AUGUST 2022 ARTTIMES.CO.ZA
A LEATHER LOUIS VUITTON STEAMER TRUNK, CIRCA 1900 Estimate: R60 000 – 70 000 Sold for: R131 505
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Consign to our upcoming Cape Town and Johannesburg Auctions. Contact us for an obligation free valuation Johannesburg 011 880 3125 or email info@swelco.co.za Cape Town 021 794 6461 or email ct@swelco.co.za w w w. s w e l c o . c o . z a
AN UNUSUAL CHINESE STRAITS “PEONY AND BUTTERFLY” DISH AND COVER, QING DYNASTY, TONGZHI, 1861 - 1875 Estimate: R2 000 - 2 500 Sold for: R239 100
A CASED EBONY ANGLO-BOER PRISONER-OFWAR EGG CUP STAND Estimate: R4 500 – 5 500 Sold for: R13 150
A CAPE STINKWOOD AND SILVER MOUNTED ARMOIRE, LATE 18TH CENTURY Estimate: R180 000 – 200 000 Sold for: R322 785
WILLIAM KENTRIDGE ANOTHER CAT Estimate: R75 000 – 100 000 Sold for: R131 505
Irma Stern AT THE MARKET Est R60 000 – R90 000 Sold for: R77 708
AN EDWARD VI SILVER WINE COOLER, WALKER AND HALL, SHEFFIELD, 1901 Estimate: R28 000 – 38 000 Sold for: R119 550
NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN CELESTIAL CONSTELLATIONS, TWO MAPS Estimate: R3 000 - 5 000 Sold for: R17 932
A PAIR OF GEM-SET EARRINGS Estimate: R8 000 – 10 000 Sold for: R12 300
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Art Times August 2022 Edition
CONTENTS Cover: Sasol New Signatures Winner 2021, Andrea du Plessis, The Wanderer, Oil on canvas, 101 x 76cm, 2022
10. M.O.L 30 - SPOOKY Ashraf Jamal Column 16. SUPERNATURE: SIMULACRA In conversation with Sasol New Signatures Winner 2021 22. WONDERS SHALL NEVER END Edozie Anedu - Lyrical Modernist 26. TEN THOUSAND WOMEN Lerato Mary-Ann Motau’s Fibre Art 32. SOLO STUDIOS 2022 Intimate Art Encounters event returns in August 2022 40. THE POWER OF REPRESENTATION Oliewenhuis Art Museum’s Permanent Collection 46. ATTACHED TO THE SOIL Metaphors Derived From Perceptions of South Africa 50. FEMINISM YA MANG, FEMINISM YETHU, FEMINISM YANI Womanhood, Sexuality, Age and Feminism 54. A GOOD READ Global Art Highlights 68. BUSINESS ART Fine Art Auction highlights 84. ARTGO Exhibition Highlights
Genevieve Rosochacki, Pink Towel Redefined, 2022, Group exhibition at ArtB: Association of Arts Bellville, Online until 29 August 2022, www.artb.co.za/redefined
Editors Note
SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADING VISUAL ARTS PUBLICATION
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ugust month is Woman’s Month and although women artists, curators, and gallerists shine throughout the year in the Art Times, well, we have made it much more evident this month! All around South Africa prevalent museums and galleries have made a celebration out of Women’s month including Oliewenhuis Museum In A Mile in Her Shoes and other stories, Sanlam Art Gallery with an exhibition called Hers, Unisa Art Gallery with a show called Celebrating Women Artists. In addition, the newly branded AITY (Art in the Yard) Gallery is hosting Lerato Motau - Ten thousand women, while NWU Botanical Gardens Gallery exhibits a show called Feminism Ya Mang, Feminism Yethu, Feminism Yani and Melrose Gallery exhibiting Carol Cauldwell’s A Freckle past a Hare. Respecting the role women have played in the pioneering spirit of establishing the art market and to reference SA artists we pay homage to Esme Berman, who pretty much single handily indexed much of SA art until the 90’s. In this same spirit, Strauss & Co pays homage to and celebrates the achievements of art market pioneers Louis and Charlotte Schachat, founders in 1971 of the legendary Cape Town art gallery Die Kunskamer, at Strauss’s annual August Art Month - hosted by collectors Frank and Lizelle Kilbourn in the historic Cape Town manor house of Welgemeend. We are thrilled to say that the 10th Turbine Art Fair 2022 directed by Glynis Hyslop- held in a new venue in Rosebank, Johannesburg was a fantastic success. This is the second successful Art Fair this year. It would be interesting to see the Latitudes (directed by an all-women directorship) and Joburg Art Fair come back in their physical form later this year. In moving on, the real gem of this month – and not to be missed would be the Solo Studios hosted at Riebeek Valley, Western Cape later this August (see article). I would personally suggest that it is well worth the visit as the whole town comes together to create an incredibly creative environment of the very best art, music, food, and theater just less than an easy hour’s drive from Cape Town. Gabriel Clark-Brown
CONTACT ART TIMES Tel: +27 21 300 5888 109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town PUBLISHER Gabriel Clark-Brown editor@arttimes.co.za ADVERTISING & MARKETING Eugene Fisher sales@arttimes.co.za DIGITAL MEDIA & EXHIBITION LISTINGS Jan Croft subs@arttimes.co.za ART DIRECTION Brendan Body ARTGO CONTENT info@artgo.co.za Rights: the Art Times magazine reserves the right to reject any material that could be found offensive by its readers. Opinions and views expressed in the sa art times do not necessarily represent the official viewpoint of the editor, staff or publisher, while inclusion of advertising features does not imply the newspaper’s endorsement of any business, product or service. Copyright of the enclosed material in this publication is reserved.
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George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba New Brighton, R 30 000 - 40 000
Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art With a Focus on artists linked to the Eastern Cape
ONLINE-ONLY AUCTION 15-22 August 2022 ct@straussart.co.za | +27 21 683 6560 | jhb@straussart.co.za | +27 11 728 8246 www.straussart.co.za
M.O.L 30
SPOOKY Ashraf Jamal
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rue to form, Roger Ballen’s contribution to the Venice Biennale was dark and spooky. Titled ‘Theatre of Apparitions’, it was inspired by drawings on the window of a South African women’s prison. In effect, illuminated images are projections of an incarcerated prisoner’s inner life, because, of course, no matter how policed we are, we possess worlds which no panoptic system can contain. We believe, after Freud and Lacan, that our unconscious realm too can be mapped, that no territory exists which cannot be monitored, controlled, monetised. Psychographics plays an important role in the manipulation of our desires, which, digitally, are converted into likes. This is because desire too has become a commodity. For Ballen, however, life cannot be commodified. No system can contain us. The unconscious will forever remain the uncharted final frontier. Ballen’s ‘Theatre of Apparitions’ is, as the title suggests, a ghosting. Monochromatic, a void infused with light, Ballen’s illumined boxes – fenestrated, suggesting windows – remind us that no attempt to contain the world – how we see and frame it – can control the fathomless depths of being – our hungers, yearnings, fears, doubts, hopes, appeals. We are, by nature, creatures that crave. A ‘hungry ghost’ inhabits us, devours us, leaves us forever unfulfilled and unresolved. This is for the good, especially now that we have re-entered a bleak mid-winter – a time of bigotry and hate, worse, nihilism. Ballen has always understood what we proverbially dub ‘the dark side’. However, he has been persistently misunderstood because of this assignation. In his monumental book, Ballenesque, he reflects on his process and journey as an artist. The emotion he triggers is ‘pathos’, ‘a quality that causes people to feel sympathy and sadness. It evokes a deeply felt pain, and is an inherent part of the human condition; we all know we will eventually die. To reveal this emotion in a photograph is to get to the core of our existence’.
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This understanding is not merely macabre, or grotesque, two reductive aspersions typically directed at Ballen’s work. Rather, the artist reminds us of the inescapability of death, and as such our mortality. He is not interested in parading human fallibility, but projecting states as real as they are otherworldly, the better to assert the fact that we are not reducible to, or solely defined by, our mortal coil. Indeed, notes Ballen, ‘It has become apparent to me that all forms of life have a unique spirit. If we become a spirit after our short stint on earth, then it is not inconceivable that everything that has ever lived will become an apparition. The universe is a very big place, so there should be room for all’. This is a wonderfully generous view of our fallen state. That Ballen returns, here, to the ‘apparition’, must surely help us to understand his achievement at the Venice Biennale – a vision of an afterlife, as afflicted as it is benign. It is the uniqueness of being that Ballen celebrates – no one is generic, or typically typecast, despite the fact that today we unscrupulously choose to do so – instead, in Ballen’s world we each possess our profound singularity, a singular beauty and peculiar demons. After all, there should ‘be room for all’ in this world and the next. That said, Ballen is no believer in God, in any orthodox religious system. His sights are wholly focussed on the underworld within this world, the unconscious that undergirds the conscious realm. If his photographs possess an uncanny, often eerie, unsettlement, it is because they force the viewer to reconsider what is seen and known and presumed to be the case. Ballen disrupts a conventional optic, forcing us to understand the surreal within the purportedly ‘Real’. Because, of course, ‘Reality’ is a construct, and, as such, can be psycho-graphically manipulated – which it is, most strikingly in South Africa in 2014, when the now disgraced and defunct company, Bell Pottinger, chose to shift public awareness away from governmental corruption by introducing the counter-view – White Monopoly Capital – which subsequently would become a viral rallying call that would destroy our nascent democracy. My point? That we are parasited at every turn, that opinions are never innocent, that life is profoundly complex, and that art’s great vocation is to express this complexity.
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This is Ballen’s vocation. His works occupy ‘a visionary, alogical, and amoral universe where good and evil exist side by side without excluding each other. Beauty does not correspond to the former, nor ugliness necessarily to the latter. It is a place where even beauty and ugliness are still – or even now – blurred together’. It is the coexistence of benign and malevolent worlds which, for Ballen, we cannot ignore. The enormity of his gift to South Africa – splendidly showcased at the Venice Biennale’s South African Pavilion – is that of someone who has deeply understood our historical, political, and all importantly, psychic perversity. I say this with due diligence – South Africa is a sick country, sick in heart, sick in mind. What Ballen offers, by way of a response, is a generous yet unflinching gaze. He is no voyeur, though many, at odds with his fascination with aberration, fail to recognise that his photographic eye is unwaveringly focused on the distortions we hide away. It is an eye trained against our misbegotten celebration of a democracy which, at the very start, was destined to be abused. That Ballen recognises that good and evil occupy the same bandwidth, should surely alert his audience to a radical ambivalence built into the photographs. But what is especially remarkable is that Ballen refuses to live wholly within an inescapable ambivalence – the root of our perversity, our immorality – but seeks to champion ‘a visionary, alogical, and amoral universe’. This last axiom defines the artist. An outsider, he is best equipped to reveal our rank innards. His ‘Theatre of Apparitions’ is his more enigmatic, obtuse, and haunting approach. Perhaps because Ballen, in an international forum, has chosen a more broadly applicable aesthetic and vision. After all, we are all haunted, everywhere. That we have no name for our inner suffering and dread, accounts for why we cannot wholly know ourselves – why we are fundamentally, existentially, estranged from ourselves. Therein lies Ballen’s ‘pathos’, therein human suffering, which, in the hands of an artist who is unafraid, can prove a strychnine consolation – but a consolation all the same. Spooky, his work certainly is, but it is kind too, and tender, and soulful, and oddly pure, despite its corrupted and contaminated core.
