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PAGE 02 BUSINESSART | APRIL 2010
Among the plusses Art isn’t one - Melvyn Minnaar reviews The Spier Contemporary 2010
From Page 1 superficial and derivative. big dark dramatic space with bright oranje monitors - is, in itself, a
There are one-liners that don’t go beyond the door. The old studio treat. And Swift’s Aspire outside an exciting, towering presence.)
There are plusses to this ultra-enterprising effort. Art that twists sin of indulgence abounds. (For goodness sake, how original is the
the knife in your gut, or frazzles your mind, is not one. If ‘contem- idea of cyberspace as space? How many carved footballers and Other plusses are the lovely little coffee café and art goodies shop
porary’ is as loaded as it is offered in this ambitious showcase’s caricatures of politicians do we need? What wit is there in pictures in the corner. This is just what a show like this needs: a place for
title, South African art is pretty much in limbo these days. of presidents with ribbons? Is a ‘Vlakplaas memorial’ not a hor- visitors to sit and talk. The clear, simple catalogue is another plus,
rible mis-conceptualisation?) although the printed images are somewhat insipid, the texts a little
Maybe that’s to be expected in the run-down space of cultural me- warbled, and it could do with more information.
diocrity our country has become - one where even the arts minister Not a thing comes across as dangerous here. Few pieces have even
is, well, not very well informed. (Thankfully nonesuch officials of a whiff of insolence. (The performative works, uncomfortable as As to the art. It will be unfair to write off all as average. It will be
our banana-republic-in-making were at the great opening party.) they sit within the context and concept, may be the more daring equally wrong to discourage Capetonians and visitors not to take
and adventurous. Not that the video documentaries of those pieces the opportunity to visit this major effort. There is a little ‘empow-
But even in this dilapidated state of the nation an optimist can are particularly interesting. Real performances require real audi- erment tool’ built into the project: a people’s choice vote for ‘best’
hope that circumstances would elicit a few good, clever cultural ence time and commitment.) artwork that you can drop into the glass box as you leave. It’s
kicks in the groin. Artists are supposed to do this. In this instance, worth the effort.
they were sourced, it is claimed, from all corners of our beloved Could it be that the art fair syndrome - art for money; not much
country. But, for all the effort - not to mention all the glorious, thought; commodity for neat, yuppie spaces - has infected the It’s also worth to give a couple of pieces more than a second look.
yummy money spent and promised - they have, alas, not delivered. idea of a cutting-edge art expo? No dare, just something you can
acquire? These may include art by the likes of David Bloomer, Melanie
Either the Spier Contemporary 2010 signals that our pool of talent Cleary, Araminta de Clermont and Dave Robertson (great photo
is so-so, or there was something wrong with the sourcing strategy. So what are the plusses of the Spier Contemporary 2010? studies); Jessica Gregory and Dan Halter (simple video clout);
Or the team of selectors, who went through, it is said, more than Kurt Pio (splendid historical space conceptualisation); Zakhele
2 700 pieces of art submitted, has chucked the baby out with the Top of the list is the wonderful invasion of the glorious, old Cape Moses Hlatshwayo, Arie Kuijers, Wilhelm Saayman, Xolile Mazi-
bathwater. Town city hall for this, a first time ever, exhibition of contempo- buko, Colin Payne (grimly witty and goofy stuff); Christopher
rary art in the centre of the city. You can walk right in, for gratis, Swift, Jacky Lloyd, Sicelo Ziqubu (clever sculptural explora-
They finally selected 132 art works from 101 artists, according off the street. tions); Richard Bollers, Elizabeth Buys, Rudolph Tshie, Sentso
to the media bumf. Was this over-filtering? Or have the organis- Lele, Motseokae Klass Thibeletsa (real painting power); and, for
ers not cracked a vigorous enough response, despite the allure of Having convinced the city authorities, in a remarkable, deft move, old-fashioned purity of visual impact, David Koloane and Helen
riches and prizes? Some serious rethinking is needed. to allow the neglected, shabby spaces of the old library in the Sebidi.
