BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE – Art at its finest!
It was the beautiful portrait of His Majesty King Mswati III that caught my eye as I was browsing Instagram a few weeks ago. I clicked on the link gaeltheartistofficial which has 15.200 followers and browsed the other pictures, and fast forward: I reached out to the talented artist to get more information about his talent.
He goes by the name GAËL THE ARTIST. He then called me and gave me a virtual tour of his studio, based in Sandton, Johannesburg, in South Africa. He shared that he charges E400 for exhibition. He also shared that the portrait I was enquiring about was worth E2 million. He also revealed that one was just purchased for King Misuzulu as a gift for that price.
Born Gaël Nsumu is a professional international artist, painter, and entrepreneur born 33 years ago in the heart of Africa, in the Congo, to Congolese parents, a medical doctor father and a corporate worker mother.
He said, “When I was eight years old, I discovered my talent for drawing and creating graphics—a gift of sharp cimetric and detective senses. I then taught myself how to draw, paint, and craft right after high school in 2009. I turned down a cartoonist job offer in my hometown Kinshasa to go and study Construction Management at the Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, where I completed my bachelor’s degree in 2015.”
Gaël shared with this publication that he started his professional artist career in 2014 while he was still an engineering student. He started by selling pencil sketch portraits around his campus at his university and in his community in Pretoria, as well as on social media platforms, after his graduation in 2016.
He said, “When I was 24 years old, I dove deeper into the art world and created many large portraits for the Honourable Edna Molewa, Fikile Mbalula, Lindiwe Sisulu, and more. In 2017, I embraced my talent and started selling art to more high-end art collectors around Johannesburg and Cape Town.
Gaël chooses portraiture subjects such as Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, billionaire Elon Musk, venture capitalist Vusi Tembekwayo, author Judy Dlamini, businesswoman Brigitte Radebe,Congolese Political Analyst Dr. McBride Nkhalamba, Honourable Mduduzi Manana, Congolese Presidential Advisor Souleymanekahuka, and more.
His work is available on online gallery www.gaeltheartist.shopat thethey.com