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SUPERNATURE: SIMULACRA
In conversation with Sasol New Signatures Winner 2021, Andrea du Plessis www.sasolsignatures.co.za
Supernature: Simulacra, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist, Andrea du Plessis (Sasol New Signatures Winner 2021) is a deepening of her research into the sublime experience, and our complex relationship with nature in an age marked by technological augmentation and simulation. As an extension of the Supernature series Du Plessis began in 2020, her work will feature an exploration of emerging technologies in combination with traditional oil painting to create interactive, immersive realms as well as an encyclopaedia of hybrid lifeforms. Supernature: Simulacra aims to offer the viewer an opportunity to consider our interconnectivity with the natural world, and examines the possibility of reconnecting to nature via technology. We chatted to her about her upcoming exhibition and her Sasol New Signatures journey. The countdown has begun for your solo exhibition - how are you feeling about this and how you have prepared yourself for the exhibition? I’m a little nervous, but also quite excited to finally see all the work in one space. Having my first solo at the Pretoria Art Museum in conjunction with the Sasol New Signatures group show is an honor and a dream come true. I’ve been developing this body of work for quite a while now so I’m excited to finally share it and have audiences interact with it. Tell us a little about the exhibition. The exhibition will consist of three sections. The first section is a series of A.R. (augmented reality) interactive oil paintings, designed to form a sequence that takes one through a journey from sunrise to sunset, from the wideopen landscape deep into the forest. The second section consists of my exploration of V.R. (virtual reality) as medium and the third consists of A.I. (artificial intelligence) generated
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art that forms a kind of encyclopedia of hybrid lifeforms. The work is really an exploration of the modern-day sublime experience inspired by nature but mediated through the use of technology. By referencing eighteenth and nineteenth century landscape paintings and infusing it with emerging technologies, the work aims to create a link between past and contemporary representations and experiences of nature. How many works will you be showing? The exhibition will feature nine A.R. interactive oil paintings, a large set of prints of A.I. generated, hybrid species, A.I. generated video art, and a selection of sculptures made in V.R. and 3D printed. Do you have a favourite work? If so which one or ones and why? It’s hard to choose a favourite. So much thought and care went into creating all the works and I’m pleased with how it turned out. Each of the mediums I’ve been working in have something magical to offer. I’m really enjoying painting and sculpting in VR at the moment and am excited to share the results. If I had to choose a favourite painting it would be “New Seeds” - I can see myself living there and just breathing it all in. What kind of response are you hoping for when people see your work? When I’m working, I really try to tap into the wonder and magical aliveness of our natural world. I try to create a new reality, inspired by familiar scenery and species, but with an alien twist. I guess you can say it’s a utopian vision of a new earth, or a foreign planet perhaps. The video artworks are designed to form a seamless loop, to resemble an eternal moment in time. I would like the audience to take a moment to be immersed in the scenery, to relax into it, almost like a meditation. I’m hoping that this will bring an elevated state and a sense of connection.
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The Wanderer, Oil on canvas, 101 x 76cm, 2022
Above: AI003-XGé, AI generated image, 2022. Opposite Page: New Seeds, Oil on canvas, 101 x 76cm, 2022
AI005-XGé, AI generated image, 2022
AI004-XGé, AI generated image, 2022
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New Seeds (detail), Oil on canvas, 101 x 76cm, 2022
What do you want people to know about Andrea the artist? I care deeply about the natural world. It’s how I connect with something greater than myself - an eternal life force. As an artist, I want to create work that makes people aware of nature’s ability to heal and nurture us. What is next for you after this exhibition? I’m hoping to participate in more group shows, both locally and internationally. I’ve had some invitations to participate in international group shows, but I’ll have more time to focus on these opportunities after the solo.
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Anything else you want to add? I’m incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity to work on my first solo and I’m very excited to see the Sasol New Signatures group show this year. Hope to see you there! You can view Supernature: Simulacra, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist, Andrea du Plessis at the Pretoria Art Museum from 25th August until 2nd October 2022. www.sasolsignatures.co.za
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Her
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Florence Zerffi, Portrait of a Woman, 1968, oil on canvas, Sanlam Art Collection (on show at the Sanlam Art Gallery).
An exhibition of painting, sculpture and printing from the Sanlam Art Collection celebrating Women Artists in Women’s Month
Sanlam Art Gallery
Sanlam Art Lounge
4 August – 22 October 2022
1 August – 22 August 2022
Viewing times: Weekdays 09:00 – 16:30
Viewing times by appointment: Weekdays 09:00 – 16:30
2 Strand Road, Bellville
Guided tours of the exhibition and works in storage by appointment Tel: 021 947 3359 or WhatsApp 083 457 2699 Email: sanlamart@sanlam.co.za
11 Alice Lane, Sandton
Edozie Anedu
WONDERS SHALL NEVER END The Melrose Gallery The Melrose Gallery is currently hosting Edozie Anedu’s latest solo titled ‘Wonders Shall Never End’. The exhibition features a series of paintings created in 2022 and follows on from his wellreceived show with Unit London in 2021. The exhibition runs until the 15 August and online on a viewing room at www.themelrosegallery. com until 30 August 2022. Edozie Anedu is a lyrical modernist whose spirited colour palette the artist subjects to exhilarating experiments which draw from diverse, design principles. In Wonders Shall Never End — his first solo exhibition in South Africa — the Nigerian born artist has furthered his obsessive recombination of sources to critique the totalising effect of digitisation, religious observance, self reflexivity and art historical ordinance.
Above: Ocean divider (Moses), 2022, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 190 x 194 x 5 cm. Opposite Page: (deatil) Search Engine I, 2022, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 190 x 180 cm
The Angelus paintings make up a triptych whose preoccupation with solitude, devotion and catholic religiosity is demonstrated by formal ebullience in Anedu’s approach to perspective, spatial coherence and colour action. This inquiry is continued in Les Comediens Presents the Last Supper (2022), a metamodernist interpretation of Eucharist ritual vividly rendered in the artist’s signature scrawls and sketches. In previous iterations, Anedu’s recurring motif of an outsized sketched head was revivified with abstracted palace wall plaques from ancient Benin and the skeletonised base plate and armature of luxury watches. In three specially created works for Melrose Gallery — Abacus Head, Search Engine I and Search Engine II — this abiding motif has been retooled as avatars of the digital age and its endless perfection of problem solving systems.
Les Comediens presents the Last Supper, 2022, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 147 x 190 x 3 cm
Screensaver 2022 and Counter Attack 2022 are dramatic self-portraits densified with zestful brushwork and a true sense of mischief, as is true of the majority of Anedu’s figural dissolutions. Combined with his distribution of asymmetric colours and geometric rigour, Anedu’s distinct graphic language marks him out as one of the most promising, emergent painters on the continent. Abacus Head, 2022, Acrylic and oil on canvas, 190 x 180 x 5 cm
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Carol Cauldwell
A FRECKLE PAST A HARE The Melrose Gallery
Stargazer Frogs, Bronze 96 x 72 x 65 cm, Edition of 15
We take pleasure in presenting A Freckle Past a ‘Hare’, Carol Cauldwell’s first solo with The Melrose Gallery, on the 3 to 28 August as part of our Womxn’s Month celebrations. Definition of ‘A Freckle Past a Hair’ Said when asked the time, humorously indicating that one does not know or does not care to check.
Rabbits Dandelion, 2021, Bronze, 77 x 36 x 35 cm, Edition of 15
Carol believes that life should not be taken too seriously. The recent pandemic has made that abundantly clear. She has built a strong following for her whimsical sculptures of animals and people who could have travelled straight from Alice in Wonderland. This exhibition, presenting over 20 sculptures in Carol’s signature style, including her 6 metre ‘Rabbit’, will be sure to captivate all who experience them.Rabbits, a walrus sea captain, children, dogs and other colourful characters will invite you to ‘jump down the rabbit hole’ with Carol to another world filled with laughter, joy and more than a little bit of carelessness. For more information contact curator @ themelrosegallery.com or visit www.themelrosegallery.com Walrus, Old Man of the Sea, 2021, Bronze 92 x 42 x 46 cm, Edition of 15
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We’ve found South Africa’s new artistic talent
ART BEYOND IMAGINATION Exhibition 25 August - 2 October 2022
Featuring Andrea du Plessis Winner of Sasol New Signatures 2021 www.sasolsignatures.co.za
Lerato Motau
TEN THOUSAND WOMEN 21 August – 16 September AITY Gallery, Franschhoek
Certain features of the person referenced have been included to allude to the identity of the person and more so to capture their personality. The scotch hessian used as the base of the artwork has been discontinued and I am no longer able to procure it, further echoing the need to come to closure with this series. The checker pattern reminds me of my own childhood as well as teaching my daughters as a parent. A key feature in the stitches is the bull knot which for me is a symbol of a stitch that stands on its own and also stands out. They are solid and grounded and represent women both as the individual and the collective.” Lerato Motau
L
erato Mary-Ann Motau (b.1975) is a South African artist from Soweto. Over the years, Motau has participated in numerous exhibitions and hosted an abundance of workshops all around South Africa. She defines her art-making practice as Fibre Art. The materials that Lerato constitutes are predominantly fabrics; embroidery and stitching are significant parts of her work, each stitch being a symbolic journey. In this solo exhibition, we will behold several colourful patterns showing mighty and strong women who have been in Lerato’s life standing by her side. The women portrayed in her tapestries alone illustrates a form of significance that one can express as poetry, rhythms, or songs; the visages indicate different facial expressions, clothing, hairstyles, and jewellery. We get a sense, a feeling we get to know her community by contemplating and admiring these artworks. “The series of artworks explore a similar aesthetic with variants in colours, stitches, and textures. Materials include thread that I have been given a long time ago and recently. It has a collective history of the women who have donated these materials.
This is the last edition that I will be making as an ode to women who have stood with me. They have supported me through difficult times, and I now feel a sense of independence as a result of their generosity of support. This body of work feels like it is at a stage of transition.
