SA Art Times November Edition 2017

SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADING VISUAL ARTS PUBLICATION

NOVEMBER | 2017 WWW.ARTTIMES.CO.ZA

Alexis Preller Fleurs du Mal (detail) Estimate: R4 000 000 - 6 000 000

Important South African and International Art Auction, Monday 13 November 2017 Preview: 10-12 November 2017 The Wanderers Club, Ballroom, 21 North Street, Illovo, Johannesburg Enquiries: +27 11 728 8246 | jhb@straussart.co.za | www.straussart.co.za

The global leader in the South African art market

CONTENTS ART TIMES | NOV 17

“The work explores an ever-changing world of country and city through Joshua’s unique and restless eye comparing the tranquil isolation and colour of the Overberg, Karoo and Cityscapes.”

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SOUTH AFRICAN ART TIMES

14) CAPE TOWN ART FAIR NEW SPECIAL PROJECT - SOLO 16 to 18 February 2018 18) ABSA GALLERY Group exhibition of all ABSA L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award winners / 20 NoV 2017 24) ELSA DUAULT Exciting French Artist exhibiting at Candice Berman Fine Art 28) GHOST IN THE MACHINE, RICHARD SMITH Exhibits at Ebony/Curated, CapeTown 32) THE RICHARD SCOTT TRAIN IS COMING Self-taught, self-confident, and driven to succeed 36) BUSINESS ART Investment Art, News & Auctions 38) STRAUSS & CO Offers uncovers lost works by Preller and Kumalo 42) TOPOGRAPHICAL PICTURES Twentieth Century South African Art Christie’s London, 46) OMNI FINE ART AUCTIONEERS Hosting their finale Premium Auction for 2017 48) AUCTION ACTION Results, highlights and lots to watch 56) GALLERY GUIDE: NOVEMBER 2017 Exhibitions, events, gallery guide & art to buy 64) PALETTE FINE ART GALLERY Launches third gallery in de Waterkant, Cape Town 66) THE SCENT OF JOSS STICKS A Solo Exhibition by Vanessa Berlein at Eclectica, CT 76) AN EXHIBITION BY CLARE MENCK & WEYERS DU TOIT Exhibition at MOK Gallery 12 November 2017 at 11h00 78) FEATURED ARTIST: JOSHUA MILES “Where the Heart is”, SA Print Gallery/ Nov 25th 2017 94) GALLERY BUZZ Artists, galleries exhibitions and a little vino 98) ART LIFE: WILDEKRANS COUNTRY HOUSE, HOUW HOEK Where art, nature, food and living harmonize 108) AFRICA MODERN Contents Artwork: Joshua Miles, Signal Hill Pines, Reduction Linocut, 2017, to be seen at SA Print Gallery 25 November 17 Cover Artwork: Alexis Preller, 1911–1975, Flower King, signed and dated ‘68, oil on canvas, 61,5 by 51 cm. R2 500 000 – R3 500 000 Image Courtesy from Strauss & Co.

110) ARTSY AND THE RISE OF THE MATCHMAKER MARKET Editors choice: Good read from the international art media 120) THE GOOD READ How a smooth operator saved Heatherwick’s museum vision

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Editorial

SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADING VISUAL ARTS PUBLICATION

CONTACT ART TIMES Tel: 021 424 7733 P.O Box 428 Rondebosch 7701 EDITOR Gabriel Clark-Brown editor@arttimes.co.za ART DIRECTOR Brendan Body

Wildekrans country house, houw hoek.

Despite all the local doom and gloom, the South African contemporary art landscape appears as a huge blazing carpet of colour stretching from the backstreet studios of Johannesburg and Cape Town to right around the world in venues including the Frieze Art Fair in New York and to 1.54 London.

Adding to this optimism is the strong collectors index, where Strauss & Co’ s Auction Sale reached over R 60M in sales, reaffirming both their strength as market leaders, and the strength of the top end of the market. This blaze of art bounces us back from a recent bleak time when burning art briefly seemed to be the new norm however the way forward seems more interesting in not to tear art down, but simply to put more up- like the Roman Pantheon, there are many gods and means of expression and platforms for all. With the contemporary artworld continuing to move swiftly into globalization, it s a thrill that through art and democracy society has access to the rich pickings of world markets and identity.

With the dramatic advances of technology, the scope of the global art marketing has increased sales and exposure. Perhaps art marketing in essence hasn’t changed that much, galleries might well become smaller and more collaborative in sharing resources as well as producing more global clicks than bricks.

In this edition we have explored a little in wanting to expand on new things like lifestyle, where art contributes to the thrill of living (see our Wilderkrans Country House feature). In addition to this quest of an exciting on the rails lifestyle, you can now read the Art Times on Rovos Rail. It is a great honour for us that our brand is moving up the line and is firmly on track in celebrating the blazing landscape of South African art life and creativity.

Gabriel Clark-Brown

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ADVERTISING Eugene Fisher sales@arttimes.co.za DIGITAL MEDIA LISTINGS / SUBS Jan Croft subs@arttimes.co.za SEND AD MATERIAL sales@arttimes.co.za LETTERS TO editor@arttimes.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.

@ARTTIMES.CO.ZA

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@richardscottartist

CAPE TOWN ART FAIR TO LAUNCH NEW SPECIAL PROJECT - SOLO CTAF 16 TO 18 FEBRUARY 2018 / www.capetownartfair.co.za

Nontobeko Ntombela, curator of the inaugural iteration of SOLO.

Now in its sixth edition, Cape Town Art Fair (CTAF) continues to work alongside a growing number of local and international galleries who support the artistic practices of emerging and established artists from around the world, with the introduction of a new section, SOLO, to the fair. CTAF2018 will run from 16-18 February 2018 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC).