magnificent building to be utilised, the Africa Centre, organisers
Given that the majority of selected artists are just over thirty years of the event, spent a fortune on fixing up the interiors. It is money If this seems somewhat of a hop-scotch list, it’s exactly what it
of age - in other words, teenagers at the time of our liberation and well spent. is. The selectors and judges clearly had their turn (and stand to be
that optimistic era of a cultural dawn - it seems that challenging judged as well), why not every Capetonian?
confidence, not to mention creativity, has taken a serious knock in Not only is the installation world class, with wonderfully large
the ensuing years. Where have they been? (And where are those, rooms, airy passages and high-ceilinged spaces most professional- Of course, the biggest plus of the Spier Contemporary is that it is
oh so, ‘established’?) ly refitted for big art, it proves an important point about re-utilising taking place at all - and that there are sponsors funding the costly
this great facility as cultural space. (It had stood empty of years, project. With the country, province and city’s culture bureaucrats
For all its aspirations, the project falls short on the very essentials after the library moved, with no-one having an idea what to do ignorant, or at a lost as to the promotion of the visual arts, this is
that should propel it: verve and seduction, and, yes, excitement. with it.) Cape Town, as many have said, can do with a permanent indeed a brave undertaking. Wide appreciation and applause are
Missing is the crucial electricity of wow! Deflated, both cerebrally space for contemporary art - and this project shows how it can be required. But there also needs to be a rethinking on the African
and otherwise, by the average and deficiency of invention, a visitor done. (Most of the fixing-up work has now been done.) Centre’s strategy if it is to showcase truly smart contemporary
might feel done in. Even the most generous of post- or alter-mod- South African art in future.
ernists, with Danto in their hearts (prompted by limped, excusing In some cases, like fine stage-management, the installation even
catalogue texts), may stifle a yawn at the dullness, the simply raises fairly mediocre stuff up a notch. (The central video room - a This review first appeared in The Cape Times.
BUSINESSART | APRIL 2010 Page 03
Art Leader
Giles Peppiatt
stand I was struck by a new and intensity that fuels her dark
poignant delicacy of touch in a and deliciously depopulated,
series of drypoint etchings by semi-abstract oils. Her almost
Diane Victor, whose work nev- forensic attention to recreating
er seems to flag or wane. And the mood of particular urban
at Afronova, two immaculately spaces is also influenced by the
detailed fabric works by Billie dark romance of detective nov-
Zangewa evidenced an artist els by writers like Ian Rankin
taking her practice to a more and Henning Mankel. ‘For a By Michael Coulson lucky. It was just before the ity local art on their walls. art work are all tied to SA. If an
reflective and poetic level. long time, I actually wanted to Lehman Brothers collapse, with Conversely, there are South SA picture is destined to end up
be a detective,’ said Wafer. ‘I all that did to the art market. Africans who’ve emigrated in, say, Portugal, it makes no
But for me the highpoint of even joined the police force, It’s five years since London But we’re still committed to who want art that reminds them difference whether it’s sold in
this year’s Fair lay in the but discovered that I really auction house Bonhams started hold two sales of SA art each of their homeland. Then there Jo’burg or London.”
richly packed Alfa Romeo talks wasn’t cut out for it.’ to hold sales of SA art. Giles year, in the [northern] spring are older expats whose children
series. I was lucky enough Peppiatt, who runs this arm and autumn.” consider themselves Australian, Bonhams’ buyers are split
to catch the presentation by This attraction to the film-noir of the business, concedes that or Canadian, or whatever, who roughly 50:50 between SA
the effortlessly charming aspects of the detective genre the international market for On top of that, Bonhams now don’t have their parents’ sen- residents and others.
