Title: Cape Town Street Scene
 
Date: 1983
Oil on board
 
Approx. size: 36 x 36cm (framed)
26 x 26cm (actual artwork)
 
Here Baker's self-taught Expressionist style with his loose, easy brush strokes gives us a unique view of a typical Cape Town street scene, particulary within his own Cape Coloured community. A child plays beneath the washing line whilst his mother hangs out the laundry, surrounded by gabled houses from the later colonial period - possibly Woodstock or Salt River - with the ever-present Table Mountain in the background. Vivid colours and contrasting tones give this piece a life of its own, giving us a glimpse into a shrinking inner city community.