History Talk: Rocking Art, Ancient & Modern with Kevin Davie

Join author, journalist and printmaker Kevin Davie at The Cape Town Club as he shares how the ancient rock art of the continent – southern Africa included – came to shape modernists Pablo Picasso, Jean Miro and Paul Klee.

These artists, rebelling against the bourgeois art of their times, found inspiration in the collections of German ethnologist Leo Frobenius, who led twelve African expeditions between 1904 and 1933. In his 1928/29 tour of southern Africa, four artists made over 1 000 copies, the largest – from Lesotho – being ten metres long and two metres high.

Alfred Barr, the curator of the Museum of Modern Art, on seeing this material in 1936 remarked: "Modern art is 5 000 years old!". Barr showcased 150 copies of this rock art the following year at MoMA alongside the work of leading modernists to show how the ancient had shaped the modern.'

Date: Saturday, 4 October 2025

Time: 11h00 to 12h00

Tickets: Guests R50 | Members FREE

Tickets are available on Quicket and can also be purchased at the door on the day.

Breakfast, lunch & refreshments available at the fabulous Victoria’s Cafe.