Nontobeko Ntombela has been appointed as the curator of the inaugural iteration of SOLO, working alongside Fair Curator Tumelo Mosaka and the CTAF team.

SOLO will focus on the production of women artists, offering different perspectives of the widespread socio-political issues faced by women in both public and private spheres, while also highlighting their contribution to the art world.

Artists that will be showcased include, amongst others, Maimouna Guerresi (Italy) represented by Officine dell’Immagine, Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum (Botswana) represented by Tiwani Contemporary, Stacey Gillian Abe (Uganda) represented

by Afriart Gallery Kampala, Parul Thacker (India) represented by Amar Gallery, Lola Keyezua (Angola) represented by MOV’ART,

“There are interesting connections happening. Cape Town as a city has shown incredible growth and has shown that it has its own muscle to participate in the art economy.”

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Maïmouna Guerresi, Aisha, 2015, Lambda print, cm 200x125 cm Edition of 5 Courtesy the artist and Officine dell’Immagine, Milan.

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CTAF - SOLO

Lhola A.5 - Lhola Amira_Narrative LAGOM-Breaking Bread with The Self-Righteous V_2017_Giclée Print on Hanhnemuhle Courtesy the artist and SMAC.

Lhola Amira (South Africa) represented

by SMAC, Lucinda Mudge (South Africa) represented by Everard Read CIRCA Gallery, Kimathi Mafafo (South Africa) represented by EBONY/CURATED and Ingrid Bolton (South Africa) represented by Candice Berman Gallery.

“I’m interested in the concept of what it means as a female artist to have this extended self through art,” says Ntombela.

“The artists we are working with have explored this in many diverse ways.” The chosen pieces are all about “upsetting the norm and upsetting the image of women.”.

Ntombela has played an active role in the art world for more than a decade. In light of the success of Cape Town Art Fair and the recent opening of the Zeitz MOCAA Museum she says she is excited about the contribution Cape Town is paying to the art world: “There are interesting connections happening. Cape Town as a city has shown

incredible growth and has shown that it has its own muscle to participate in the art economy.”

Ntombela has produced numerous critically-engaged exhibitions and projects, including a collaboration with artist Reshma Chhiba, The Two Talking Yonis, a series of installations “exploring the notion of feminine energy and the creation of alternative identities for women within current patriarchal systems”. Also curated

by Ntombela is Fragile Archive at the Johannesburg Art Gallery, which re-staged Gladys Mgudlandlu’s first commercial exhibition and navigated her archive, public acclaim, and positioning within South African art histories in order to examine the construction of artists’ biographies.

Ntombela has played an active role in the local art world for more than a decade, holding curatorial positions at Johannesburg Art Gallery, BAT Centre (Durban), and

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Stacey Gillian Abe, Seat of Honour 3, 2017,100x100cm Courtesy the artist and Afriart Gallery Kampala.

Durban University of Technology Art Gallery.

She has also served on a number of boards and committees including the National Arts Council, Visual Arts Network of South Africa (VANSA), KwaZulu Natal Society of Art, African Art Centre, and the Human Rights Trust.

Within Africa, Ntombela has been a faculty member of Àsìkò for the past three years. Àsìkò is an international roaming project, modelled as a laboratory, residency and academy for curators and artists that takes place is different African cities; Lagos, Accra, Dakar, Addis Ababa, and Mozambique.

Internationally, she has participated in prominent curatorial projects including FRAC Des Pays De La Loire (France), the German South African Bilateral Curatorial Exchange, The New Kirkcudbright International Arts Festival (Scotland and Break the Silence hosted by the University of Dundee (Scotland).

CTAF runs from 16 to 18 February 2018.

For more information, visit capetownartfair. co.za. Follow the Cape Town Art Fair on Twitter @ctartfair, Instagram @ct_artfair and facebook www.facebook.com/CTArtFair/ #CTAF18

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ABSA GALLERY

HOSTS FIRST-EVER GROUP EXHIBITION OF ALL ABSA L’ATELIER GERARD SEKOTO AWARD WINNERS / 20 NOV 2017 / www.absa.co.za Gerard Sekoto is widely recognised as the pioneer of black South African art.

He changed the narrative of how the work and lives of black South African artists would be perceived, valued and documented. It was for these reasons that the Absa L’Atelier awards honoured the artist’s legacy with the Gerard Sekoto Award – an accolade bestowed on the most promising emerging artists to enter the competition. Now, inspired

by Sekoto’s contributions to South African art, the Absa Gallery brings together, for the first time, all the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award winners in one exhibition.

Titled A change in the Narrative, the exhibition explores the winning artists’ narratives, through their work and through the reflective retellings of their thoughts and experiences since winning the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award.

Explains Dr Paul Bayliss, Absa Art and Museum Curator: “The exchange of narratives is an innately human activity and a key component in the sharing of meaningful human experiences. Gerard Sekoto’s work drew heavily from the value of the narratives around him. It is this dedication to the value of the narrative, especially the artist’s narrative, that is a key part of the ethos of the Gerard Sekoto Award. As such, A Change in the Narrative is a celebration of Absa L’Atelier and the Gerard Sekoto Award’s value and support of the artist’s narrative. “ The artists participating in the exhibition include Belinda Zangewa, Lawrence Lemaoana, Nomusa Makhuba, Nina Barnett, Retha Ferguson, Nyaniso Lindi, Bongumenzi Ngobese, Isabel Mertz, Bambo Sibiya, Mongezi Ncaphayi, Mbavhalelo Nekhavhambe, Natalie Moore, Matete Motubatse and Banele Khoza.

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Isabel Mertz, Water Damage

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ABSA GERARD SEKOTO AWARD WINNERS

Natalie Moore, Place between Asleep and Awake

Retha Ferguson, ABSA L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Awards.

