Sam Joseph Ntiro (1923-1993) was an artist, diplomat, public official and civil servant. Born in Mache, on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Ntiro was to become a multi-linguist and a Professor of art and education. He held roles in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, UK, USA, Canada, Ghana and Nigeria, became the first East African High Commissioner to the Court of Saint James in London and Ireland, and was married to Evangeline Sarah Nyendwoha, Uganda and East Africa’s first woman University Graduate.

In 1986 philanthropist Peter Scott donated this painting by Ntiro, Monkeys Feeding. The work was created in the 1960s when Ntiro was regarded as one of East Africa’s most prominent painters. His work was shown internationally, but despite this very few galleries in the UK have works by him in their collections. Monkeys Feeding can be seen as a pivotal work, produced at a time when Tanzanian artists were defining their identities as makers in a new, independent nation.