 By 1952 McEwen began to feel that the School of Paris was becoming trivial, and started to show greater interest in African culture.When the idea of founding the Rhodes National Gallery in Salisbury, Rhodesia was floated, McEwen was consulted, and showed great interest in the project.He went to Rhodesia for a month in 1954 for further consultation, but found himself unimpressed with what he saw; there was no local artistic scene to speak of, and the avowed intent of the museum's board of directors was to stock its halls with Old Master paintings.