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Nomusa Makhubu, Old Gaoll II

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ABSA GERARD SEKOTO AWARD WINNERS

Nina Barnett, Shattercones

The exhibition will be curated by Luyanda Zindela, a young Durban-based artist who won a Merit Award in the 2014 instalment of the Absa L’Atelier competition. As part of his prize, Zindela attended an art residency at, and became a fellow of, of the Ampersand Foundation in New York in 2015. Zindela holds a BTech Degree in Fine Art (2012) and is currently studying towards his Master’s Degree in Fine Art at the Durban University of Technology. Although he has participated in numerous national exhibitions, A change in the Narrative marks his curatorial debut.

“Being presented with such a massive curatorial opportunity not only exemplifies Absa’s continued value and support for the unearthing of young, creative, African talent through the Absa L’Atelier art competition but it also exemplifies Absa’s continued dedication to significantly investing in and nurturing the careers and narratives of the artists that emerge as a result of the competition” Luyanda said.

The Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award was introduced in 2004 with the objective to support the most promising emerging young South African artists with the opportunity to live, work and experience Paris at the Cite Internationale des Arts for three months.

This accolade is hosted and awarded in collaboration with the Alliance Française, the French Iwnstitute, French Embassy in South Africa and the South African National Association for the Visual Arts (SANAVA). It is an award that has not only provided the winning artists with a launch pad for their careers. but has also had a hand in nurturing, shaping or altering their personal and artistic narratives.

A change in the Narrative runs from 20 November 2017 to 26 January 2018 at the Absa Gallery in Johannesburg. www.absa.co.za

Titled A change in the Narrative, the exhibition explores the winning artists’ narratives, through their work and through the reflective retellings of their thoughts and experiences since winning the Absa L’Atelier Gerard Sekoto Award.

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Rosemary Joynt - Flow A part of “Divergent Tides�, a group exhibition On until 20 April 2018

The Scent of Joss sticks A solo exhibition by Vanessa Berlein

69 Burg Street, Cape Town info@eclecticacontemporary.co.za www.eclecticacontemporary.co.za +27214224145

+27 214220327 179 Buitengracht Street, Cape Town admin@eclecticadesignandart.co.za www.eclecticadesignandart.co.za

ELSA DUAULT

FRENCH ARTIST EXHIBITING AT CANDICE BERMAN GALLERY www.candicebermangallery.com

Elsa feels the necessity to express her epoch, her environment and theirs new dynamics and points of views. As an artist from Nature, Science and flows of the world as she says, Fluid Art is her passion.

“I started being hardly working when I noticed few years ago how many creative peoples all around the world are now using Fluid Art as a specific new way of expression, drawing inspiration from an ancestral technique called Marbling or more precisely Ebru. I feel being part of a new impetus in Art.” For her solo show at the Candice Berman Gallery in May 2018 untitled SPECTRUM OF LIFE, Elsa Duault is preparing an entire new exhibition composed by approximately seventy pieces which will represent all type of Art she does, always taking part in the Fluid Art movement. Collages made out of layer of cut pieces of paint, photography, paint and ink on paper. She is also actually making acrylic on larges round canvas by revisiting her fluid technique which she has been doing for years. A sculpture is also planned as collaboration between her and Elsie Chiwa.

“Since I am living in Cape Town, my art as evolved, became more complex and is composed by new visual elements, as the mirror my new self here, my new environment and experiences. Fluid Art is like a New Dance, a fresh perspective on life, common to each human being from the inside to the outside and visible everywhere in Nature, in microscopy and universe. While still wet the paint is moving all the time, like talking to me and blowing my mind. It’s a real performance between the paint and I.”

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“Each painting is unique as the result of a life instant where movements have been released and captured.“

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ELSA DUAULT

Working horizontally Elsa plays with gravity, densities and blowing as main tools. Preparing her colors in jars, Elsa Duault lets the paint flows and expresses itself on the surface.

Capturing the movement and recreating the energy present in Time and Nature, her work is eliminating the boundaries between abstract and figurative art. Mixes, relationships and dynamics present in life have been recreated on the canvases.

“Sometimes when I come back at the studio in the morning, the paintings as totally changed from how I left it. Can be good surprises and bad ones, as life you know!”

Each painting is unique as the result of a life instant where movements have been released and captured.

Then comes the series “South Africa composed of three 50 cm in diameter. Elsa was here interested in the South African flag,

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Her series of manly green acrylic called “Land”, made in Cape Town, is composed of three paintings 50 cm in diameter. It evokes the earth, the history of its habitants and the changes that individuals experience.

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its colors and their meanings. In beginning of 2018 her entire body of work for her solo show at the Candice Berman Gallery will also be finished.

Elsa is also panning other projects like performances with partner and painting mural in Cape Town. She is also currently working on an essay in French.

“I wish I will do in the future great collaboration and spread a positive message of mixity and tolerance in between peoples and elements of Nature. Follow my adventure on instagram @elsaduault. And thank you South Africa! ” W W W. A R T T I M E S . C O . Z A

“It evokes the earth, the history of its habitants and the changes that individuals experience. “ 27

GHOST IN THE MACHINE, RICHARD SMITH RICHARD SMITH’S 18TH SOLO EXHIBITION / EBONY CURATED CT 2ND NOVEMBER 17 / www.ebonycurated.com

The Curator, Oil on Canvas, 120 x 137cm, 2017

Richard Smith’s 18th solo exhibition opens at EBONY/CURATED on Thursday 2nd November in their Loop Street gallery in Cape Town.

Biko. He won Standard Bank’s cartoonist of the year in 1980 and 1984. Smith’s fine art career began in 1972 with a solo show of drawings at the Arts Club, London.