Tomaso Galli, who succeeded made me think of Kathryn SA art is still developing, but also holds sales of art from the timental feeling for their Stern
in transporting the audience Smith’s collaboration with the is adamant that the exercise is African continent. In practice, or Pierneef, and are astounded He sees similarities between
to the epicentres of hyper- crime writer Margie Orford. worthwhile and believes that these will be annual, alter- when they discover how much the internationalisation of the
funded global haute culture Her hauntingly evocative the potential is excellent. nating between London and it can be worth.” SA art market and how expats
and offering fruitful insight crime diorama – in which she New York, though this is not from the likes of Russia and
into the intercourse between explores the ways in which Though Peppiatt’s original spe- a rigid policy. As in the most Art, he argues, can also be a China have boosted the mar-
the worlds of art and fashion. rumours and traces of real/fic- ciality was English watercol- recent sale, in New York this way for SA organisations to kets for their national artists.
Galli who was Director of tional crime fuel her own abun- ours, he’s been interested in SA month, they include SA items, reach out to the SA diaspora. But SA art has one advantage
Corporate Communications for dant imagination through the art for 20 years. “We noticed though the focus is elsewhere, “The night of the sale, Stellen- over some others – it’s virtually
the Gucci Group until 2004, persona of a platinum-blonde that some SA art works did notably Nigeria, arguably the bosch University held a dinner forgery-free. “I’ve only even
spoke at length about his more broad, called Sophie – was the well on other sales. In particu- only other country south of the in New York for US-based seen one fake Irma,” he says,
recent work with Prada, and draw card at this year’s Good- lar, we sold a Sekoto self-por- Sahara with the population and alumni. Others who’ve linked “and it was palpable. Even
of how the Prada Foundation’s man Gallery stand. trait for more than £100 000. wealth – and, for that matter, events to our sales include Old the Brett Kebble Tretchikoff
support of the contemporary At that time, the SA market the product -- to sustain an art Mutual, Standard Bank and the wasn’t a fake, it just wasn’t
arts has had to remain virtu- The mangled postmodern deca- was dominated by Sotheby’s/ market. Nelson Mandela Foundation.” the painting it purported to be.
ously exempt of the company’s dence of contemporary culture Stephan Welz, which we felt I sometimes think the SA art
commercial imperatives in the was one of the more seductive was showing some of the signs Peppiatt is unbowed by the Finally, he believes Bonhams’ market will only reach maturity
interests of ultra-cool, ultra- strands that I enjoyed tracing of, shall I say, complacency poor results of the New York auctions have been positive when we’re faced with a flood
subtle branding. through the work of Tracey that you often find in a near- sale. “It’s always tough starting for the art market within SA. of fake Irmas and Pierneefs!”
Rose, Liam Lynch, Athi-Patra monopoly situation. out in any new market, and “It helps dealers and galleries
South African companies could Ruga and Matthew Hindley. the climate for African art is when they can show that SA art He stresses that SA art is no
learn a thing or two about the And of course there were other “So we decided it was a market probably better in London. But has a value internationally.” one-man show at Bonhams,
power of not slathering their fertile strands of meaning and worth getting into. Indeed, we we had a good reception in paying particular tribute to the
brands all over the arts initia- traces of trends that could be like to think that we’ve largely New York, and attracted some Peppiatt gives short shrift to contributions of colleagues
tives they support. Then again, tracked across the work on created the international market new buyers. We also got huge the argument (propounded by, George Plumptre (who, ironi-
perhaps that kind of ultra-hip show at various gallery booths. in SA art.“ While some recent media coverage, especially on among others, veteran SA auc- cally, was made redundant last
understatement is best left to But for now, after three days sales haven’t been unalloyed the Nelson Mandela graphics, tioneer Stephan Welz) that it’s year) and the house’s SA-born
the Venetians and would be of hyper-attentiveness beneath successes, he refers more than even though they didn’t sell. So too expensive for SA residents director of press and market-
lost on the denizens of this the white lumo lights of the once during our 90-minute talk we’ll definitely persevere.” to sell works of art in London. ing, Julian Roup. So however
brash young metropolis. (So, Sandton Convention Centre, with obvious pride to the first “That’s taking too parochial a great you judge Bonhams’ im-
well done FNB for putting it’s time to take a deep breath R100m-plus sale of SA art, 18 Peppiatt sees the international view. Firstly, if you can get a pact to be, it’s clearly in for the
your moolah into popularising and let it all settle in the dark months ago. market for SA art as multi-di- premium price in London, that long haul. Local auction houses
contemporary South African art sub-strata of my consciousness, mensional. “There are foreign- can more than compensate for will ignore it at their peril.