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The other aspect to the show is the wrapped spheres that were born from the need of a more mediative practice during the stressful isolated weeks of the lockdown. Motau had always had a keen interest in astronomy in her work and these orb-like shapes could also be seen as planets or celestial forms. “The concept of stars and planets were inspired by gifts brought from my children. My three-year-old daughter presented me with drawings with circles and I was assisting my nine-year-old with homework regarding the planets. The circular form has resonated with me. I am fascinated by the roundness and wholeness of this two-dimensional shape, and the globe or orb as a three-dimensional form. It reminds me of my own life circle and life cycle as I think of myself as a child, adult and later an elderly woman.” Found material is used as the inner structure and then thread of various thickness, colour and texture are wrapped to illicit a dialogue of universal proportions, a collective of difference all whilst being of found and homely items a nod to the women’s traditional role and duty in the home. Ten Thousand Women, a solo exhibition by Lerato Motau, opens at Art in the Yard Gallery, Heritage Square. 9 Huguenot Street, Franschhoek – 21 August until 16 September 2022. Visit artintheyard.co.za
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Lerato, 61 x 85cm, embroidery on scotch hessian
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OLD JOHANNESBURG WAREHOUSE
Antiques Art & Collectables Auctioneers
Should you have valuables to sell, please get in touch with your nearest branch as consignments happen year-round. www.oldjwauctioneers.com
SOLO STUDIOS 2022 Turns entire Riebeek Valley into a gallery
Intimate Art Encounters event returns in August 2022 www.solostudios.co.za
S
olo Studios – Intimate Art Encounters is back. After a hiatus of a year and a half, one of the most anticipated events on the cultural calendar of the Western Cape returns this August. ‘We don’t merely sell art at Solo Studios. We sell an experience,’ says Klaus Piprek, cofounder and director of Solo Studios. Rather than all the exhibitions being concentrated in a single centre, the exhibitions are scattered throughout the region: this year 18 artists’ studios will be thrown open to pass holders over the weekend of 26-28 August, with a further 10 group exhibitions held at various venues. Cancelled in 2021 due to harsh socialdistancing restrictions, Solo Studios resisted the shift to conversion to a ‘virtual’ event. This is partly, explains Piprek, because it’s not only the art and the artists that are the draw to what has become known as Arts Town Riebeek Valley, encompassing the twin towns of Riebeek Kasteel and Riebeek West. ‘There are few things more rewarding than being lured away from your planned art route by the aroma emanating from a local coffee shop, or the scent of the essential oils from the locally produced botanical range, or stopping off for an impromptu wine tasting by some of the most acclaimed Swartland wine producers. You just can’t replicate that online.’ ‘As always, the Riebeek Valley will put on its best dress in anticipation for the influx of art aficionados to this prestigious event, and visitors can expect a host of venues offering food experiences and wine tastings,’ says Sean Cleary, chair of the Riebeek Valley Tourism. ‘Entertainers will flow onto the streets and pavements, and creative community development projects will be showcased by their participation of a host of peripheral activities. Add to that the richness of local flavour from the olive producers, the plethora of restaurants, the village bakery,
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and the myriad of craft and artisanal outlets.’ ‘The best way to fully appreciate what we have to offer is to make a whole weekend of it,’ Piprek advises. ‘There’s simply not enough time in one day to fully absorb all that Solo Studios and the valley have to offer.’ The Riebeek Valley is less than an hour’s drive from Cape Town and other cultural centres such as Stellenbosch, Paarl and
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Franschhoek. The event is hosted primarily in the personal spaces of the participating artists, and accommodation in the two small towns is limited, so those who are interested are strongly encouraged to book tickets and accommodation well in advance. There are a variety of options of passes, from a Day Pass at R150 to a Premier Weekend Pass at R395. Peripheral activities may incur a surcharge. For information and ticket sales, visit www.solostudios.co.za
18 Artists’ Studios The core of the event is the individual artists’ homes and/or studios, which offer the visitor an insight into their processes and inspiration. Competition is stiff to participate in this prestigious event, and for the 2022 edition 18 artists were selected from the multitude of worthy applications. Repeat participants include Sharon Bischoff, Tamlin Blake, Solly Smook, Gordon Williams, Louisa Gerryts, Greta McMahon, Ade Kipades, Andries Dirks, André François van Vuuren,
Die Kunshuis
Emma Willemse, Tanya Majo, Riaan van Zyl and Wiehan de Jager. New solo participants include Kevan Moses, Donker Jonker, Lizette Visser, Jacky Lloyd and Louis Nel. Collaborations This year, for the first time, successful applicants were allowed to invite creative peers as collaborators for the event. Collaborations include with artists Wilma Cruise, Robyn Pretorius, Mariette Maarschalk and ShuiLyn White, photographers Rudolph Willemse and Amy Moses, ceramicist Clayton Sutherland, and curators Elizabeth Miller-Vermeulen and Luan Nel.
Gallery and Gallery 7 on Plein), six other exhibition spaces will be opened to accommodate the increasingly interesting offerings. These include The Riebeek Valley Museum, Ruby Rose Country House, Marras, The Royal Gallery, The Hub and Die Kunshuis.
Galleries and other exhibitions In addition to the four permanent public art galleries (RK Contemporary, QStudio, Pictorex Photographic
Die Kunshuis Avid art lovers and collectors Mike and Lorna Spittal were first introduced to Arts Town Riebeek Valley during Solo Studios 2018. They fell in love with the creative community, and subsequently purchased land in the town to realise their dream of building a structure, firstly to serve as a gallery, and secondly as their South African base. Die Kunshuis was completed in May 2022, and Solo Studios is proud to be hosting the first official public viewing of a part of the Spittals’ private art collection.
Guided art walks
Studio Riaan van Zyl
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Die Kunshuis
Riaan van Zyl, Antagonist, 2022, Old car oil, anthracite, bio-char, charcoal, oil and pastel on canvas, 90x140cm
Emma Willemse, Three ways to stack for ritual purposes, 2022, Digital print on Hahnemühle, 40x40cm
(Detail) Robyn Pretorius, Affinity, Oilpaints,mixed mediums on canvas, 59.4x42cm
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TOTEM Functional Art by Design Afrika
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Wiehan de Jager, Founding, 2021, Mixed media on canvas, 92x92cm copy
A work of Falko One at Solo Studios 2020 (Since demolished)
Above: Studios artists Andre van Vuuren and Gordon Williams. Opposite page: A visitor to Studio Tamlin Blake.
World premiere of feature film Sculpting This Earth Following his multiple awardwinning feature film Displaced, which featured the work of Riebeek Kasteel resident and Solo Studios artist Emma Willemse, director Victor van Aswegen returns with a film on the work of acclaimed land artist Strijdom van der Merwe. Solo Studios proudly hosts the world premiere of Sculpting This Earth, and Van Aswegen will present multiple screenings of the film throughout the weekend. The film Displaced also features with a single screening. Book launches by Jacques Pauw and Obie Oberholzer Investigative journalist Jacques Pauw, a Riebeek Kasteel resident, made waves with his revelations on state capture in his bestselling book The President’s Keepers, and his keenly anticipated sequel, Our Poisoned Land, is due soon. At Solo Studios, Jacques will present a talk on his findings, and pre-orders of signed books can be placed at the event.
Acclaimed photographer and writer Obie Oberholzer is difficult to find as he’s mostly somewhere else, riding the roads of his beloved Southern Africa. But he will be at Solo Studios, presenting a talk, ‘For the Love of It’, launching his latest book, Happysadland, and exhibiting some of his favourite work. Urban artist Falko One Arguably South Africa’s most acclaimed urban artist, Falko One dazzled visitors at Solo Studios in 2020 with his debut solo exhibition of graffiti art titled After Life, held adjacent to the cemetery in some dilapidated ruins on the outskirts of Riebeek West. For the 2022 edition, Falko One returns for another display of his site-specific work, promising to surprise visitors in the high-end streets of the tourism precinct of Riebeek Kasteel. At time of going to print, the locations of Falko One’s works are unknown, but an exhibition space housing information on his exhibition and prints of his work for sale will be hosted at The Royal Gallery.
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THE POWER OF REPRESENTATION Juxtaposing and re-interpreting art through the genres of Still Life, Sculpture, and Landscape Text by Yolanda de Kock
The Power of Representation is currently on display at Oliewenhuis Art Museum’s Permanent Collection. The exhibition was curated with the intention of showcasing the variety of artworks and different media held in Oliewenhuis’s Permanent Collection. Another purpose is to emphasise that museums are seen as mediators of new discourses and custodians and purveyors of visual and cultural memory. The display rooms are divided into different categories: The art of Still Life: From trompe-l’oeil painting to found miniature objects. As the subtitle suggests, the viewer will find a variety of traditional Still Life interpretations of Andrew Murray, Michael Pettit and Margaret Nel. For over a century Still Life as a genre has been practiced in South Africa and, as Michael Godby (2007) mentions, in the early twentieth century South African Still Life painters reflected or even adopted the European tradition. In this display room a focus is set on the Hungarian-born Still Life painter Romek Årpåd (1883 – 1960), who worked super realistically in oil. This Still Life represents ‘typical’ objects found in the Still Life painting: glass bottles and brass containers on a white cloth. All the items are displayed on a dark background. Årpåd’s approach could fittingly be compared to the French term, trompe-l’oeil, aiming to depict the objects so real as to deceive the eye of the viewer. In comparison, the piece by contemporary artist Elrie Joubert, I will Always Have Paris (2013) represents real collected miniature objects (less typical of the Still Life genre) collected on the streets of Paris. The intent of the artist here may be not to deceive the eye of the viewer, but to add an extra layer of memory and history to each collected item, and add a component of archival memory by documenting each found object in meticulous miniature drawings. Joubert’s work leans more to two-dimentional installation, in stark contrast to Årpåd’s approach of traditional painting on canvas, albeit that both artists attempt to bring forth an illusion of reality of a specific place or location and setting.
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Romek Årpåd, Stillewe, Oil on canvas. Photo Credit: Jano Myburgh photography. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection.
The sculptor’s playroom: Traditional sculpture, installation art, vanitas and rusted objects. As the title of this display room suggests, artworks selected for this room are focussed on different approaches the sculptor can explore or even ‘play with’ in the studio: installation art by Christiaan Diedericks, traditional wood carving of Lucas Sithole, and a stylised abstraction sculpture by Gert Swart that displays a combination of metal and wood. Lucas Sithole was a remarkable artist, best known for his wood carvings in indigenous wood. The subjects Sithole chose to carve fall unmistakably into three categories: animals, human figures and heads. His work Just like that (1978) showcases a strong combination of his African ancestry and the historical era in which this work was made. The 1970s were a pivotal decade in the struggle for freedom in South Africa. Although Sithole’s work represents the traditional approach to sculpture, it represents so much more: hope, masterly skill and a timeframe in which black artists had to work extremely hard to be acknowledged in the art world. We are privileged to showcase these artists’ legacy in our museum. Jeanette Unite and Toni Pretorius’s work in this display area are contrasted with Sithole’s work. Sithole’s is a three-dimensional sculpture, standing on the floor, whilst those of the two younger contemporary artists are two-dimensional installations on the wall, conveying messages
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Elrie Joubert, 2013, I will always have Paris documented, Ink on paper. Photo Credit: Jano Myburgh photography. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection.
Elrie Joubert, 2013, I will always have Paris, Plastic, metal, porcelain and natural objects.Photo Credit: Jano Myburgh photography. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection.
Lucas Sithole, 1978, Just like that, Mkonto wood. Photo credit: Oliewenhuis Art Museum archive. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection.
Jeanette Unite, 2015, Complicit Geographies: martyrs of Marikana 2015, Mixed media painting. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection.
about the rusted objects, memento mori, and the viewer’s awareness of time, decay and mortality.
With her installation, Amassing for Our Carrion King (2016) Toni Pretorius emphasises recurring vanitas themes in her practice. Pretorius meticulously hand-crafted porcelain dead birds mounted on brass clocks with strands of hair surrounded by fine drawings of feathers. The birds are boxed in their own mortal wooden containers. The artist confronts the viewer with the transience of our earthly life.
Rust as medium, seen in the installation of Jan van der Merwe’s Vertoonkas (2003) and Jeanette Unite’s Complicit Geographies: Martyrs of Marikana 2015 (2015) represents decay and impermanence. Jeanette Unite produced this artwork with medium pigments she makes from the mineral oxides she collects from mines, to which she travels as a part of her personal and artistic journey. These mineral oxides are painted on the panels with the intention of disrupting their surfaces. This work serves as a memorial to the men who brutally died in the Marikana conflict in 2012. Unite commemorates this event by incorporating the names of the victims on the artwork in a monumental way.
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Landscape: Marks on the land, landmarks and narratives about the South African landscape is a display room with a variety of different approaches to landscape art. Included here are works from the 1800s of Thomas Baines, to contemporary artists such as Paul Emmanuel and Brent Meistre. The work of Thomas Baines, Bloemfontein vanaf Naval Hill 1851 showcases in the far distance the Tweetoringkerk (Twin Tower Church). In contrast, a work by Johan
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Above: Johan Voets, 2010, Sunday Afternoon on Hill Street, Digital Pigment ink.Photo credit: Oliewenhuis Art Museum archive. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection. Below: Thomas Baines, 1850, Bloemfontein vanaf Naval Hill 1851, Oil on canvas. Photo credit: Oliewenhuis Art Museum archive. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection.