Richard Smith was born in Edinburgh, Scotland but immigrated with his family to South Africa at a young age. Studying graphic design at the Johannesburg School of Art in the 1960’s, followed by his work in 1968 for the Sunday Times, Smith produced politically important works for the underground movement. In 1977 he was the American Broadcasting Corporation’s Court Artist at the inquest into the death of Steve

He began painting in the mid 1980s and exhibited at Everard Read Gallery, Johannesburg primarily as a painter of abstract expressionist landscapes. In 1990, while a Resident at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, Smith began making figurative oil on paper works, some of which were torn up and re-worked as collage elements. The human figure has been a recurring subject for the artist and these

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works started to hint at elements, influences and inspirations from a wide variety of artists; Cezanne, Kitaj, Guston and even Paula Rego to name a few. But his individual visual irreverence and inner gleefulness always shone through.

recognisable as part of the artist’s own visual language provide an individual signature.

To this effect he reminds us of the Renaissance Old Masters who often inserted telltale reminders into their paintings - often unbeknownst to their patrons.

Newer works on exhibition at ‘Ghost in the Machine’ including ‘Oligarch’ and ‘The Curator’ successfully combine many elements of the artist’s journey from cartoons to the abstract and to a more recent figurative vein in oil, where the subject is often unidentifiable, exaggerated or faceless. Elements often re-appear in his works, whether on paper or oil. Small cartouches or objects that are immediately

Smith is an artist’s artist. He has a unique voice where the act of painting is foremost whilst form and content are secondary.

Although his finished works are richly layered, he wants, in his own words, ‘the brush to spend as little time as possible on the canvas’. A fearsome self-critic, Smith’s paintings can sometimes take months, even years, to appear but there still is no guarantee that they will make the final cut.

Oligarch, Oil on Canvas, 120 x 137cm, 2017 W W W. A R T T I M E S . C O . Z A

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RICHARD SMITH

Ghost in the Machine, 104 x 100cm, oli on canvass, 2017

This however, does not deter him in his obsessive attention to detail and his desire to paint. True originals are rare beasts who just keep producing the work - and good work at that.

‘In his more recent oils, where the figure is a silhouetted and vestigial being seen in a reduced environment, the human subject

is a counterweight to the abstracted drift of his new painterly compositions. This idea of weights and balances is important to appreciating Smith’s recent work.

Whether specifically identified or generically portrayed, his figures are a ballast, a stabilising device in a career marked by intermittent flirtations with modes of realism and abstraction’. - Sean O’ Toole

“He reminds us of the Renaissance Old Masters who often inserted telltale reminders into their paintings - often unbeknownst to their patrons.”

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Booth: S-105

www.christophermollerart.co.za

THE RICHARD SCOTT TRAIN IS COMING SELF-TAUGHT, SELF-CONFIDENT, AND DRIVEN TO SUCCEED

By Gus Silber / www.richardscott.co.za

Richard Scott wants to be on first-name terms with the world, as he puts his global career on the fast track to his first million-dollar sale.

Richard Scott never signs his paintings. He stamps them with a wooden letter-block, leaving a lowercase impression of his first name in the thick of the impasto paste.

It has become his hallmark, a gleeful flourish that evokes childhood memories of potatoprint and finger-paint, as well as a signature of his unfettered ambition to leave a lasting mark on the world of popular art. But even from far across the room, you don’t need to see the stamp to know that you’re looking at a Richard.

Against bright lashings of colour, his blazingwhite subjects - trees, lighthouses, landscapes, and mostly, the female semi-nude form - are etched in deep black line, defining his claim to fame as a master of Pop Art minimalism.

In 2001, he sold his first painting, Two Trees in a Field of Sky, to the Hout Bay Gallery near Cape Town for R300. Since then, he has produced more than 3,500 works, and the going price for an original acrylic on canvas is R400,000. And this is just the beginning.

“I will sell a painting one day for a million dollars,” he says. “It’s going to happen. It will mean, at last, that I’ve been accepted.” He smiles as he says this, relishing his reputation as an outsider artist, a maverick who controls his career and his destiny on his own terms.

Aside from his prints, which he sells from an online store in editions of 14, he sells most of his work directly to a growing body of international collectors. The prints, released on a monthly basis, are the backbone of his business model: “I make enough money from them,” he says. “I don’t even need to paint anymore.” And yet, of course, he does. A selftaught artist, unless you count his high school art classes with Mr Fuel, at Norkem Park High

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in Kempton Park, Richard enjoys the special luxury of life as an accidental painter. He took up the brush as a casual sideline after running his own companies in IT and website development, and from the start, his works have sold almost as quickly as he can produce them. While his signature style has remained consistent over the years, he is a restless experimenter, mixing his media and leaving his mark on surfboards, cellphones, slip-slops, and a hip and witty fleet of Vespa scooters.

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Cape Town Studio artwork, Impasto and Acrylic on Canvas, 175 x 100cm, 2017

But perhaps his free-form approach to art is best showcased by his range of Studio Works, large-format collages that started as doodles and scribblings on a canvas in his studio in Melkbosstrand, Cape Town.

“I used to clean my brushes on the wall in the studio,” he says. “Soon, those little brushstrokes evolved into spontaneous, organic works, so I put two screws and a canvas on the wall, and started covering the canvas in stuff.”

Each Studio Work features a central seminude female figure, surrounded by the flotsam and jetsam of Richard’s jet-setting life as an artist on the move. Everything from old credit cards, to beer-bottle labels, boarding passes, teabags, paintbrushes, and magazine covers - including one, cheekily, featuring his big money-making role-model, William Kentridge.

