Steve Rasehloho, a History Painter and Sculptor of Note.

Writes Manyathela Kheleli

The cover painting and most of the other paintings in the bicentennial section of the Lesotho Insights are the work of Steve Mashoabathe Rasehloho. Steve specialises in painting but is also a sculptor. Born and raised in Maseru, Lesotho at Boinyatso, a village near Roma, Steve is also an entrepreneur who has achieved notable on both the artistic and business ends.

Inspired by the Baroque and Neoclassical artists, he undertook to discover his talent in the realm of art from a tender age where he was always drawing; intrigued by anything artistic. Today, we are proud to celebrate his work. 

He has painted eminent persons including, His Majesty King Letsie III as well as former prime ministers and ministers in Lesotho. Mr. Rasehloho has also done history paintings commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism, the Royal Palace and some corporates. Some of his paintings have been presented to King Mswati III as gifts from His Majesty King Letsie III while other works have been sold in Germany, the United States, China, and Namibia among others.

After completing his matric, the Cambridge Overseas School Certificate (COSC) in 1991, Steve says it took him six years to figure out what he wanted to do with his talent. He then enrolled into a fine arts course at Machabeng College in 1998 and graduated in 2000. Upon completing the course, he moved to the University of the Free State to pursue a degree in fine arts in 2002 and completed it in 2008. It was at the University of the Free State where he studied art history, painting and sculpture in different materials such as wood, stone, steel, clay and bronze. “At the moment I work with commissioned portraits, but I mostly enjoy making history paintings in my small studio at Sea Point, in Maseru,” Rasehloho said. Steve says he enjoys being his own boss and dreams of opening an arts museum named after himself in Lesotho. 

While he only got to learn the intricacies and differences of different arts forms, his inclination has always been on history paintings. This was also inspired by his keenness in studying history which he found easy to understand with the aid of pictorial illustrations, It is from those experiences where edges to paint historical pieces was derived. “In creating history paintings, I use the original landscape as the background, if possible. This helps in depicting the scene as it was told. Choosing the subject matter requires more research and models for posing. I imagine scenes as I read the story, put all my subjects together and start organising them on the canvas.” 

In depicting his story, Steve focuses on the characters and allows them to enhance the subject matter. For example, in a painting called The Journey from Menkhoaneng to Thaba-Bosiu, on page…, the scene is depicted from the background as the cannibals are capturing an old man representing Peete, who was killed and devoured on the way (See story on page…). This explains why in the painting, the old women are depicted trailing the travelling crowd. “The depth of the landscape puts my spirit on the scene as it happened,” he explained. He also finds pleasure in painting war scenes and clouds. “In most of my history paintings, especially my best paintings, I invest a lot of time on the clouds as well.” 

As part of his sculpting work, Steve has produced works for many churches in Lesotho and South Africa. He has built alters and pulpits in South Africa, with some coming from as far as Limpopo. These include works for the Roadmap Ministry in Bloemfontein, the Holy Ghost Ministry, and Our Lady of Victory Cathedral in Maseru.

His works have been on display at many exhibitions in South Africa, China and the United States. One of his paintings called the ‘Three Kings’ which is the cover picture of this edition of Lesotho Insights depicts the iconic Kings of Lesotho starting with King Moshoeshoe I, King Moshoshoe II and the reigning King Letsie III. This painting was initially commissioned by the then Minister of Tourism, Mrs. ‘Mannete Ramaili for the Ministry of Tourism. However, the painting was eventually purchased by Avani Lesotho in 2016 after the minister left office. It is now on display at the hotel.

It is also a display of the kings’ regalia inside a palace, it is a majestic portraiture that serves as a national treasure. In the painting, Steve has shown an artistic illustration of what he would have wanted the palace to look like. The pillars in the painting vary from ordinary pillars to functional art of horse sculptures while others are the Queens namely ‘Mamohato, and the current Queen ‘Masenate. 

On the ceiling is a painting of a shepherd and his flock “because our King represents a shepherd who takes care of his flock,” Mashoabathe said. 

For art commissioning, Steve Mashoabathe can be contacted on +266 69355822 or 5852 4935 or on email: stevemashoabathe@gmail.com.