in this enduringly sport-crazed where the only truthful work “We got the first really big ers who’ve bought property the higher cost. Secondly, it
nation.) prevails. prices for Irma Stern. We were in SA who want good-qual- assumes that seller, buyer and
PAGE 04 FREE STATE, GAUTENG AND MPUMALANGA SHOW LISTINGS BUSINESSART | APRIL 2010
Alex Dodd
Stills from the video installation, Representation: A Discourse, by Christopher Marsberg and Francois van Tonder, featured as part of the Spier Contemporary 2010 exhibition.
A bit of a mad night to schedule a performance, if you think about – whose work evolves out of the context of the location where it fractiously divided in this post-rainbow nation. What is it about
it. The night before the three-day mania of the Joburg Art Fair (or is presented – had transformed the dead space just in front of Sam inequality that inspires such long sentences?
the ‘Art Unfair’, as someone with oodles of streetsmarts, but not Nhlengethwa’s hopping studio into a live action shebeen, and I was It kind of had to be a Dutch artist who brought the shebeen into the
so much expendable income recently called it). But still somehow, quickly drawn into the dark looseness of that space by the voice of gallery because a lot of contemporary South African artists would
despite the threat of imminent aesthetic and social glut, I managed an earnest young poet who goes by the moniker of Quaz and hangs look down their noses at this kind of boundary-bashing gesture
to screech down to Fordsburg, skid past the evening worshippers with a collective of scribes and wordsmiths at the Keletketla Library and decry it as being ‘oh so Eighties – been there and done that’.
looking like an Essop Brothers photograph against the mosque all lit at the downtown Drill Hall. The problem is, we may have ‘been there and done that’ in the late
up against the gritty dusk skyline, and slip into the Bag Factory for Quaz’s poignant vocal timing, choice of words, direct approach and Eighties and early Nineties, cosying up at the Blue Parrot in Yeo-
the launch of Losing Virginity. punchy take on the social and political issues of the moment made ville to the sounds of Neneh Cherry and Youssou n’Dour’s Seven
The show is the culmination of a three-month Johannesburg me think about how cynical so many in the sushi-nibbling upper Seconds, but those seven seconds passed, and the gulf of inequity
residency by artists Su Tomesen (Netherlands), Beate Spitzmueller middle class confines of the art world have become about trans- and general kwere-kwereness amongst ourselves never did. So now
(Germany) and Pauline Marcelle (Dominica/Austria). Tomesen gressing the ghettoes of class and culture that still keep us so what? ‘So-we-to’, as the fashion label quips? I really hate to say it,
but I think I might be with Julius Malema on this – on the need for
an urgent and acute wake up to the reality of black poverty in this
country. Steve Hofmeyer can strip his moer over Malema’s injunc-
tions to ‘kill the boer’ and revert to racism as a reaction to racism.
But getting aggressively reactionary in response to the gluttony and
ineptitude of the ANC and the bruising idiocy of a warmonger like
Malema will only make things worse. You can bitch about bad gov-
ernance till the cows come home, but that doesn’t alleviate the very
real struggles of the majority of hardworking human beings trying to
earn an honest buck in this vile kleptocracy.