Richard never intended to sell the pieces - they were meant as mementoes and scrapbooks of

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RICHARD SCOTT

My Johannesburg, Hand Embellished Print of Original Studio Painting with 22K Gold Leaf Johannesburg and Posca Pen City skyline

his creative process - until one day a German collector walked into his studio, saw four of the works, and insisted on buying them on the spot.

“You have to give people what they want,” says Richard. “If a customer walks into a BMW dealership, and he wants a silver BMW, you can’t give him a blue one. That’s how I work.

I give people what they want.” And what they want, more and more, as it turns out, is Richard Scotts. He paints because it’s a business, he paints because he has collectors, he paints because it takes him around the world. But more than anything else, he paints because it’s fun.

The joy in his work shines through, concealing the intense focus and discipline with which he crafts his distinctive style.

When it comes to his philosophy as a pop artist, Richard likes quoting Picasso - “Art is the lie that enables us to realise the truth”; “Everything you can imagine is real” - but his greatest lesson came from a man named Barney Pretorious, his boss at his first job as a technical illustrator.

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“Barney said to me one day, you don’t want to be a sheep, you want to be a shepherd. Take on the difficult stuff, not the easy stuff.”

It isn’t easy making a living, or even a sideline, as an artist, but Richard believes he has proved himself.

“I say to people, the train’s coming,” he says.

“I’m not prepared to put you in the driving seat, but you can hook on your carriage and join me for the journey. If I tell you I’m going to sell pieces for a million, you’d better believe it, because the Richard Scott train is coming.”

Richard’s Studio Series is only available at: Cape Town Worldart Gallery www.worldart.co.za +27 21 423 3075 Johannesburg - Daville Baillie Gallery www.daville.co.za +27 76 793 9292 Hamburg Germany - Die Hamburger Galerie www.hamburgergalerie.de +49 40 35016453 New York, London and Dubai to follow. www.richardscott.com

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Close up of London Studio artwork with found travel objects

Richard drawing the Johannesburg skyline in Posca pen.

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BUSINESS ART

INVESTMENT ART, NEWS & AUCTIONS

William Kentridge, Drawing for ‘Íl Sole 24 Ore’ 36

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AUCTION JOHANNESBURG 21 & 22 NOVEMBER 2017 You are invited to our viewing days from 17 - 19 November, 10am - 5pm and 20 November 10am - 1pm

Maggie Laubser Horses & Cart R 250 000 - R 350 000 w w w. s t e p h a n w e l z a n d c o . c o . z a

Killarney Country Club, 60, 5th Street, Lower Houghton Estate, Johannesburg, 2198 011 880 3125 | stephanwelz@stephanwelzandco.co.za

SW2498

LOST & FOUND: STRAUSS & CO OFFERS UNCOVERS LOST WORKS BY PRELLER AND KUMALO www.straussart.co.za

Karel Nel 1955– Wayfarer, Mudif, Johannesburg, signed, dated 2004/2005, sheet size: 181 by 181 cm, R400 000 – 600 000

Two newly rediscovered works – a Sydney Kumalo bronze from the sculptor’s golden period and Alexis Preller’s transformative study of a wounded soldier – are among the stand-out lots on Strauss & Co’s forthcoming Johannesburg live auction, due to be held at the Wanderers Club on 13 November.

The 391-lot sale also includes important pieces by Gerard Sekoto, Irma Stern, William Kentridge JH Pierneef and Karel Nel. The summer sale, Strauss & Co’s concluding live auction of 2017, also includes works from the Barloworld Collection, notably two significant pieces by Adolph Jentsch and Maud Sumner.

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Sydney Kumalo’s Madala VI (estimate R700 000 – 900 000) is a large and very rare example from this acclaimed sculptor’s important Madala (old man) series. In 1966, Kumalo began work on a series of sculptures with this as his theme. He produced eight distinctive figures and only cast a single edition of Madala VI, which the present owner acquired from art dealer Egon Guenther in 1967.

Great anticipation surrounds Alexis Preller’s Fleurs du Mal (estimate R4-6 million), one of three important Preller lots on offer.

First exhibited in 1946, two years after it was painted, this iconic work was, until

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BUSINESS ART

very recently, thought lost in a fire. Bidding for works by Preller have been intense at recent Strauss & Co sales and there is great anticipation around this lot.

Frequently referred to by art historian Esmé Berman in her public lectures, Fleurs du Mal depicts an androgynous figure whose war wounds are transmuted by the painter into butterflies and flowers. The work was a direct response to Preller’s experiences as a stretcher-bearer and medic in World War Two. Artist Karel Nel, a noted Preller expert, describes this important painting as a “striking record of Preller’s ability as an artist to process significant moments in a highly personalised manner”.

Strauss & Co is delighted also to offer Preller’s Flower King (estimate R2.5-3.5 million), a handsome allegorical portrait from 1968 that was included on the artist’s 1972 retrospective at the Pretoria Art Museum.

Sea Amphora (estimate R1.5-2 million), painted in 1962 and depicting a vessel-like form, marked the start of a sustained interest in classical Greek art in Preller’s later output.

Irma Stern has been a bulwark of Strauss & Co auctions since 2009. She is represented on the sale by two important floral still lifes: Still Life with Fruit, Urn and Pot (estimate R2-3 million), painted in 1948, and the earlier work, Still Life with Poinsettias (estimate R4-6 million). Painted in 1934, Still Life

Irma Stern, 1894–1966, Freda with Roses, signed and dated 1943, oil on canvas 50 by 50 cm, R3 000 000 – 5 000 000 W W W. A R T T I M E S . C O . Z A

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Adolph Jentsch, 1888–1977, Near the Swakop River, Farm Schenkswerder, Okahandja District, oil on canvas, in the artist’s chosen frame from Tischlerei Ellmer, Windhoek, 68 by 98 cm, R900 000 – 1 200 000

with Poinsettias is of particular historical significance in Stern’s oeuvre as it was exhibited at the 1936 Empire Exhibition in Johannesburg, an important turning point in Stern’s professional career.

