senses, inspiration and imagination.

Progression step 4:

I can use my experimentation and investigation to manipulate creative work with purpose and intent when communicating my ideas.

I can apply specialised technical skills in my creative work.

I can purposefully use my design skills and apply a range of solutions to clarify and refine final creative ideas.

I can draw upon my experiences and knowledge to inform and develop strategies to overcome creative challenges with imagination and resilience.

Progression step 5:

I can synthesise and apply experience, knowledge and understanding with sophistication and intent when communicating my ideas.

I can use professionally established, discipline-specific techniques confidently and convincingly in my creative work and work towards industry standard.

I can design creative outcomes to professional and industry-standard with sophistication, clear purpose and intent.

I can use effective strategies to take risks with my own creative work and can display resilience to overcome creative challenges.

Humanties

Human societies are complex and diverse and are shaped by human actions and beliefs

Progression step 4

I can analyse and explain how identity is formed. I can explain the connections between diverse societies.

Progression step 5

I can evaluate the multifaceted nature of identity and explain how it influences people’s interaction and impact within and across diverse societies in my locality and in Wales, as well as in the wider world.

Introduction

This is one of two lesson plan resources for secondary-age students that focus on modern African paintings in The Argyll Collection in Scotland. They can be used individually or together within a lesson plan, offering students the opportunity to explore the contrasting approaches to painting mood and atmosphere.

Explore the resource 'Painting mood and atmosphere: Louis Mbughuni'

About The Argyll Collection

The Argyll Collection was developed between 1960 and 1988 as a learning resource for the young people of Argyll and Bute. It was established by writer Naomi Mitchison (at that time a Councillor for Argyll and Bute) and Jim Tyre, art advisor to the Council.

'My plan had two edges: one was purely artistic. But the other was to build up a Scottish confidence, a sense of nationhood, something a civilized person could be proud of.' – Naomi Mitchison, Times Educational Supplement 1966

The focus of the collection is contemporary Scottish art, but it also includes artworks from Africa and Asia, collected by Mitchison on her extensive travels. She wanted students in Argyll to be able to connect with other cultures, and often selected artworks that linked these cultures with Scottish cultures – such as scenes of fishing or agriculture.

Find out more about The Argyll Collection
Browse paintings in The Argyll Collection
Read the Art UK story: Modern African art, from Dar es Salaam to Dunoon

First impressions: what do you think?

Look at the painting as a group and discuss your first impressions.

You could use these nudge questions to help to get the discussion going:

what does the painting show?
what is the mood or atmosphere of the painting? What does it make you feel? (It might help to ask your students to think of words to describe the painting.)
if you could listen to paintings as well as look at them, what do you think this painting would sound like?

Painting thoughts

The painting shows a bustling scene with lots of people – at a party or in a bar or café. The people are sitting in groups at tables and chatting and dancing (at the back) so there is probably music. There is a lot going on and the atmosphere is lively.

This YouTube playlist of African music from the 1970s provides a possible soundtrack to the painting

Look closer: who is Henry Tayali?

Henry Tayali (1943–1987) was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia (it became Zambia after independence). He was a talented artist from a young age and held his first exhibition when he was 15.

He trained at the renowned Makerere College in Uganda, and then Düsseldorf Art College and became one of Zambia’s most revered artists. A national contemporary art gallery in Zambia is named after him.

Look at this photograph of Henry Tayali in his studio with your students. Behind him, some paintings are stacked against the wall.

What this photograph tells us about Henry Tayali and his paintings?

Behind the artist, lots of paintings are stacked. They are painted with expressive, gestural abstract marks. If you look closely you will see that one of the paintings shows clenched fists and the word 'freedom'.

Zambia and independence

When Henry Tayali was born, Northern Rhodesia was part of the British Empire. Black African people in the country did not have the same rights as the very small number of white Europeans who lived there.

Tayali played a pivotal role in the cultural and artistic development of Zambia, as a lecturer in African Art at the Institute of African Studies in Lusaka and as President of the International Association of Artists.

Zambia is a landlocked country and does not have a coastline. It has lots of natural resources, including wildlife, forestry, freshwater, and arable land. It is also rich in minerals – especially copper.

The mining of copper on a large scale changed Zambia from a country with lots of small villages, to one with big bustling cities. The population is concentrated mainly around Zambia's capital Lusaka in the south of the country, and in the cities in the north where copper is mined.

Find out more about Zambia

What inspired Henry Tayali?

Henry Tayali lived in Lusaka and documented the lives and hardships of the people living in the city.

His paintings and prints often evoke busy urban spaces, particularly bars and cafés where people relax after work. He felt it was important to reflect the identity of the Zambian people and culture in his paintings.

Look closer: how has Henry Tayali created the bustling, lively atmosphere of his painting?

Although the painting shows a real place and real people, Tayali has abstracted the scene using composition, colour, and gestural brushstrokes to capture not only what the bar looks like but also what it feels and sounds like.

Untitled

Henry Tayali (1943–1987)

Argyll and Bute Council

Composition

Discuss the composition of the painting with your students. (You may need to explain that the word composition is used in art to describe the arrangement of the various elements that make up an artwork.)

How have the figures been arranged in the painting?
Is there a single focus or a more all-over arrangement? Why do you think the artist has done this?
Some of the figures have been cut off at the edges of the painting, what is the effect of this? Does it make you think of other types of image?
What atmosphere has Tayali suggested by using this composition?
How different would this scene have looked if Tayali had used a less abstracted composition – perhaps depicting separate groups of people sitting at tables?