Paul Emmanuel, 2015, Lesion, Hand printed Chine-collé etching. Photo Credit: Jano Myburgh photography. Oliewenhuis Art Museum Permanent Collection.
Voets (2010), Sunday afternoon on Hill street, was placed next to Thomas Baines with a recent depiction of the Tweetoringkerk. These works placed in contrast echo geographic conversations of the distant past and more recent past of Bloemfontein. Both Naval Hill and the Tweetoringkerk are today still important landmarks in Bloemfontein. Paul Emmanuel’s Lesion refers to the trench wars of World War I. Emmanuel inscribed the landscape with the names of soldiers who died in that war. Since World War I was a European war, it seems far removed from South Africa; few South Africans can relate to it, and often don’t know what our country’s contribution to it was or how many South African soldiers died in WWI. By adding text (names and inscriptions acknowledging unknown soldiers), Emmanuel reminds us of the many men who fought and died for higher authorities. He urges us to research this part of our history, because South Africa was not completely exempt from World War I, despite geographical distance from the parties directly involved. This war literally left marks on the land, as Emmanuel stated, that survive even until today; as farmers are ploughing the land, and remnants of humans resurface on these war
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sites. The marks left on the land in 1914 are an enduring reminder of this tragic and brutal war and the lost men who fought in it. The Power of Representation is an exhibition with dual functions – to display pleasurable works for the viewer, but also to convey necessary discourses that are of crucial value within the museum space for audience and content development. This exhibition is curated to emphasise the power that both museum displays and artworks hold. Oliewenhuis Art Museum is located at 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein. It is open to the public from Monday to Friday between 08:00 and 17:00, and on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays between 09:00 and 16:00. For more information on Oliewenhuis Art Museum please contact the Museum at 051 011 0525 (ext 200) or oliewen@nasmus.co.za. Stay up to date by following Oliewenhuis Art Museum on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for all upcoming exhibitions and events.
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Carol Cauldwell’s
APAST FRECKLE A ‘HARE’ 4 to 28 August 2022 The Melrose Gallery 10 The High Street, Melrose Arch
www.themelrosegallery.com
NWU Art Gallery
ATTACHED TO THE SOIL 11th August - 16th September 2022
Masetle Matlhare, Lydia Matlhare. (c) 2019 Peter Glendinning
NWU Gallery in collaboration with Visual Narratives and Creative Outputs (ViNCO), the Fulbright Scholar Program and the Michigan State University presents Attached to the Soil exhibition. The exhibition will run from 11th August to 16th September 2022 at the NWU Main Gallery. “To my compatriots. I have no hesitation in saying that each one of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the Bushveld. Each time one of us touches the soil of this land, we feel a sense of personal renewal.” Nelson Mandela, 10 May 1994. In 2019, Professor Peter Glendinning, Fulbright Scholar and professor in Art, Art History, and Design, Michigan State University, USA, visited several South African universities where he collaborated with staff and students on the collaborative project, Attached to the Soil. The project’s title and genesis is the metaphor proposed by former president Nelson Mandela in his first words to the people of South Africa upon his inauguration in 1994. Right: Greg McBey. (c) 2019 Peter Glendinning
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Above: Clinton Daniels. Opposite page top: Kerneels Greyling. (c) 2019 Peter Glendinning. Opposite page botom: Gurapp Poobathy. (c) 2019 Peter Glendinning
At the North-West University, Potchefstroom campus, Glendinning collaborated with students and members of the research niche ViNCO (Visual Narratives and Creative Outputs) to create their own photographic projects. The students were asked to develop their own metaphor derived from their perception of South Africa, to collaborate with Glendinning in recording an oral history interview regarding the insights and story of their chosen portrait subject, and create a tableau portrait of the sitter in a setting that captured the metaphor and the sitter’s oral narrative. The product of this phase (2019) of the project was a collection of 50 portraits, each accompanied by the students’ metaphors and the stories of the portrait subjects. Those works comprise the content of the exhibit, Attached to the Soil.
opens on 11 August 2022, with the launch of an exhibition catalogue, walkabouts and photography workshops for students and emerging artists. The workshop participants will be invited to create their own new projects based on the original concept, including soilrelated metaphors, oral history interviews, and locations portraits of subjects with the relevant life experiences. The new projects will be exhibited worldwide on the digital platform of the Global Youth Advancement Network (GYAN), hosted by the Michigan State University International Studies and Programs (https://globalyouth.isp.msu.edu/
This year, in a Fulbright Specialist Project coordinated by the University of Pretoria, Glendinning will visit six South African universities where the 50 portraits and accompanying oral history accounts will be exhibited. The exhibition at NWU Gallery
Tel: (018) 299 4341 email: amohelang.mohajane@nwu.ac.za
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For more information, please contact NWU Art Gallery Curator, Ms Amohelang Mojahane on the following contact details…
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NWU Botanical Gardens Gallery
FEMINISM YA MANG, FEMINISM YETHU, FEMINISM YANI
Curated by Samantha Modisenyane and Masechaba Moloi 11 August – 02 September
Above: Untitled, Friends. Opposite Page: Embrace, Artist Proof 3/1 , 1189mm x 841mm, 2021
NWU Gallery in collaboration with the GoetheInstitut South Africa presents Feminism Ya mang, Yethu, Yani curated by Samantha Modisenyane and Masechaba Moloi. The artists featured are Jodi Bieber, Amy Ayanda, Teresa Firmino, Helena Uambembe, Jabu Nadia Newman, Kelly Johnson, Lulama ‘Wolf’ Mlambo, Saaiqa, Thato Ramaisa. Feminism ya Mang, Feminism Yethu, Feminism Yani is the visual exploration on how we define womanhood, sexuality, age and feminism; key themes that come with such an engagement; and the ways in which notions on gender and queerness can redefine our understandings. By engaging with this complexity, the exhibition aims to celebrate the diversity of knowledge that contributes to our regional experience of Feminisms. We acknowledge that this notion is not static and is constantly being challenged by a myriad of lived experiences. The exhibition reflects the diversity of experiences and expressions in being woman in spaces such as those
represented in this installation. Home of Empty’s and Saloon explores the way in which woman engage with and exist within these realities. The installation texts particularly focus on some of the words, emotions and memories associated with the spaces and interrogates what this means in a local context. Feminism ya Mang was conceptualised by Samantha Modisenyane and Masechaba Moloi in collaboration with Danai Mupotsa, Motlatsi Khosi and Lindiwe Mngxitama. The Learning Feminisms is a regional project that was initiated by the Goethe-Institut in Kigali, Rwanda. Feminism Ya Mang, Yethu, Yani first opened at the Goethe-Institut Johannesburg in May 2021 as part of the South African iteration of Learning Feminisms. The programming for the exhibition was presented online to adapt to the Covid-19 restrictions on public gatherings and is available here www.goethe.de/ins/za/ en/kul/sup/lfm.html
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Thato Ramaisa, Bafana Khumalo, Alexandra, 2021, Digital photographic print, A2
Thato Ramaisa, Glow, Marshall Town, 2020, Digital photographic print, A2
Lulama ‘Wolf’ Mlambo, The existence is lived, Print (reproduction), 570mm x 430,50mm, 2020
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A Good Read
AUCTIONS
A Vampire-Hunting Kit Purportedly From the 19th Century Sells for $20,000 in the U.K., Exploding Its Meager $2,400 Estimate The hunting kit went to a collector in the U.K. First published on news.artnet.com - July 15, 2022
A purportedly authentic late 19th-century vampire-hunting kit sold for £16,900 ($20,000) at Hansons Auctioneers in Derby, U.K., last month, greatly outstripping its low £2,000 ($2,387) estimate. According to the auction house, the kit first belonged to Lord Hailey, a one-time administrator of British India. “Whether through fear or fascination, it’s interesting to know a member of the highest aristocratic social order, a man with a place in the House of Lords, acquired this item,” auction house owner Charles Hanson said in a statement. Hailey’s alleged vampire-hunting kit was equipped with all the tools one would need to survive an encounter with one of these supernatural beings. The wooden box has two decorative brass crucifixes on the lid that double as a secret locking mechanism securing the contents. Inside are two matching pistols, a brass powder flask, Holy Water, a Bible, a wooden mallet, a stake, brass candlesticks, rosary beads, and more crucifixes. The kit also contained Metropolitan police paperwork from the era.
But it was Dracula, published by Bram Stoker in 1897, that really propelled them into the wider public consciousness. Yet vampire-hunting kits from the era have been questioned by scholars who say they’re often a mix of authentic objects and artificially aged ones. In 2014, Jonathan Ferguson, curator of firearms at the National Museum of Arms and Armour in Leeds, England, conducted a study of known examples on the occasion of an exhibition at the British Library. “These enigmatic objects transcend questions of authenticity,” Ferguson wrote. “They are part of the material culture of the gothic; aspects of our shared literary and cinematic passions made physical. Lacking any surviving artifact of vampirism either folkloric or fictional, fans of the gothic had created one to fill the gap.” In 1994, Sotheby’s openly admitted that a vampire-hunting kit from one of its sales was of dubious origins. “I’m afraid it’s only a pastiche, a romantic curiosity,” Sotheby’s consultant Nicholas McCullough told the Associated Press. “There was never a vampire-killing kit.”
The anonymous buyer for Hailey’s kit—who prevailed in what the auction house described as an international bidding war attracting interest from France, the U.S., and Canada— is from the U.K.
“The case itself is mid-19th century, probably English, of no particular rarity,” he added. “But presented as a vampire killing kit, it opens up whole new vistas. Everyone’s intrigued by it, from interior decorators to jokesters.”
Vampires have had a place in European folklore for centuries. The undead creatures are said to have sharp pointy fangs and survive on human blood. Supposedly vulnerable to sunlight, they can also be killed by a wooden stake and can be warded off by garlic, crosses, and other Christian artifacts, according to legend.
Despite the news story debunking the kit, it fetched $12,000, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
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This late 19th-century vampire-slaying kit sold for $20,000 at auction. Photo courtesy of Hansons Auctioneers, Derby, U.K.
An Edwardian-era kit for killing vampires. Courtesy of Hansons Auctioneers.
A Good Read
‘IT’S SOCIETY’S PROBLEM, AND THAT’S WHY IT’S INTERESTING’
Artist Miriam Cahn on Painting Controversial Subjects in an Age of Correctness With an eye on political and social conflicts, Cahn touches on hot issues, evoking their ambiguousness and complexity. First published on news.artnet.com - July 18, 2022
Museum of Contemporary Art MGKSiegen. 2022 Rubens Prize winner Miriam Cahn in her exhibition “My Jews.” Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
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At 72, Miriam Cahn is still enraged, a feeling that has always fueled her artwork. “One can be enraged every day, no? Just look at the news. That’s the daily material that interests me,” she told Artnet News. The Swiss artist spoke as she prepared to receive the Rubens Prize of the city of Siegen, Germany, on June 26; past laureates include the likes of Cy Twombly and Francis Bacon. For the occasion, the Kunstmuseum Siegen is featuring five decades’ worth of the artist’s work in an exhibit titled “Meine Juden” (translated: “My Jews”), on view until October 23. A feminist and so-called “activist artist” with an eye on political and social conflicts, Cahn touches on hot issues, evoking their ambiguousness and complexity, which often strikes a nerve—perhaps even more so during crisis-ridden times. She has spent decades relentlessly awakening viewers to the horrors that plague our humanity, as well as its fragility. In her figurative paintings and performative drawings, she depicts sexual violence, war, migrating refugees, and female empowerment, among other subjects. Gender-ambiguous, ghostly bodies appear lost and fleeing on barren landscapes or mothers and children drown in deep, beautiful aqua blues. Lifeless dots for eyes and grins scratched on the canvas conjure deranged smiley faces; elsewhere, bright red genitals are raw and fully exposed. The works are never easy to take in, which is perhaps why she has only relatively recently been given wider recognition, including at the Venice Biennale this year, where she has a large installation on view within Cecilia Alemani’s group show “The Milk of Dreams.” Her work also appeared in Documenta 14 in 2017 and is in the collections of Tate Modern, London, the Museo Reina Sofia, and the Pinault Collection in Paris, among others.