Stern’s portraiture is highly esteemed. In May 2016, Strauss & Co sold Portrait of Freda Feldman in a Basuto Hat for R5 115 600.

The work is one of three portraits from 1943 depicting the artist’s friend and patron, Freda Feldman. Strauss & Co’s is thrilled to be offering the other two portraits: Freda in Khaki Dress (estimate R3-5 million) and Freda with Roses (estimate R3-5 million).

A gregarious study of street life, Gerard Sekoto’s Women in the Country (estimate

R2.5-3.5 million) dates from the two-year period between the painter’s arrival in Eastwood, Pretoria, and his departure for France i n 1947.

Paintings from this period represent the pinnacle of Sekoto’s artistic career and are highly prized.

The Pink Road (estimate R1-1.5 million) is an earlier example of Sekoto’s understated way of witnessing and comes from his important Sophiatown period (1939-42).

The landscape genre is a strong feature of South African art. Notable highlights include two rural landscapes by JH Pierneef, Extensive Landscape (estimate R1.5-2 million) and Acacias in the Veld (estimate R1.2-1.6 million), and a contemporary urban landscape by William Kentridge, Highveld Landscape (estimate R700 000 – 1 000 000).

“The 391-lot sale also includes important pieces by Gerard Sekoto, Irma Stern, William Kentridge JH Pierneef and Karel Nel. The summer sale, also includes works from the Barloworld Collection, notably two significant pieces by Adolph Jentsch and Maud Sumner.”

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BUSINESS ART

Maud Sumner, 1902–1985, Still Life with Fruit on Blue Table, signed and dated 49, oil on canvas, 49 by 59,5 cm, R500 000 – 700 000

There has been robust interest in unique pieces by Kentridge at Strauss & Co auctions and there is justifiable excitement around the lot Drawing for ‘Íl Sole 24 Ore’ (estimate R1.8-2.4 million). This large Kentridge drawing, part of a series commissioned by the Italian financial paper Il Sole 24 Ore, references particular moments in Italian cultural and political history.

Contemporary art is an important feature of every Strauss & Co’s sale. The company is pleased to be offering two large drawings by Karel Nel, Wayfarer, Mudif, Johannesburg (estimate R400 000 – 600 000), from 200405, and Inventory (estimate R300 000 – 400 000), from 1996-97. The sale also includes an early bronze sculpture by Nel, Edge Piece II (estimate R70 000 – 100 000).

Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg summer sale at the Wanderers Club is preceded by an extensive calendar of media and social events. www.straussart.co.za

Alexis Preller, 1911–1975, Flower King, signed and dated ‘68, oil on canvas, 61,5 by 51 cm, R2 500 000 – 3 500 000

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TOPOGRAPHICAL PICTURES WITH 20TH CENTURY SOUTH AFRICAN ART

CHRISTIE’S LONDON, 14 DECEMBER 2017 / www.christies.com Christie’s December sale is led by Stern’s The Watussi Chief’s Wife, a glowing portrait from her second trip to the Congo in 1946. The portrait was shown in her 1947 exhibition at the Galerie des beaux arts in Paris where it was acquired by the grandparents of the present owner and then presented as a wedding gift to mark their daughter’s marriage in 1949. The portrait of the royal Tutsi subject is painted in a rich impasto, with the sitter placed on a glowing golden ground, one of the artist’s masterpieces from the 1940s, generally acknowledged to be the period of her greatest work.

Among other 20th century South African art, the sale includes another Stern portrait, her Malay Woman painted in 1924 and works by Pierneef, Sekoto, Pemba, Tretchikoff and van Wouw.

The sale will offer the finest selection of pictures by Thomas Baines to come on the market in recent years. Five oils range from an early view of the St George’s Church Burial Ground, Cape Town (1847), probably from his very first commission in the Cape, to a fine view of the Victoria Falls from his final commission, for the English hunter Guy Cuthbert Dawnay, in the 1870s. The latter oil previously sold at Christie’s for the Dawnay Children’s Trust in 1990 and consigned for sale now by the estate of the late James O Fairfax, AC.

Above Right: Detail, Vladimir Grigoryevich Tretchikoff (1913-2006) The Eagle and the Dove signed ‘TRETCHIKOFF’ (lower left), inscribed as titled on the reverse oil on canvas 48 x 23.1/2in. (122 x 59.7cm.)

Estimate £4,000-6,000 Right: Irma Stern (1894-1966), Malay Woman (recto); Street Scene (verso), signed and dated ‘Irma Stern / 1924’ (recto, upper left); signed (under the stretcher (verso, lower right), oil on canvas, 23 x 17 in. (58.4 x 43.2 cm.)