Composition thoughts

Henry Tayali has filled the canvas with people. The figures towards the front are larger (to give a sense of perspective). The people are not carefully defined – we don’t really see whole figures, just heads and arms and the colours of clothing.

Some of the figures are cut off by the edge of the painting, which makes it look like a hastily taken photograph.

The mood of the painting is of energy and movement. The busy composition suggests music, conversation and dancing.

Untitled (detail)

Henry Tayali (1943–1987)

Colour and mark-making

Look closely at this detail of Untitled (c.1972) with your students.

Discuss how Henry Tayali has used colour and brushstrokes or mark-making.

Describe the brushstrokes.
What do the brush marks suggest about the atmosphere of the bar?
How has Henry Tayali used colour? Has it been painted in large flat areas or dotted around the surface of the canvas?
What do the colours make you think and feel when you look at the painting?
Can you think of any other artists who use dabs of colour to create a sense of movement and activity?

Colour and mark-making thoughts

The quick gestural marks dabs, blobs and messy lines suggest the bustling moving of the people in the bar.

The colours add to the lively atmosphere, they are not confined to separate areas, but are repeated across the surface of the painting.

Look at the shirt of the figure at the front of the painting, it is made up of blues, pinks and purples. The figure's skin is also made up of different colours – browns, reds, deep maroons, and warm ochres.

Tayali's use of dabs of bright, broken colour could be compared to the Impressionists' use of colour to suggest fleeting movement. Like Tayali, they often painted scenes of everyday life and wanted their paintings to look as if they were capturing a moment in time.

Vincent van Gogh, and artists such as Oskar Kokoschka, Frank Auerbach and Leon Kossoff also used expressive marks and dabs of colour to suggest movement, atmosphere and their response to a subject or scene.

Contemporary artist Denzil Forrester uses bright colours and gestural brushstrokes to capture the lively atmosphere of nightclubs, busy city streets and the bustle of everyday life.

Have a go! Paint a busy, lively scene

Task your students with researching, planning and painting a busy, bustling scene with lots of people, inspired by the atmosphere in Henry Tayali's Untitled.

These research and planning suggestions have been written for students to follow.

Step 1: Starting points and source material

Decide on a subject. Think of bustling places like busy cafés or parties, think about busy streets or beaches, or a crowd at a football match or sporting event.

What do busy places look like?
What do they feel like?
What do they sound like?

Collect images of busy scenes to inspire you. You could also draw or photograph crowds of people if there are busy places near you.

Step 2: Research

Explore how other artists have depicted lively, bustling, noisy scenes. Look at how they have used composition, colours and mark-making to create a sense of vibrant activity.

Bier Garten 1974

This is another artwork by Henry Tayali that shows a busy scene. At first, it looks abstract, a muddle of wiggly lines. The composition is intricately crammed with people, benches, tables and beer glasses.

How has Henry Tayali used composition and mark-making to suggest a busy scene and create the atmosphere of the work?

Denzil Forrester

Ghanaian-born British painter Denzil Forrester, like Tayali, is inspired by busy places – streets, parties night clubs.

Many of his paintings are inspired by music. In the 1980s and 1990s, he drew people dancing at Dub and reggae clubs in East London. The movement and music inspired the marks he made.

Leon Kossoff

Leon Kossoff often drew and painted busy crowds on streets and in swimming pools.

Look at the quick gestural marks he has used to capture bathers in this pool.

Children's Swimming Pool, Friday Evening

See more artworks by Leon Kossoff

Lisa Milroy

British artist Lisa Milroy also manages to suggest the busy activity and noise of a crowd in her painting Doing, Thinking, Speaking (2000). How has she done this?

See more artworks by Lisa Milroy

Research more paintings of busy scenes

Search Art UK's website for more inspiration

Try these search terms... and think of some of your own.

crowd
busy
festival
café

Step 3: Plan your painting

Sketch some ideas for your painting and make notes to help you plan.

Think about:

composition – how can you make your painting look full of people? Think about how Henry Tayali filled the painting and didn't leave any blank spaces.
colour – how can you make use of colour to add to the bustling look of your painting? You could use lots of colour and variations of colour – think bout how Henry Tayali used pinks, blues and reds in painting the purple shirt!
mark-making – How can you use your brushstrokes and marks and dabs of paint to suggest movement?
what your painting sounds like? How can you suggest the noise and bustle of the scene?

Top tip! Listen to some lively busy music while you're painting (on headphones, of course, if you're in the classroom!) and see if the beats and sounds inspire your mark-making.

Exhibition website: Dar to Dunoon: Modern African Art from The Argyll Collection

Dar to Dunoon: Learning Resources

The Henry Tayali Gallery

Focus Zambia: Henry Tayali Outside the Spotlight

Modern African art, from Dar es Salaam to Dunoon 4 August 2021, Kate Cowcher
The outrageous neglect of African figures in art history 31 October 2019, Paterson Joseph
Denzil Forrester: dub music, dance and dynamism 19 February 2021, Aida Amoako
Lubaina Himid's 'Le Rodeur: The Pulley' 14 October 2021, Claire FitzGerald
Between art and popular culture: the myriad influences of Chris Ofili 10 October 2019, Lydia Figes