Miriam Cahn, gefühl beim schlafen 18.2.2022. Courtesy the artist, Meyer Riegger, Berlin/Karlsruhe and Jocelyn Wolff Gallery, Paris, Photo: Heinz Pelz
Yet, despite having become one of Europe’s most important artists, many outside the continent are only just beginning to discover her powerful canvases. There are “people who at first say they can’t look at the work— it’s too violent—and 10 years later, those same people come back, and feel that she is a remarkable artist. But there is a journey,” said Sandrine Djerouet, director and partner at Galerie Jocelyn Wolff which represents the artist alongside Meyer Riegger in Berlin. That said, “for others, it is immediate, and they say: this is life.” DEVELOPING A WORK METHOD
Her early protest drawings, like My being a woman is my public art, a work done in charcoal on public construction sites in Basel in 1979 and 1980, are a testament to her longstanding practice of using the public forum to push social issues. The seminal piece refers to the difficulty of looking at her paintings, some of which show nude bodies in explicit, rough sexual contact. Her 2019 retrospective at Kunstmuseum Bern reportedly warned visitors, “This exhibition could hurt your feelings.” Cahn brushes it aside. “It’s not my problem if people have trouble looking at an erect penis. It’s society’s problem, and that’s why it’s interesting,” she told Artnet News.
Throughout her career, Cahn has maintained an unapologetic approach. And while it appears that Cahn has suddenly become well-known, she actually has a long history of key exhibitions, including early presence in European institutions and involvement with a community of feminist performing artists of the 1970s such as Valie Export and Marina Abramovic. Cahn, who lives and works in the Swiss mountain village Stampa, participated in the Venice Biennale back in 1984 and was invited to Documenta 7 in 1982.
The artist’s fast working pace (her works are dated to the day they are made) is also something she developed early on and kept, even as she transitioned from mostly largescale, black charcoal drawings done on the ground, using her entire body, to the colorful oil paintings that she is known for today. Speed “is very important, because it comes from the performance art scene of the 1970s and 80s,” said Cahn. “The body dictated more or less the speed or the duration of a performance [in those works] and I found that very interesting.”
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Miriam Cahn, das schöne blau 2021 + 10.1.2022. Courtesy the artist, Meyer Riegger, Berlin/Karlsruhe and Jocelyn Wolff Gallery, Paris
Museum für Gegenwartskunst MGKSiegen Exhibition of the Rubens Prize 2022. Miriam Cahn “Meine Juden.” Courtesy the artist, Jocelyn Wolff Gallery, Paris, and Meyer Riegger, Berlin/Karlsruhe, Photo: Philipp Ottendörfer
Miriam Cahn, schnell weg! 27. + 30.1.2021. Courtesy the artist, Meyer Riegger, Berlin/Karlsruhe and Jocelyn Wolff Gallery, Paris, Photo: Heinz Pelz
Miriam Cahn, o.t. 15.11.2021. Courtesy the artist, Meyer Riegger, Berlin/Karlsruhe and Jocelyn Wolff Gallery, Paris, Photo: Heinz Pelz.
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“Cahn feels it is her “duty” to conjure the hardships of others in her signature, empathetic way.” She discovered her instinctive method early on when she gave herself five years to test whether or not she was cut out to be an artist. “To make art, you need to be able to structure your daily workload,” said Cahn. “And nobody tells you what to do.” She wanted to make sure she had the drive and direction for that lifestyle. If not, she said she had planned to become a designer. In the end she found her work rhythm quickly, which is one she said is short and “very intensive.” As for young artists trying to make it in a more difficult economic climate, Cahn suggested trying “to carve out one or two years where you don’t have to run after money, if you can.” “Art is something that’s slow in itself, so you need enough time to find what you want to do, and how you want to work,” she added. WHAT TOOK THE ART WORLD SO LONG? Perhaps many were not quite ready for Cahn until more recently. Movements like #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, but also the migrant crisis and the war in Ukraine have contributed to a broader sensitivity for subjects that Cahn has long discussed. She will have a major solo show at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in February next year. “It appears as though [her recognition] has come suddenly, but it happened because there was work leading up to it,” said Djerouet. The director confirmed prices for Cahn’s work have increased, with medium-sized works now costing from $50,000 to $105,000, or over $1 million for larger installations, which occur as clusters of paintings not unlike what she is exhibiting at the Venice Biennale. Meanwhile, Djerouet said Cahn’s pieces have started appearing slightly more frequently at auction this year, with prices a little higher than the primary market. Yet the activism flowing through her paintings bucks recent waves of politically correctness or cancel culture. “BLM is great, but the moment we say that a white artist—a distinction that I already find stupid—cannot
work on problems that directly concern Black people, then it becomes wrong. And the same goes for #MeToo,” she said, adding that such progressive movements in themselves are “very good,” but should not be overly simplified. In art, “we have our imaginations. It doesn’t mean it’s realism, though it might be reality,” she said. “I react as a Jew,” said Cahn, but “only when there is something rather anti-Semitic that happens.” The current exhibition at Kunstmuseum Siegen addresses a sense of otherness and the act of fleeing, which Cahn associates with her Jewish identity; it also addresses anti-Semitism, a topic she has been outspoken about. The exhibition’s title, called “My Jews,” is a continuation of her publicized critical response late last year to the Kunsthaus Zürich’s new wing dedicated to the art collection of Nazi-arms supplier, Emil Georg Bührle, despite questions around the provenance of some of the works, possibly acquired from Nazi victims. Though she rebuked cancel culture in general, she did ultimately try to withdraw from the collection of the Kunsthaus Zürich after a representative from the museum concluded that Jews in Switzerland were not oppressed during World War 2 during a conference. The artist was angered by what she called a “false” statement and a case of “historical blindness.” She offered to buy back her roughly 30 paintings. “I started to react violently, because it was too much,” she said. The institution refused, but her proposal “was a bomb that caused a lot of reactions,” she noted. Indeed, Cahn feels it is her “duty” to conjure the hardships of others in her signature, empathetic way. “It might be my Jewish side to tell myself that, if you have a privilege [such as freely making artwork in the Swiss Alps] then it’s your duty to comment” on the pain of others. And also, she said, “to think: it could be me.”
MARK COETZEE 2022 Luan Nel Reflects on Mark’s life and bold vision First published on Facebook
I
first met Mark in 1996. I was visiting Cape Town, then still living in Johannesburg with my Neil. I remember finding the Cape Town art scene vibrant with many new galleries opening their doors, in town, there was the Hanel gallery with Robert Weinek and also some new life in Woodstock. Upon visiting Robert at Hanel, he directed me to a new space that opened up just two blocks away on Bree Street. I walked up the road and I found the Mark Coetzee Fine Art Cabinet. It was the most intriguing of the lot, being tiny, literally ten meters square, if that. Just enough room for a tiny exhibition or show on a wall and a small desk and chair for the gallery assistant. Soon after I met with Mark to see if I could possibly show there and a date was decided upon and it happened the following year, 1997.It was only my third solo exhibition and in Mark I found a young gallerist who was also an artist. I think it was shortly after or towards the end of his Masters. He was a fountain of information, he knew everything that was cutting edge, queer, and concerning painting. I could not possibly have been in better hands. Upon Mark’s suggestion I included a small stack of prints, cards of a selection of work, five individual pieces from the hanging works and some ink drawings I made specially for the stack. We editioned 200 of these, placed them in little boxes and as a gesture to Cape Town, handed them out for free. Everybody could leave with a small bit of my work. They flew and became very popular, finding homes on some art critics’ fridge doors and one stack even finding its way into the Smithsonian, this I only found out years later. This is but one example of Mark’s foresight and very specific and individual approach to each show and each artist. He was very good at getting the whole picture. As artist, I was treated with respect and also challenged somewhat on the ideas informing the exhibition, made to consider all aspects of the installation. So much so that once the work was installed, all rather neatly, my friend Brian Webber (who was staying with me in our apartment in St James) and I packed up and headed back. That evening at around 10 pm it struck me like a bolt of lightning, it is all wrong. Neat is not what the work was. It was a mess. We contacted Mark and asked if he would mind if we work through the night we need to re-hang. We collected the keys, and he was as calm as ever, not making us
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more on edge. We went and created the perfect mess in the space and in the morning, he said, I was wondering what solution you would come up with. It was important to have such trust and freedom for one of the pivotal exhibitions in my cultural production. I returned to Johannesburg and soon after left for the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam. I today find myself living in Cape Town and in similar shoes to Mark’s back then. I am an artist and I own an art gallery. I have a program that stretches a year ahead, and I deal with artists. It has been an incredible education and I am still learning every day. My experience with Mark’s Cabinet informs the ways in which I approach exhibitions, as individual projects with their own set of needs. No two are the same and no two artists are ever the same. I do custom-made presentations or at least I try to. This I learnt from Mark. I did not forget he was also an artist and invited him to participate in our inaugural exhibition. He has shown on all our Queer exhibitions, not surprising as Gay Rights was something very close to his heart, and he often worked with the idea of breaking the binds and lifting the veils on
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Mark Coetzee, visionary, with model of Cape Town’s Zeitz Museum of Contemporary African Art designed by Thomas Heatherwick. Photo: Eric Nathan
male homosexual desire and lending visibility where there was little or not enough at the time. Those first works on our show were very ‘in your face’ expressive and loudly political. They were executed during a residency he did in Argentina, and the work addressed marriage equality. I find it poignant that Mark and Philip quietly tied the knot a month ago, realising one of his big dreams. When I curated the art component to Pride Afrique, the first pan-African Pride celebration, which took place online during the height of the pandemic, Mark presented us with a very poetic piece. It was a hand-tinted print of a reef of pink roses laid at the grave of Oscar Wilde. Wilde of course an icon of Gay love in times that were hostile to the mere idea of it. The Victorian era is known for its puritanism and cruel laws and punishment which saw Wilde imprisoned. It has been an honour to show Mark’s artwork. I hope participating in my program was useful to him in his own artistic journey. It is sad we will not see what works he might still have produced. He was incredibly bright, a born creative, a leader in many fields and so brave. What we do have as
well and something that will by its nature evolve, is Zeitz MOCAA. This museum would never have happened was it not for Mark’s vision. It remains an incredible contribution to the cultural landscape of this city and that can never be denied or taken away from him. Part of the legacy he leaves behind is that he managed to finally get all eyes from around the globe, focused on the contemporary art of Africa. That and the many people whose lives he enriched, and the many ways in which we are tied through our connection with Mark, is part of the legacy Mark has left us. His unflinching ability to stand up for contemporary art, no matter the cost. I remember him telling me in 2020, he and his family all have membership cards because this institution should be supported.Mark understood the value and potential of art. He knew that art could transform people, places and thinking.Art is transformative. Art was his life. Thank you Mark.