So right… back to art – and why I raised my middle-class white fist
at the end of Quaz’s half-heard poem. Because I sense artists in this
country coming alive again – in that acute, burning, fevered sense
of the word ‘alive’. In that ‘we can’t stand for this any more’ sense
of the word ‘alive’. The directly satirical mood underlying much of
the art at this year’s Spier Contemporary Art Awards is similar to
the angry, exasperated mood I experienced at a recent meeting put
together by Antoinette Murdoch at the Johannesburg Art Gallery
in response to Minister of Arts and Culture Lulama Xingwana’s
homophobic and morally conservative reaction to photographer
Zanele Muholi’s images. It is worth noting and appreciating the
fact that artists in this country are making real use of the freedom of
expression clause in our Constitution, in the uneasy knowledge that
it is starting to feel all the more precious in relation to grim weekly
headlines in the Mail & Guardian. Art has always been our litmus,
our nerve barometer – and the legacy of great courage among artists
and writers in this country is fresh and real. I was interested to dis-
cover that there will be no opening address by the Minister of Arts
and Culture nor any other representative from the ministry at the
opening of the Joburg Art Fair tonight. I wonder why…
PAGE 06 EASTERN, NORTHERN AND WESTERN CAPE SHOW LISTINGS BUSINESSART | APRIL 2010
Dathini Mzayiya and Alexandra-raised Godfrey Majadibodu, who participated in the prestigious international Glenfiddich Artists in Residence Programme.
Peter Machen
So what’s the difference between art and porn? The question may the website. They are, surprisingly enough, nearly all men. While ‘What is art’ sits at the very core of art history, and the answer
well have been deliberated for millennia but the answer is simple, dialogue is great, it’s possible that an ongoing trade in knee-jerk seems always to be expanding. It should of course be pointed out
although it may – or may not – offend our Minister of (Arts and) reactions might in fact not help to create a more cohesive society. that Van Gogh was derided by many as “not art” in his time, as
Culture who, now famously, walked out of an exhibition featur- Porn is porn and art is art and no amount of discourse will change were many sung and unsung creative geniuses before and after
ing Zanele Muholi’s portraits of naked women in bed together. that. They are made for entirely different purposes although of him.
So here’s a definition: With porn, you stop looking after you’ve course artists enjoy blurring the boundaries. And of course many One of the things that did emerge from the discussion though, was
climaxed. That may sound facetious or just plain provocative but porn directors genuinely think that their output is art. And if they concern over the impact of explicit images on children. But as
it’s the simple honest truth. Pornography is made to masturbate installed it in a gallery or a similar space, it would be – just as a Cheryl Potgieter, a psychologist from UKZN with a deep and rig-
over, and while millions are the wayward who have masturbated urinal, a painting or a plastic lobster attached to a telephone would orous grasp of sexuality and gender, pointed out, it is the parents
to art at some point in their autoerotic lives, art is made with a be. And if ever you’re in doubt, try the wank test. not the children who are offended.
wider purpose. But of course the debate continues regardless and despite my Kids, it seems, have a far less dogmatic approach to things, a point
Which, in the game of call-and-response that passes for dialogue suggestion that the argument is a tired one, I still consented to take which was beautifully illustrated by my four-year old niece when
most of the time in this country, will no doubt lead to charges of part in a panel discussion on the subject organised by Vansa and she wandered into the KZNSA gallery where some of Deborah
intellectual wankery from all sides. But I’ll stop there and sug- the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Poynton’s large scale nude figures were occupying the gallery
gest that the discussion over porn and art is a one-way street and It should be noted that most of the panel also thought that we were walls. Having been removed from the painting not because of the
not particularly useful in any nation-building dialectic. And for flogging a dead horse – which is one of the largely unspoken is- nudity but because of the pink icing sugar that was all over her
examples of just how nation-building things can get, check out the sues at the core of the discussion. The art versus porn discussion hands, she returned a little later to show her younger sister one of
forum on The Times website in response to the story. For the most usually devolves into two camps: those who work in the culture the male subject’s “dong”. The two children thought it was
part, the respondents, who usually seem to spend their time tossing industry and those who don’t. hilarious. Lulu Xingwana would no doubt be a little disturbed.
racial epithets at each other, are united in their view that the min- And I think that’s for the very simple reason that most artists have
ister is right in her response to the work – which was featured on already had the discussion with themselves and in great depth.
South Africa’s photographer, Peter Magubane, is led away by police while covering a story in Alexandra.
During the time of Apartheid, he was shot at, detained, and imprisoned.