Estimate £70,000-100,000 42

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Irma Stern (1894-1966) The Watussi Chief’s wife, 1946 Signed and dated ‘Irma Stern / 1946’ (upper left, partially obscured by frame), signed and inscribed on the reverse and stretcher oil on canvas 24⅞ x 19⅞in. (63.2 x 50.5cm.) in the artist’s carved Zanzibar frame Estimate £600,000 800,000 W W W. A R T T I M E S . C O . Z A

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Thomas Baines (1820-1875). Searching for Hippopotami on an island in the Zambezi about two miles above the Falls, young palms before the first leaves are shed – and brilliant Meteor (Brilliant Meteor on the Zambezi River, 1864 indistinctly signed and dated ‘T BAINES / APRIL 8 1864’ (lower right) and further signed, inscribed with title and dated on the reverse oil on canvas, 18 x 26in. (45.7 x 66cm.) Estimate £200,000-300,000

The Baines group is led by two masterpieces painted for his host in South West Africa on his return from the Victoria Falls with James Chapman in 1863. The descendants of the Anglo Swedish explorer and pioneer trader in Namibia, Charles John Andersson, have consigned Baines’s Brilliant meteor on the Zambezi, a defining image of the Victorian encounter with Africa. The subject was sketched on the Zambesi, two miles above the Victoria Falls, and shows Baines or Chapman with the old boatman of the river, Zanjueelah, out in amongst the giant palms in search of hippopotmi, the action dramatically lit by moonlight and a brilliant meteor in the night sky. Just as theatrical is

another of Baines’s masterpieces, his oil of the Rhenish missionary Hahn addressing the Damara Commando in Namibia is another classic image from the colonial era, as European traders, explorers and missionaries interact with the indigenous people, Baines closely observing every slightest detail of the gathering. The fifth Baines to be offered is another souvenir of his recent trip to the Victoria Falls: The Rapids of the Victoria Falls Zambezi River sketched from the eastern shore … gives us a view from the eastern end of the Falls, now the Zambian side, with the old boatman and his canoe in the foreground and Baines out with sketchbook recording the scene.

“Among other 20th century South African art, the sale includes another Stern portrait, her Malay Woman painted in 1924 and works by Pierneef, Sekoto, Pemba, Tretchikoff and van Wouw.”

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OMNI FINE ART AUCTIONEERS

HOSTING THEIR FINAL PREMIUM AUCTION FOR 2017 TUESDAY 28TH NOVEMBER / www.omni.co.za

Keith Alexander, The Final Eduard Bohlen, Signed And Dated 84, Oil On Canvas, 91 By 151Cm

Offering a fusion of works by Old South African Masters through to Contemporary South African works, this sale promises to catch the eye of any enthusiast. With works

by Irma Stern, Washer Woman (R350 000 – R400 000) and Zanzibar (R100 000 – R150 000), Ruth Everard Hayden, Still Life (R100 000 – R150 000), Maurice van Essche, Recling Nude(R150 000 – R200 000), Keith Alexander, The Final Eduard Bohlen (R1 000 000 – R1 200 000) and J H Pierneef, A View of an Extensive Landscape (R800 000 – R1 000 000) going under the hammer, this auction is one not to be missed.

Added to this, works by notable artistssuch as Pranas Domsaitis, Peter Clarke, Robert Hodgins, Angus Taylor, Lippy Lipshitz, David Botha, Anton Smit, Nelson Makamo and Beezy Bailey will be in the mix.

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Known by some as ‘the finest work’painted

by Keith Alexander,The Final Eduard Bohlen(Shipwreck),comes under the hammer this November. The work, which was consigned to auction by the artist’s family and measures91 by 152cm, depicts the German built vessel which ran aground off the Skeleton Coast in 1909. Alexander’s undoubted fascination for the Eduard Bohlen wreckwas his observation of the desert extending into the sea, leaving the remains of the Eduard Bohlen stranded in a dune.

Nearly a kilometre from the coat it became an irresistible subject for Alexander and provided sufficient inspiration for him to bring into being the magnificent Eduard Bohlen Series of only 13 canvases. It was Alexander’s ability to paint so surely yet so unconsciously which brought a quality of compelling brilliance to the Bohlen series and which established him, unquestionably, as an artist who could not be ignored. The FinalEduard Bohlen (Shipwreck)

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Nelson Makamo, Mamma Africa, Signed And Dated 14, Oil On Canvas, 180 By 180Cm

is the last availablework of the series to be offered at auction and for the first time.It is the largest work from the series and is said to have been the artist’s favourite.

Currently one of the most sort after artists on the local and international scene, Nelson Makamo is represented by two monumental works, Golden Boy and Mamma Africa ‘Miriam Makeba’,the later being the largest oil by the artist, to have come under the hammer. Releasing several albums and songs, Mariam Makeba’s career flourished in the United Statesand along with Harry Belafonte,received a Grammy Award for the album Evening with Belafonte/Makeba.

She testified against the South African government at the United Nations and became involved in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. She married Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Black Panther Party, in 1968. As a result, she lost support amongst White Americans and faced hostility from the US government, leading her and Carmichael to move to Guinea.

This masterful circular work, portraying a South African Icon and measuring 180cm diameter, is estimated at R300 000 – R400 000.

Cape Town artist, print-maker and poet, Peter Clarkeis represented by a striking acrylic, paper and leather collage on mazonite, Waar Is Julle Nou? This work depicts Mr Raffee’s General Store in the Simon’s Town area of Cape Town, where the artist grew up. A large and brightly coloured work resonates the artist’s ability to recreate the environment he found himself in, on a daily basis, through the medium of art.From the artist’s private collection, this work will be offered for the first time.

An impressive work by Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, A View of an Extensive Landscape, affirms why the artist is considered to be one of South African most important landscape artists. With a distinctive style, Pierneef’s work depicts the South African Highveld which provided the artist with inspiration thoughout his career.

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AUCTION ACTION

RESULTS, HIGHLIGHTS AND LOTS TO WATCH STRAUSS & CO

Important South African and International Art, Decorative Arts and Jewellery / Cape Town Monday 16 October 2017 / Sale Highlights / www.straussart.co.za

William Kentridge, Drawing for ‘Sobriety, Obesity, and Growing Old’, signed and dated 91, charcoal and pastel on paper sheet size: 120 by 150cm.

Sold R4 092 480

Alexis Preller Homage to Hieronymus Bosch signed and dated ‘48 , oil on canvas, 40 by 50cm.

