Sekoto began exhibiting his works while teaching in the Lutheran mission schools. In 1938 he moved to Johannesburg where he met Brother Roger Castle who became an avid patron. Sekoto became one of the first black artists to show at the South African Academy and the Gainsborough Galleries in Johannesburg. He relocated to Cape Town and then the Transvaal, where he found many patrons. With his earnings from sales of his artwork, Sekoto traveled to Paris in the mid-1940s. He participated in circles of expatriate African artists and intellectuals and spent the rest of his life in Paris. Toward the end of his career he received honors from the University of Witwatersrand and recognition from the French government.

Boy and the Candle
1943
Oil on canvas
46.2 x 36 cm (18 3/16 x 13 1/4 in.)
2000-3-1, museum purchase
(on view September 2001-January 2002)