Robert Griffiths Hodgins respected mentor, a massive positive force of energy, an inspira- loss of the great ancient library of Alexandria. (Robert would say:
(27 June 1920 – 15 March 2010) tion to many and fount of knowledge and understanding – he was “less of the ancient, if you please!”) We shall miss Robert greatly,
all these things to those who knew him, and more. Just a won- but feel sure his adventures will continue wherever he is now.
derful man, dear friend, and terrific human being, who was also
The Goodman Gallery shares in the sad loss experienced by his widely regarded as South Africa’s greatest contemporary painter. Robert Hodgins lived a long and successful life, and found being
many friends and colleagues when Robert Hodgins died around 4 We at the Goodman Gallery are saddened at his passing which will ill “tedious, dear boy, just too tedious!” He was aware the end of
a.m. on Monday the 15th of March, 2010. He had suffered respira- leave an enormous gap in our lives. his life was near, and “quite ready to depart this mortal coil if I
tory illness for 3 months, and had been hospitalized. Born in June, cannot paint!” He was an accomplished and well-loved artist, a
1920 in Dulwich, London, England, Hodgins first emigrated to Possessed of a mischievous and curious eye with which to criti- great friend and an extraordinary human being in that he was so
South Africa in 1938, returning to the UK and wartime service cally evaluate the doings of humankind, a lively wit, the sensi- constantly and energetically involved in The Great Human Drama,
in North East Africa soon afterward. He later completed his art tivity to include himself in his impressions of our species and a right to his last day. Fortunately he has left a legacy of excellent
education at the prestigious Goldsmith’s College, University of healthy cynicism, Robert was the keenest observer of life one work behind him, which in our museums, academic and other
London, and returned to South Africa in 1953. He lectured at the could meet. We are all much the poorer for his passing, and he public collections will continue to enrich our lives for many years.
former Pretoria Technical College and was for a time a journalist will be sadly missed even by many who knew him only through
and critic with Newscheck magazine. From 1966 until he retired to his output of paintings and graphics. Writing this, I am aware that
paint full time in 1983, Hodgins lectured in painting at the our sadness is for ourselves, those who are left behind, in a world Neil Dundas
University of the Witwatersrand. which will always be less exciting, less colourful, less amusing The Goodman Gallery
and less intelligent without him. He was a human treasure house Johannesburg
He was a national treasure: a towering talent, an important influ- of knowledge, and the loss of his prodigious mind and memory for
ence on generations of students and followers of the fine arts, a poetry, mythology, music and literature with him, seems like the
Dear Editor mirror-writing too... I count myself lucky to have met and known him.
Robert Hodgins taught me at Wits, many years ago, and he was Over the years whenever we met up, he was as welcoming, My condolences to his beloved ones.
one of very few inspirational tutors who was genuinely ‘awake’ forthright and engaging as always..
and interested in the students and our work and our minds, and not Robert, I salute you!
only in his own work, his own mind and his own ego. Genuine, humourfilled, insightful, un-gimmicky, and a bloody
marvelous painter. Arlette Franks,
He once gave us an essay to write, and I produced mine in back-
ward-written handwriting - he had to sit in front of a mirror for a A great person and a great artist,and a great S African. Artivist, Polokwane City/Limpopo
few hours in order to read my copious essay - then he responded in
PAGE 12 SOUTH AFRICAN ART AUCTION HOSES BUSINESSART | APRIL 2010
Irma Stern, 1894 - 1966 Fruit and Dahlias, painted in 1946, sold at auction in November Her colour was never freer or bolder. An almost delirious explo-
Still Life with Dahlias and Fruit 1999 in Johannesburg and is featured on the catalogue cover and sion of brilliant, hot colour - vermillion, cerise, peach, Naples
Signed and dated 1960 Still Life with Dahlias, painted in 1947, which is included in yellow, pink, mauve - holds the centre of the painting while com-
Oil on canvas Marion Arnold’s handsome monograph, Irma Stern: A Feast for plementaries of blue, green and purple reverberate with visual ex-
100 by 92,5cm the Eye. citement at the edges. Painting the dahlia petals with thick impasto
R4 000 000 – 6 000 000 Reflecting on the two earlier paintings in relation to the later work, and radiating lines gives the impression of whirling dervishes
Welz says, “It’s rare that one can trace an artist’s development so confirming the artist’s palpable enjoyment of paint.