A Good Read
THE SUCCESS OF ‘IMMERSIVE VAN GOGH’
Investors and Banks Hoping to Cash in on the Success of ‘Immersive Van Gogh’ Are Pouring Funds Into Art Experiences for Klimt, Kahlo, and More
First published on arstechnica.com July 22, 2022
A flood of Van Gogh exhibitions in the form of fully immersive, multi-sensory experiences proved a hit globally last year after L’Atelier des Lumières’s version was featured on Netflix’s Emily In Paris. Since then, the industry has continued to grow substantially as investor money is poured in. A clear sign that investors were taking notice of the huge popularity of these shows came in January, when Goldman Sachs Asset Management led a funding round that brought in $227 million for Fever Labs, the company behind the blockbuster “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” which first opened in 2018. The largest-ever round of funding for a live-entertainment startup, Fever claims it brought its pre-money valuation to more than $1 billion. In the months since, the company has a range of new offerings, including “Mexican Geniuses,” dedicated to Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera; “Small is Beautiful,” dedicated to the miniature art movement, and “Klimt: The Immersive Experience.” The company also specializes in events relating to Netflix hit shows like Stranger Things and Bridgerton. A spokesperson for Fever told Artnet News that the company’s revenues have grown 10 times and, in the past five years, it has expanded from three cities to more than 60 across Europe, America, Asia, and Oceania.
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“Our global presence allowed us not only to mitigate the impact [of the pandemic] but also to see how despite the change in behavior during periods of restriction, as restrictions eased people still preferred faceto-face events and so began the growth,” the spokesperson said. Corey Ross, CEO of Lighthouse Immersive, another giant of the sector, attributes the popularity to the medium’s novelty. “I have been experiencing art in art galleries since childhood and the presentation has more or less stayed the same—paintings on the walls with labels. The public is extremely curious to experience a new genre, and one they have seen it done well they love it,” he told Artnet News. Lighthouse has worked with a team of more than 850, including creative director and theater designer David Korins and artist Massimiliano Siccardi. Subjects like Van Gogh, Monet and Kahlo have widespread appeal. Lighthouse Immersive reported selling more than five million tickets to “Immersive Van Gogh” between February 2021 and May 2022, indicating that one in 90 Americans had bought a ticket. Museums have long been under pressure to hold exhibitions dedicated to blue-chip names for the guaranteed footfall. Many are hopping on board with this latest trend, including Newfields’s the Lume Indianapolis, LACMA’s Pipilotti Rist show, and the Louvre and Grand Palais’s immersive light exhibition inspired by the Mona Lisa. Ticketed events also provide a new model of making commercially-viable work for new media contemporary artists, such as those exhibiting through ventures like Pace’s Superblue. Immersive art experiences have proven particularly popular in the U.S., which accounts for 40 percent of Fever Labs’ revenue. These kinds of shows have a much longer history in France, however, according to Pascal Bernardin, founder of the Encore Productions behind “Imagine Van Gogh, the original immersive exhibition in Image Totale.” He refers to the venue Cathédrale d’Images, now Carrières des Lumières, in the South of France. Established by the photographer Albert Plécy in 1977, he used the space to screen art. In 2008, creative director Annabelle
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Mauger held what is likely the first immersive Van Gogh show and “Gauguin and Van Gogh, the color painters” followed in 2012. The considerable growth of this sector since has no doubt been bolstered by the low cost of using images old enough to be in the public domain and the high ticket prices typically being charged, including $45 dollars at the weekend for Fever’s Van Gogh exhibition and at minimum $35 dollars for Lighthouse Immersive’s new showing of Klimt.
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“The Immersive Experience,” which first opened in 2018. The largest-ever round of funding for a liveentertainment startup, Fever claims it brought its pre-money valuation to more than $1 billion.”
“The problem with immersive shows is they are very cheap to do,” said Bernardin, who is dismissive of the sudden proliferation of immersive Van Gogh experiences and decries the lack of critical engagement to differentiate them by quality. “You just buy 20 projectors… give me $100,000 and an American city and I could produce an immersive show of bad quality tomorrow.”
Business art
OLDJW ART AUCTION www.oldjwauctioneers.com
Johannes Meintjes, Karoo Lovers
Above: Johannes Meintjes, Landscape With Rock And Birds Opposite page: Johannes Meintjes, Wagtende Kitaarspeler
Old Johannesburg Warehouse Auctioneers has grown into a flourishing business with three branches, located respectively in Johannesburg, Pretoria and the Winelands. Auctioneers of antiques, art, jewellery, collectables, carpets, classic vehicles, coins, collectables and more host a lineup of online auctions throughout the year spread out between the branches. The owner, former 1995 Springbok rugby player, Christiaan Scholtz started off 27 years ago, dealing in Antiques, collectables and art. The Melville shop, Ossewa Antiques, which he owned and operated from for over 20 years has now become the latest location for auctions through the company. The newly refurbished OJW Clubhouse Melville venue will be host to select smaller auctions with highly sought after pieces – one such, taking place on Saturday 10 September, is worth diarizing.
the homestead, built in 1824 as home as well as fortress against the Xhosa nation during frontier wars, in 1859. Here three preceding generations farmed with sheep and this is where his father died when Meintjes was only five years of age. The family had little choice but to move away to Riversdal. For more than twenty years Meintjes had been dreaming about his return to Grootzeekoegat, to claim his inheritance and to reunite with his past. Two years after his return to South Africa from Europe, he withdraws to the isolated family farm Grootzeekoegat, inexplicably bound to his family heritage. Here he would give expression to himself as a painter, write all his important manuscripts and build up his highly prestigious library.
A magnitude of magnificent art and antiques is included in this auction line up. The art collection of late Dr Piet Roux forms a main part of this. Dr Roux befriended the artist Johannes Meintjes on the Meintjes family farm Grootzeekoegat. The Meintjes family acquired
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No visitor to Grootzeekoegat could escape the haunting atmosphere and sense of mystery that hung over the legendary Stormand Bamboesberge, and the aura of things unknown and unseen that pervaded the silent veld stretching out beyond the farmhouse. It is almost impossible to pinpoint it, but something of the primeval spirit of that place, of its timelessness, its loneliness and the
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Piet van Heerden, Farm Cottages, Cape
deepest, most enduring and indestructible part of man is reflected in the canvasses painted by Meintjes. Together with his wife Ronell, Meintjes became part of the people of Molteno, the town closest to Grootzeekoegat. He was a prolific artist and at the time of his death in 1980, he had painted more than 1 336 paintings, hundreds of sketches and dozens of sculptures. Dr Roux who hailed from Molteno, could also not escape the atmosphere of the place and the person and became a great enthusiast of the artist’s work, acquiring many pieces for his private collection. Thirteen of his Meintjes art works are in included but of special mention KAROO LOVERS, a hauntingly beautiful largescale oil is the piece that started their bond. The painting, done as a commission, was executed in 1976.
mention out of this auction a spectacular Neil Rodgers, YOUNG WOMAN SEATED IN A CRISP WHITE SHIRT and a rare portfolio of Salvador Dali lithographs from the opera Carmen. More wonderful lots still to be added as intake is still in progress. The auction catalogue will be online by the end of August. Viewing for the public will be open on Friday 9 September from 9:00 until 15:30 at 1 8th Avenue, Melville. For more information, please contact the Jhb office on 011 836 1650 or email info@oldjwauctioneers.com Consignments for future auctions take place year-round – please get in touch with your nearest branch (Johannesburg/Pretoria/ Wellington) to get included in an auction. Follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more updates. www.oldjwauctioneers.com
Many beautiful Piet van Heerdens, Gregoire Boonzaiers and Alice Goldin oils are also included from his collection. Also, of special
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Above and right: Salvador Dali, lithographs from CARMEN portfolio
Piet van Heerden, Grondpad, Victoriastraat, Villiersdorp
Business Art
STRAUSS & CO.
Paying homage to Die Kunskamer, the gallery that changed the course of SA art www.straussart.co.za
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trauss & Co is pleased to announce its participation in the 2022 instalment of August Art Month, an annual celebration of arts and culture hosted by collectors Frank and Lizelle Kilbourn in the historic Cape Town manor house of Welgemeend. Established in 2014 and hosted in collaboration with the Friends of Welgemeend and Strauss & Co, August Art Month always presents a themed art exhibition featuring rare and important artworks from private collections. This year’s exhibition is titled Homage: Erken/Verken (531 August) and celebrates the achievements of art market pioneers Louis and Charlotte Schachat, founders in 1971 of the legendary Cape Town art gallery Die Kunskamer. Charlotte Schachat will play an active role in the commemorative exhibition Homage: Erken/ Verken. She has agreed to lend key artworks as well as provide valuable information and archival material about Die Kunskamer and the artists it represented over half a century. Works by leading artists such as Kenneth Bakker, J. H. Pierneef, Alexis Preller, Deborah Poynton and Irma Stern will be on display. “Louis Schachat had a big influence on me and opened my eyes to many artists,” says Strauss & Co chairperson Frank Kilbourn, who was a longstanding client of Die Kunskamer. “I have many works that Oom Louis handled, including Irma Stern’s Two Arabs. He taught me the importance of buying what you love, not what you think is a good investment. He also introduced me to exciting contemporary artists. The exhibition Homage: Erken/ Verken commemorates the role a gallery plays in influencing collecting habits. It also acknowledges the immense support Die Kunskamer provided the local art market, not only by promoting established artists but in taking brave positions on little known artists.”
Deborah Poynton, Safe House, Die Kunskamer / Schachat Collection
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Above: Esther Mahlangu, Abstract, Die Kunskamer / Schachat Collection Opposite: Alexis Preller, Abstract, The Kilbourn Collection
Norman Catherine, Who Zoo, The Kilbourn Collection
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Stanley Pinker,, Fete Champetre,, Private Collection
Louis Schachat was born into a farming family in Robertson, in the Western Cape, in 1926. His father was a Lithuanian Jew and his mother English. He attended an Afrikaans school and grew up speaking Afrikaans and Yiddish. He studied law at the University of Cape Town and practiced as a lawyer for several years before, in 1971, opening Die Kunskamer with his wife, Charlotte, in Cape Town. By this time the Schachats were already seasoned collectors. Through Die Kunskamer, the Schachats established a reputation as pacesetting dealers with a committed focus on South African art. Their asking price of R5 000 for a Stern caused a stir early on. The Schachats established further benchmarks. They were the first buyers to pay more than R1 million for a work by Irma Stern, and in 2010 paid well over R10 million for a Stern still life. When Louis Schachat died in 2013, at age 87, the Sunday Times ran a fulsome obituary: “More than anyone, he was responsible for the rise in the monetary value, recognition and status of South African art.”
