# George Lilanga artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/george-lilanga/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T22:05:00.496Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Death date: 2005-06-27
- Nationality: Tanzanian
- Movements: Contemporary African and East African art context, Makonde cultural context
- Common media: Painting, Sculpture

## Portrait

![George Lilanga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/George_Lilanga_insieme_all%27opera_Banana_guarda_ho_l%27acquolina_in_bocca.jpg)
Cesare Pippi · CC BY-SA 3.0
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:George_Lilanga_insieme_all%27opera_Banana_guarda_ho_l%27acquolina_in_bocca.jpg

## About George Lilanga

George Lilanga (1934–2005) was a Tanzanian painter and sculptor associated with the Makonde people and the wider context of contemporary East African art. Wikidata and VIAF align on his identity and life years, while public biographical sources describe a career extending from the late 1970s into the early twenty-first century. He lived and worked for much of his life in Dar es Salaam. Collectors encounter his name across both painting and sculpture, making the distinction between object types important when cataloging or comparing works. Lilanga is discussed internationally as a Tanzanian artist whose work connects Makonde cultural identity with broader accounts of contemporary African art. Reliable entity matching should link records to his stable Wikidata and VIAF identifiers and distinguish him from similarly named makers. The available sources support his broad biography and principal media, although they do not establish a complete chronology, subject taxonomy, catalogue of series, or detailed account of materials and editions.

## Common works and media

Published identity sources consistently describe George Lilanga as both a painter and a sculptor, so works may appear in either painting or sculpture categories. The collected evidence does not establish a dependable list of recurring subjects, named series, supports, sculptural materials, print editions, or edition sizes. Cataloging should identify the actual object type, medium, support, dimensions, inscriptions, and physical condition from the work itself instead of extrapolating those details from the artist's name.

## Market and appraisal context

An appraisal should first distinguish Lilanga's paintings from his sculptures and confirm that the attribution matches his established authority identity. Available Appraisily auction records can then be organized by work type, sale date, and realized price when sufficiently comparable lots exist. This source pack does not provide major-auction-house analysis or lot-level evidence supporting price direction, record claims, or a hierarchy of subjects. Condition, provenance, dimensions, date, support, and materials should therefore be documented for the individual object, while any claimed market effect should be tested against closely comparable public sales rather than assumed from the artist's overall auction presence.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine researched artist identity and authority links with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are publicly available.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1507782
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/6081254/
- British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG201632
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lilanga
- Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lilanga
- Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lilanga
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/george-lilanga/