A magnificent Irma Stern painting entitled Still Life with Dahlias clearly. Throughout my many years in the art field, there’s been an
and Fruit is one of the many impressive works coming up for auc- assumption that earlier works are superior to later works. Yet the By contrast, the saturated, luminous citron yellow of the vase
tion at Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg sale on 24 May 2010. versatility of this later work disproves that. In Stern’s many travels continually draws the eye back to the pulsing heart of the picture.
she must have come across Abstract Expressionist paintings and Beside it, the unexpected clash of papaya on a pink cloth, with
For Irma Stern, still life painting was a genre that allowed her to the European Lyrical Abstractionists and she would have been magenta highlights and green swirls, is entirely unpredictable.
explore colour combinations, spatial dynamics and composition, excited by the freedom with which they approached painting. I’ve Painted in 1960 when the artist was 66, and clearly demonstrating
without being constrained by mimesis. While portraiture required no doubt that she revisited this subject with renewed passion.” her confidence to paint with abandon, this is one of the finest ex-
some degree of similitude, still life was for her the ideal genre in In both earlier works, Stern employ modulated colour, tonal values amples of her later paintings where she luxuriates in the pleasure
which to experiment. When compared with earlier interpretations and shadows to achieve convincing three-dimensional form. of paint. Her lack of interest in persuading the viewer that these
of the same subject, this painting ably demonstrates how far she However, in this later version of the same subject, painted in 1960, are ordinary objects existing in convincing space and her com-
was able to push the medium. the brilliant colours and complementaries are splashed across the mitment to treating the picture plane as a flat surface on which to
canvas revealing a freedom of expression not evident in her earlier enact her painting, suggest that Stern was closer in spirit to her
Two earlier versions of the same subject have been sold by Strauss paintings. international, post-war contemporaries than she has been given
& Co’s much admired auctioneer, Stephan Welz. A Still Life with credit for.
BUSINESSART | APRIL 2010 Page 13
The evening session , the final session of the entire sale, commences
at 18h30 with four classic and collectable cars being offered at low
estimates ranging from R250 000 for a 1949 MG TC up to R1 400
000 for a 2005 Bentley Continental GT. The session then moves Venue
on to a five lot charity auction for the South African Ballet Theatre
(SABT), including Lot 831, a pair of autographed pointe shoes worn All auction sessions and pre-auction viewings will take place at:-
by the late Dame Margot Fonteyn and Lot 833, a Walter Battiss Stephan Welz & Company
painting, titled The Dancer. All proceeds received from the sale of 13 Biermann Avenue (cnr Oxford Road)
these lots will help ensure the continuation of the SABT. Rosebank, Johannesburg
The South African section begins with offers from our Traditional Tuesday 20 April 18h30
artists. Three Oerders from the early 1900’s are on offer: Lot 844, Session 3 : Lots 351- 550
Going to the market, (R300 000 – R500 000) and Lot 845,Two
horses with a cart, (R80 000 – R120 000), both works capturing the Diamonds; Jewellery; Unset Gemstones
essence of rural life in Holland. Lot 846, Christ appears to the dis-
ciples, (R200 000 – R300 000) is one of only five known religious Another Preller, Lot 917, Study with skull, a later work, is also
Wednesday 21 April 14h00
works to have been painted by Frans Oerder during the First World expected to draw interest at its pre-sale estimate of
Session 4 : Lots 551 - 820
War. Also featured early in the session is a moderately large Erich R400 000 – R600 000.