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The story of Die Kunskamer is about focussed commitment, but it is also about broad-minded tastes and the pleasure offered by new art. “It wasn’t just about the big names for Oom Louis,” says Frank Kilbourn. “He supported artists like David Brown, Norman Catherine, William Kentridge, Malcolm Payne, Michael Pettit, Stanley Pinker and many others. This represented the curious and exploratory side of Die Kunskamer, the verkenning aspect of what it offered. I always experienced a real sense of adventure when I visited Die Kunskamer. It was like a journey of discovery. I got the most joy out of the unusual works on show. Oom Louis didn’t give up on the artists he loved.” The programme for 2022 August Art Month includes a series of walkabouts, public lectures and related social events. A full schedule of events is available at www.welgemeendart.co.za and www.straussart.co.za For more information about Welgemeend Art Month 2022, please contact: 063 910 0154
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5th Avenue Auctioneers
Irma Stern (SA 1894 - 1966) Gouache “Lion’s Head From Lagoon Beach” Sold For R 879 500 Next Fine Art Auction 3rd September 2022
Now acceptiNg eNtries 5thAveAuctions.co.za
011 781 2040
stuart@5aa.co.za
404 Jan Smuts Ave, Craighall Park, Sandton
Business Art
STEPHAN WELZ & CO. www.swelco.co.za
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2022 has been an exciting year for the Stephan Welz & Co. art department. The Cape Town Premium Sale kicked off our auction calendar with an impressive sell-through rate, setting a precedent for the sales to follow, with the department continuing this trend throughout the year. Our specialists are enthusiastic about the current trajectory of the South African art market, and have discussed a few of their personal highlights below: Amy Carrington – Art Specialist, CT “It has been particularly exciting to see a steadily increasing interest in contemporary South African art within the auction world. I think this indicates diversification within the auction market, and ultimately allows us to present a more accurate and inclusive representation of the scope of South African art. We have also seen an increase in our buyers thinking beyond the walls of their homes, investing in art that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but contributes to investment portfolios. A personal highlight this year was handling William Kentridge’s Dutch Iris II. Spending time examining Kentridge’s mark-making and considered layering cemented his virtuosity in printmaking and his impressive approach to treating intaglio prints much like his expressive drawings. Kentridge’s technique of layering and revising provisional lines, a recurring process of “thinking out loud” throughout the artist’s oeuvre, was excellently illustrated in this work, resulting in a wonderfully complex piece”. Adam Heald – Junior Art Specialist, CT “The past Cape Town Premium auction was an amalgamation of beauty and history. A standout piece for me was Michael Amery’s Settlers. Amery’s work stands to be the intersection between the old South African modernists and the new era of contemporary art. The beauty and wonder of the South African landscape has long since been a source of inspiration for artists, documenting its everchanging colours with each passing season. Settlers is a scene inspired by the Western Cape’s Swartberg mountain range. Amery uses the late afternoon sunlight, as it casts shadows of deep blues and purples on the surface of each rock formation. Cecil Higgs (South African 1898 - 1986) Dried Proteas, Shells, Things Iii, oil on canvas, 59,5cm by 75cm; R25 000 – R40 000
Michael Amery (South African 1984 - ), Settlers, signed and dated ‘21, oil on canvas, 76,5 by 100cm, Estimate: R15 000 – R20 000, Sold: R44 118
Alexander Rose-Innes (South African 1915 - 1996), Study Of A Man, signed, oil on canvas, 65,5 by 40,5cm; 87 by 61,5 by 3cm including frame, R25 000 – R35 000
A single Eucalyptus tree draws our attention to the foreground of the painting, as its linear shape reaches over the mountain tops, surgically dividing the painting into two parts. The Eucalyptus tree is commonly found throughout the South Africa landscape; however, it is an alien plant, introduced to the native flora and ecosystems by the British in the late 18th century. The Eucalyptus tree presented in this context becomes an incredibly significant Symbol. Amery uses similar symbols and motifs throughout his work, subtly exploring the parallels between our colonial history as well as the socio-economic divides commonly found within South Africa today”.
The museum and Restaurant Mosaic was managed and curated by renowned chef, Chantel Dartnall. Artworks were meticulously integrated into the restaurant and hotel, creating an environment where guests were greeted with beauty and a multi-sensory experience from the moment they entered the property. The Museum showcased works of art that celebrated South African art and the legacy left behind by some of the country’s most respected and celebrated artists. The collection spans multiple periods, techniques and movements in South Africa’s recent art history and offers a personal glimpse into the works of some of the canons of South African art, including the works of the Cape Impressionists – Alexander Rose-Innes, William Timlin, Hugo Naudé, Terrance McCaw, Gwelo Goodman, Gregoire Boonzaier, Cecil Higgs and Nita Spilhaus, as well as older masters such as WH Coetzer, Frans Oerder, and Tinus de Jongh – not forgetting more contemporary artists such as Hennie Niemann, Conrad Theys and Lynn-Marie Eatwell. Much of the collection was purchased directly from the artists and
Alexia Ferreira – Art Specialist, Johannesburg “As an art specialist we are afforded the opportunity to deal with a broad range of collections, both corporate and private. One of the most exciting collections that I have dealt with this year is that of the Legacy Museum at the Orient Boutique Hotel.
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Conrad Nagel Doman Theys (South African 1940 - ) Still Life With Blue Teapot, signed and dated 1992, pastel on paper, 24,5 by 31cm; R10 000 – R15 000
Alexander Rose-Innes (South African 1915 - 1996), Study Of A Man, signed, oil on canvas, 65,5 by 40,5cm; R25 000 – R35 000
Michael Amery (South African 1984 - ), Settlers, signed and dated ‘21, oil on canvas, 76,5 by 100cm, Estimate: R15 000 – R20 000, Sold: R44 118
was a collaboration between the artists and the family, such as the likes of Tienie Pritchard and Adriaan Boshoff, producing a carefully curated and unparalleled collection that has been added to since the early 1970s to date”. Robyn Woolley – Junior Art Specialist, Johannesburg “As someone who has worked in the Primary market it is constantly surprising to see the inevitable differences as well as the strong intertwined nature of both the primary and secondary art markets. It is, of course, tantalizing to work with rare and desirable collectables however, to be able to learn from a rapidly evolving and fickle market is one of my favorite aspects of being an art specialist. The first auction house was established in 1674 in Sweden, and I find the nature of the business with its every changing yet somehow constant zeitgeist, rather remarkable. It is an age-old industry that has an impact on our cultural perspectives and that is always an impressive sentiment. As specialists we are exposed to an
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array of collections, and it is always interesting to not only witness people’s propensity to collect but also their reasoning and perception of what they deem as ‘valuable’ art. It varies from collectors who buy art based off their personal taste to collectors who meticulously follow industry trends, and seeing these collections perform on auction always satisfies a professional sense of curiosity”. The art department is looking forward to the rest of the sales for 2022, with premium auctions coming up in October and November. We are actively consigning for these sales, so whether you have a work by an old master, a portfolio of contemporary works, would like expert advice on procuring or selling investment pieces, or if you are simply curious about the value of your items, contact us via support@swelco. co.za. For up-to-date information regarding our upcoming sale dates and valuation days, follow our social media pages.
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Seejarim Usha,2020. Manifold, Pegs and wire , 103 x 155 x 18 cm
CELEBRATING
WOMEN ARTISTS
AT THE UNISA ART GALLERY
Kgorong Building, 274 Preller St, Muckleneuk, Pretoria Unisa Art Gallery aims at showcasing innovative and intriguing exhibitions that encourage debates and academic engagement.
Art, antiques, objets d’art, furniture, and jewellery wanted for forthcoming auctions
Alexis Preller, Sunflower, oil on board SOLD R400 000 View previous auction results at www.rkauctioneers.co.za
011 789 7422 • Bram Fischer Centre, Lower Ground, 95 Bram Fischer Driver Cnr George Street, Ferndale, 2194
ARTGO AUGUST 2022
NEW GALLERIES, ONGOING SHOWS AND OPENING EXHIBITIONS Kirsten Beets, Mysterious Creatures, 2022, Oil Paint On Paper, 60cm X 80cm 131 A Gallery
ARTGO: AUGUST 2022
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
ARTB| THE ARTS ASSOCIATION OF BELLVILLE, WESTERN CAPE
REDEFINED | GROUP EXHIBITION SURVIVING A PANDEMIC WITH PAINTED AND DRAWN VISIONS. ONLINE EXHIBITION 01/08/2022 - 26/08/2022 WWW.ARTB.CO.ZA/REDEFINED
THE CAPE GALLERY
‘WILDLIFE 2022 (GROUP EXHIBITION)’ 01/08/2022 UNTIL 17/09/2022 THE CAPE GALLERY ANNUAL WILDLIFE EXHIBITION. INTREPID ADVENTURERS AND AGENTS FOR CONSERVATION, WILDLIFE ARTISTS RESEARCH AND CONVEY VISUAL INFORMATION ON THE RICH DIVERSITY OF FLORA AND FAUNA IN SOUTH AFRICA. WWW.CAPEGALLERY.CO.ZA
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SANLAM ART GALLERY AND SANLAM ART LOUNGE EXHIBITION OF PAINTING, SCULPTURE & PRINTING FROM THE SANLAM ART COLLECTION CELEBRATING WOMEN ARTISTS IN WOMEN’S MONTH SANLAM ART GALLERY - BELLVILLE 04/08/2022 UNTIL 22/10/2022 WEEKDAYS 09:00 – 16:30 SANLAM ART LOUNGE -SANDTON 01/08/2022 UNTIL 22/08/2022 (VIEWING TIMES BY APPOINTMENT EMAIL: SANLAMART@SANLAM.CO.ZA) TEL: 021 947 3359 OR WHATSAPP 083 457 2699
EBONY/CURATED