Mayer Lot 853, Kroonstad, vaal river, an exquisitely painted Sydney Books; Maps; Africana; British & Continental Paintings;
Carter Lot 858, African figures around a camp fire, and a Willem Traditional & Contemporary
Hermanus Coetzer, Lot 881, View from the drakensberg, one of the
few works to feature snow-capped mountains in the distance. All South African Paintings
three works carry a pre-sale estimate of R50 000 – R80 000. Also
up for offer is a sizeable Nils Andersen Lot 879, A farm yard scene, Wednesday 21 April 18h30
estimated at R30 000 – R50 000. Session 5 : Lots 821 - 1005
Two portraits by Maurice van Essche which have been captured Charity Auction for the SA Ballet Theatre
with sensitivity and estimated at R200 000 – R300 000, can be seen
in Lot 887, Portrait of a young boy, and Lot 888, Pensive woman. British & Continental Paintings; Traditional &
Lot 872, Portrait of an austrian woman, a portrait larger than most Contemporary South African Paintings & Sculptures
works by Maggie Laubser, carries an estimate of R500 000 – R800
000. Staying in the tradition of portraits, Lot 923, Seated figure on a Please address all enquiries to the Johannesburg office of
blue chair, a bold carved and incised wood-panel by Cecil Skotnes Stephan Welz & Company
is estimated at R400 000 – R600 000. There are several works by 011 880 3125
Skotnes on sale, including two other carved and incised wood-pan-
els and a selection of portfolios. For further information, online catalogue and
absentee bid forms, please visit www.swelco.co.za Robert Hodgins, Lot 988, Three characters in search of a painter
Lot 901, STILL LIFE WITH POINSETTIAS by Vladimir
Tretchikoff, is a vividly captured still life, estimated at R250 000
– R350 000. An Irma Stern gouache, Lot 875, Still life with flowers
PAGE 14 BUSINESSART | APRIL 2010
Some works went for well above their high estimates. Top price
was GBP356 000 for a Pierneef landscape (estimate GBP180
000-GBP250 000), followed by GBP192 000 for a Gerard Se-
koto Cape Town market street scene (est GBP120 000-GBP180
000),GBP168 000 for another Pierneef (est GBP100 000-GBP140
000) and GBP120 000 for an Irma Stern flower study (est GBP100
000-GBP120 000).
The prices paid for these have not been disclosed, but it’s ru-
moured that the Freedom Charter went for GBP50 000.
Gerard Sekoto (South African, 1913-1993) Market Street Scene, Cape Town Bonhams values the whole sale at GBP2.6m, equating to R28.5m.
(circa 1943) unframed Sold for £192,000 inclusive of Buyer’s Premium This appears to include an element of rounding; by my count the
gross was just under GBP2.5m, or about R27.2m at the exchange
rate on the day of the sale of R10.96 and 116% of the total low
estimate of about GBP2.14m.
The sale may not have set many artists’ records but overall justi-
fies the optimism of Giles Peppiatt, Bonhams’ director of SA art
that the sale marks the “start of a long march to real international
recognition and appreciation.”
It may not have matched the hype of last year’s maiden outing
at the Jo’burg Country Club, but a gross of R33m for Strauss &
Co’s first auction of 2010 – this time, at Cape Town’s Vineyard
Hotel – is satisfactory enough by any standards. True, that R33m
includes items other than SA art, but the gross for the latter, of
about R28.2m, is itself pretty impressive.
Six lots went for R1m or more, including several artist records,
but what is perhaps more testimony to the resilience of the market
is that both the afternoon session of minor works and the main,
evening session realised more than 100% of the aggregate low
estimates.
Adding the two sessions together, 202 of total 259 lots (78.0%)
sold for R28.2m (108.3% of the low estimate of R26.1m). In the
sale-within-the-sale, all but two of the 20 lots from the Dodo col-
lection sold, for R1.4m, no less than 145.7% of the low estimate
of R965 000.
Moving Forward
Nichola Hlobo, Ingubo Yesizwe, 2008 (detail). Leather, rubber, butchers hook, gauze,
ribbon, acoustic cover, fabric, wood, zippers and steel. Installation view, Tate Modern,
London. Photo: Marcus Leith and Andrew Dunkley, Tate photography SBSA 41011