ACTIONS AND REFLECTIONS A SOLO EXHIBITION BY PLACIDO ‘POCHO’ GUIMARAES 03/08/2022 UNTIL 24/09/2022 SOLO EXHIBITION BY THE EQUATORIAL GUINEAN ARTIST PLACIDO ‘POCHO’ GUIMARAES. THE EXHIBITION WILL HOUSE INTRICATE AND ELABORATE TAPESTRIES INSPIRED BY GENERATIONS OF HIS FAMILY, SPECIFIC THEMES AND THE REALITY OF THE ARTISTS’S ENVIRONMENT. WWW.EBONYCURATED.COM
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Ten Thousand Women A Solo Exhibition by
Lerato Motau From 21.08.2022 to 16.09.2022
Heritage Square. 9 Huguenot Street, Franschhoek artintheyard.co.za +27 (0)878 087 021
THE MELROSE GALLERY EVERARD READ | CAPE TOWN MICHAEL MICHAEL SOLO SHOW, GENRE PICTURES 03/08/2022 UNTIL 23/08/2022 EVERARD-READ-CAPETOWN.CO.ZA
A FRECKLE PAST A HARE SOLO EXHIBITION BY CAROL CAULDWELL WHIMSICAL SCULPTURES OF ANIMALS AND PEOPLE WHO COULD HAVE TRAVELLED STRAIGHT FROM ALICE IN WONDERLAND. 03/08/2022 UNTIL 28/08/2022 THEMELROSEGALLERY.COM
ARTGO: AUGUST 2022
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM
ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID: A MILE IN HER SHOES AND OTHER STORIES 05/08/2022 UNTIL 11/09/2022 THIS EXHIBITION REFLECTING ON WOMEN’S LIVED EXPERIENCES AND THEIR STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY IS AN EXCITING AMALGAMATION OF ARTWORKS, ARTEFACTS AND TEXTILES COLLECTION MINDFULLY SELECTED FROM THE ART COLLECTIONS OF THE OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM, ART BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA AND TEXTILES FROM THE COLLECTIONS MANAGEMENT AND LIBRARY DEPARTMENT. WWW.NASMUS.CO.ZA
THE VIEWING ROOM ART GALLERY BLOOMING IN THE DARK 6/08/2022 UNTIL 3/09/2022 BLOOMING IN THE DARK WILL OPEN ON THE 6TH OF AUGUST 2022, SHOWCASING THE BEST WORKS CREATED DESPITE LOAD-SHEDDING LIMITATIONS AND FRUSTRATIONS. WWW.STLORIENT.CO.ZA
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DAOR CONTEMPORARY
GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS! 04/08/2022 UNTIL 30/08/2022 SPECIAL GROUP SHOW IN CELEBRATION OF SOUTH AFRICAN WOMEN’S MONTH IN RECOGNITION OF THE WOMEN WHO FOUGHT FOR OUR FREEDOMS ON THE 9TH OF AUGUST 1956 WWW.DAOR.CO.ZA
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ROBYN PENN - GOD’S AWAY ON BUSINESS 04/08/2022 UNTIL 26/08/2022 NEW COLLECTION OF RICHLY SUBTLE CLOUD DRAWINGS USING GRAPHITE AND ENCAUSTIC WAX, AND A SERIES OF PORTRAITS OF INFAMOUS WORLD LEADERS IN GENTLE REPOSE. WWW.NELART.CO.ZA
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131A GALLERY DEEP SPACE - FEATURING KIRSTEN BEETS, ANDREW SUTHERLAND AND ADELE VAN HEERDEN. OPENING 11AM TO 1PM, SATURDAY 6 AUGUST 06/08/2022 UNTIL 02/09/2022 131AGALLERY.COM
ABSA ART GALLERY
PARSING THE JUNCTURE: 110 BILLION PRAXIS SOLO EXHIBITION BY WINIFRID LUENA WINIFRID LUENA IS AN ABSA L’ATELIER 2019 AMBASSADOR. 05/08/2022 UNTIL 09/09/2022 THE ABSA GALLERY IS OPEN TUESDAY TO FRIDAY PRE-BOOKING IS ESSENTIAL WWW.ABSA.AFRICA/ABSAAFRICA/ABSA-ARTPORTFOLIO/ART-GALLERY
NWU BOTANICAL GARDENS GALLERY
FEMINISM YA MANG, FEMINISM YETHU, FEMINISM YANI CURATED BY SAMANTHA MODISENYANE & MASECHABA MOLOI 11/08/2022 UNTIL 02/09/2022OPENS 18H00 - 22H00 WWW..SERVICES.NWU.AC.ZA/NWU-GALLERY
NWU MAIN ART GALLERY ATTACHED TO THE SOIL. OPENS 18H00 - 22H00 11/08/2022 UNTIL 16/09/2022 NWU GALLERY IN COLLABORATION WITH VISUAL NARRATIVES & CREATIVE OUTPUTS (VINCO), THE FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR PROGRAM & THE MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY PRESENTS ATTACHED TO THE SOIL EXHIBITION. WWW..SERVICES.NWU.AC.ZA/NWU-GALLERY
ARTGO: AUGUST 2022
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
GALLERY @ GLEN CARLOU
NEL
GALLERY @ GLEN CARLOU
AITY GALLERY, FRANSCHHOEK
PART FOREST A DUO EXHIBITION WITH KATJA ABBOTT & PAUL KRISTAFOR 14/08/2022 UNTIL 16/09/2022 OPENING SUNDAY 14 AUGUST AT 11AM. WWW.GLENCARLOU.COM
14/08/2022 UNTIL 16/09/2022 UNTITLED - GROUP EXHIBITION FEATURING WORKS BY DEBBIE FIELD, KIM BLACK, LAURA WENMAN, LAURINDA BELCHER, MARINDA DU TOIT, NATHAN PETERSON & TANJA TRUSCOTT. OPENING SUNDAY 14 AUGUST AT 11AM. WWW.GLENCARLOU.COM
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M I L K - FOUR ARTISTS EXPLORED THE FRAMEWORKS OF DIVERSE SOCIO-ECONOMICPOLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND REALITIES. THE WORK EVOLVED UNDER THE UMBRELLA OF ‘CURRENT AFFAIRS 2022 – CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE BODY’ 07/07/2022 UNTIL 30/07/2022 WWW.NELART.CO.ZA
TEN THOUSAND WOMEN SOLO EXHIBITION BY LERATO MOTAU SHE DEFINES HER ART-MAKING PRACTICE AS FIBRE ART. THE MATERIALS THAT LERATO CONSTITUTES ARE PREDOMINANTLY FABRICS; EMBROIDERY AND STITCHING ARE SIGNIFICANT PARTS OF HER WORK 21/08/2022 UNTIL 16/09/2022 WWW.ARTINTHEYARD.CO.ZA
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NEW Jan Tshikhuthula editions available online
w w w. a r t i s t p r o o f s t u d i o . c o . z a
ARTGO: AUGUST 2022
OPENING EXHIBITIONS
RK CONTEMPORARY
OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM
33RD ANNUAL SOPHIA GRAY MEMORIAL EXHIBITION 25/08/2022 UNTIL 25/09/2022 THE 33RD LAUREATE, MPHETHI MOROJELE IS THE FOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR OF MMA DESIGN STUDIO IN JOHANNESBURG. WWW.NASMUS.CO.ZA
BLUE - THE HISTORY OF THE ORIGINAL BLUE PIGMENTS USED BY PAINTERS CENTURIES AGO IS AS RICH AS THE HUES THEMSELVES. THE GROUP SALON-STYLE EXHIBITION IS AN INVITATION TO THE ARTISTS TO DIVE INTO THIS ONCE PRECIOUS PIGMENT AND EXPLORE BLUE IN ITS MYRIAD TONES, ASSOCIATIONS, AND METAPHORS. 26/08/2022 UNTIL 25/09/20222 WWW.RKCONTEMPORARY.COM
SOLO STUDIOS SASOL NEW SIGNATURES ART COMPETITION WINNING WORKS WILL BE DISPLAYED AT THE PRETORIA ART MUSEUM 25/08/2022 UNTIL 02/10/2022 WWW.SASOLSIGNATURES.CO.ZA
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INTIMATE ART ENCOUNTERS IS AN ART INVESTMENT EMPORIUM, AN ANNUAL EVENT THAT TAKES PLACE OVER A WEEKEND IN “ARTS TOWN RIEBEEK VALLEY” (WITH RIEBEEK KASTEEL AS THE HUB), LESS THAN 1 HOUR’S DRIVE FROM CAPE TOWN. 26/08/2022 UNTIL 28/08/2022 WWW.SOLOSTUDIOS.CO.ZA
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ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID:
A Mile in Her Shoes and other stories 05 August – 11 September 2022 Oliewenhuis Art Museum 16 Harry Smith Street, Bloemfontein
05 August – 11 September 2022 National Museum, Bloemfontein 36 Aliwal St, Bloemfontein
05 August – 12 August 2022 Freshford House Museum 31 Kellner St, Bloemfontein
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Artworks: Vanessa Tembane, As criançasnaágua II (The children in the water II), Acrylic and digital print on triple thread fabric, 100 x 150 cm. Women's evening shoes, gold glitter, c. 1950s. Janine Allen-Spies, Breathe, 2021, Oil and beeswax on canvas, 120 x 180 cm.
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@artbankSA @OliewenhuisArtMuseum @NationalMuseumBloemfontein
ALL THE THINGS SHE SAID_Art Times Advert_Set up for print 14 July 2022 02:12:08 PM
Artwork : Angel of judgement by John Moore
WILD LIFE
GROUP EXHIBITION
on show from August 1st to 17 September
60 Church Street, Cape Town 0214235309 web@capegallery.co.za Saturday 10am - 2pm weekdays 9.30am - 4pm
ARTGO: AUGUST 2022
ONGOING SHOWS
IS ART GALLERY STELLENBOSCH THE VERGELEGEN COLLECTION & OTHERS - GROUP SHOW 138 DORP STREET 28/07/2022 UNTIL 13/08/2022 WWW.IS-ART-GALLERY.COM
GALLERY 2
OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM
RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY CLAY MUSEUM
LEARNING THROUGH ART: THE MUSEUM AS CLASSROOM A VISUAL ARTS CURRICULUMBASED EXHIBITION CURATED FROM OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM’S PERMANENT COLLECTION. 23/06/2022 UNTIL 21/08/2022 WWW.NASMUS.CO.ZA
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MINIATURES IN PRINT – THE PRINTING GIRLS GROUP EXHIBITION BY THE PRINTING GIRLS SHOWCASING A LARGE SERIES OF MINIATURE ARTWORKS. THE PRINTING GIRLS (TPG) IS AN ALLFEMALE COLLECTIVE OF SOUTH AFRICAN-BASED ARTISTS WHO WORK IN PRINT. 09/07/2022 UNTIL 27/08/2022 WWW.GALLERY2.CO.ZA
THE CUBE: THERE’S MANY A SLIP A SOLO EXHIBITION OF RECENT CERAMIC WORK BY CLEMENTINA VD WALT, IN CELEBRATION OF HER BEING SEVENTY YEARS ON THE PLANET. 25/06/2022 UNTIL 27/08/2022 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM
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RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY IN MY NATURE SOLO EXHIBITION OF CERAMICS BY ANNELIE JANSE VAN RENSBURG 30/07/2022 UNTIL 27/08/2022 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM
RUST-EN-VREDE GALLERY FLOREER - AN EXHIBITION OF MOSAICS BY THE STUDENTS OF PIET-MY-VROU MOSAIC STUDIO 30/07/2022 UNTIL 27/08/2022 WWW.RUST-EN-VREDE.COM
THE MELROSE GALLERY
WONDERS SHALL NEVER END SOLO EXHIBITION BY EDOZIE ANEDU SERIES OF PAINTINGS CREATED IN 2022 AND FOLLOWS ON FROM HIS WELL-RECEIVED SHOW WITH UNIT LONDON IN 2021. UNTIL 15/08/2022 AT THE GALLERY & ONLINE UNTIL 30/08/2022 WWW.THEMELROSEGALLERY.COM
NATURE MORTE The Still from Life until end August 2022
Jan Rupert Art Centre, 41 Middelstraat, Graaff-Reinet Mon – Fri: 9h00 – 12h30 | 14h00 - 17h00 Sat – Sun & Public Holidays: 09h00 – 12h00 janrupertcentre@telkomsa.net | +27 (0)49 892 6107 Entrance complimentary
Jean Welz (1900 – 1975). Still life - earthenware with chalkboard, 1945. Oil on carton. Rupert Art Foundation Collection.
ARTGO: AUGUST - DECEMBER 2022
ONGOING SHOWS
THE VIEWING ROOM ART GALLERY AT ST. LORIENT ART GALLERY SCULPTURAL WONDERLAND AT @SANDTON HOTEL IN BENMORE JOHANNESBURG 4/06/2022 UNTIL 02/10/2022 WWW.STLORIENT.CO.ZA
ART@AFRICA IT’S ALWAYS SUMMERTIME SCULPTURE GARDEN SERIES MAIN ROAD FRANSCHHOEK UNTIL 02/01/2023 WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART
OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM
THE POWER OF REPRESENTATION THIS EXHIBITION EXPLORES THE POWER OF ART, HOW IT COMMUNICATES AND THE POWER OF REPRESENTATION THROUGH (AMONG OTHER WAYS) JUXTAPOSING OLDER ARTWORKS IN THE COLLECTION WITH NEWER CONTEMPORARY ARTWORKS. UNTIL 30/10/2022 WWW.NASMUS.CO.ZA
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Odette Marais The blues, inheritance
Isabel Thompson, Pata Pata, Linocut 1998
John Muafangejo (1943 - 1987) They are shaking hands because they are longing, Linocut
Woodstock arts hub at 109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, South Africa. Tel: 021 300 0461 / Email: info@printgallery.co.za
Thinking of selling? Contact us for an obligation free valuation Johannesburg 011 880 3125 info@swelco.co.za
Cape Town 021 794 6461 ct@swelco.co.za
Anton van Wouw T”SIDWANE” TOKOZILE PROVENANCE Collection of Dr CL de Bruyn Estimate R200 000 - 300 000
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