Sold R2 842 000

STRAUSS & CO’S

Johannesburg Summer Sale Wanderers Club 13 November 2017 /Highlights

Sydney Kumalo, Madala VI signed with the artist’s initials and numbered I/X bronze, mounted on a wooden base height: 86 cm excluding base; base 6,5 cm high.

R700 000 - 900 000

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William Kentridge, Drawing for ‘Íl Sole 24 Ore’, inscribed with the artist’s name, date 2007, medium and the title on a Marian Goodman Gallery, New York label adhered to the reverse, charcoal, colour pencil, gouache and pastel on paper, 213 by 147 cm.

R1 800 000 – 2 400 000

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Wanted for Grande December Auction 9 December 2017 Art, antiques, objects, furniture and jewellery

Walter Battiss, watercolour SOLD R140 000 View previous auction results at www.rkauctioneers.co.za

011 789 7422 • 083 675 8468 • 12 Allan Road, Bordeaux, Johannesburg

5 th Avenue F ine A rt Auctioneers Prices achieved at our October Auction, Let us do the same for you Keith Alexander, Oil Sold for R 290,000

Tienie Pritchard, Bronze Sold For R 140,000

Next Auction 3rd December at 10am ~ Now Accepting Entries for this Auction ~

Auction Rooms 404 JAn smuts Ave, cRAighAll PARk, sAndton. Absentee bidding viA: Phone, commision bid & online live online bidding Also offeRed thRough ouR APP And website WWW.5AA.CO.ZA ~ 011 781 2040/39/41 W W W. A R T T I M E S . C O . Z A

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BUSINESS ART

AUCTION ACTION

RESULTS, HIGHLIGHTS AND LOTS TO WATCH

5TH AVENUE AUCTIONEERS

15th October 2017 / Sale Highlights www.5thaveauctions.co.za

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J H Pierneef

PREMIUM AUCTION 28 November 2017 7 VIEWING m Friday 24 Nov - Monday 27 Nov 10am - 5pm

ENQUIRIES: info@omni.co.za | 021 671 4497 | www.omni.co.za za 9 Hemlock Street, Newlands

FINE ARTS, ANTIQUES & COLLECTABLES AUCTION Auction date:

07 December 2017, 10am +27 21 423 8060 info@ashbeysgalleries.co.za www.ashbeysgalleries.co.za Maria (Maggie) Magdalena Laubser (1886-1973) FIGURE IN A RED COAT Oil on board Signed and dated  62 33 by 22cm R70 000/90 000

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BUSINESS ART

AUCTION ACTION

RESULTS, HIGHLIGHTS AND LOTS TO WATCH OMNI FINE ART AUCTIONEERS Final Premium Auction for 2017 Auction date: 29th November. www.omni.co.za

Keith Alexander, The Final Eduard Bohlen, Signed And Dated 84, Oil On Canvas, 91 By 151Cm

J H Pierneef A View of an Extensive Landscape, R800 000 - R1 000 000)

ASHBEY’S GALLERIES

Fine Arts, Antiques & Collectables Auction Auction date: 07 December 2017 www.ashbeysgalleries.co.za

Gregoire Johannes Boonzaier (1909-2005) LANDSCAPE, Oil on canvas, Signed and dated 1948, 35 by 45cm, R60 000/80 000

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Walter Whall Battiss (1906-1982) AT THE BEACH, Oil on board, Signed and dated 58, 28 by 28cm, R40 000/60 000

Paint it forward.

In South Africa only one in 100 young people entering schooling finishes tertiary education. You can change this by supporting the Visual Arts, while helping to create tomorrow’s artists‌ Absa has committed to creating more opportunities for young people to access quality education, including access to funding for studying. One of the ways we are doing this is in partnership with well-known, established artists who have donated key artworks for auction. These artists are painting it forward, with all proceeds from the sale of the artworks going towards Visual Arts scholarships.

Date: Sunday, 12 November 2017 Time: 11:00 for 11:30 am Venue: Absa Art Gallery Book: contact gallery@absa.co.za

Participating artists: Angus Taylor; Anna-Carien Goosen; Arnoldus Kennedy; Banele Khoza; Berco Wilsenach; Bevan de Wet; Caroline Suzman; Cecile Heystek; Chris Slabbert; Colbert Mashile; C o l l e n M a s w a n g a ny i ; Danelle Janse van Rensburg; Dirk Bahmann; Franli Meintjes; Gerhard Marx; Gideon Appah; Gordon Froud; Hanneke Benade; Heidi Fourie; Helena Hugo;

Henk Serfontein; Izak Fourie; Jaco van Schalkwyk; Justin Dingwall; Kai Lossgott; Kobus Spies; Liberty Battson; Maja Marx; Mandy Coppes Martin; Mandy Johnston; Mari Vermeulen Breedt; Marlise Keith; Mongezi Ncaphayi; Neil Niewoudt; Paul Edmunds; Pauline Gutter; Roberto Valcario; Ronel de Jager; Sam Nhegenthwa; Shenaz Mahomed; Wayne Mathews; Willem Boshoff.

To secure your seat at the Absa Art Auction and help support the next

Terms and conditions apply Authorised Financial Services Provider Registered Credit Provider Reg No NCRCP7

Support the next generation

generation of Visual Artists, please contact: gallery@absa.co.za

Black Africa Group_4263_Absa

Make a difference. Prosper.

BUSINESS ART

AUCTION ACTION

RESULTS, HIGHLIGHTS AND LOTS TO WATCH STEPHAN WELZ & CO Cape Town Auction, 10 and 11 October 2017 / Sale Highlightds www.stephanwelzandco.co.za

Bambi (British 1982-), Tata (Yellow) 2013 R180 000 – R270 000 Sold for R208 728

Robert Gwelo Goodman (South African 1871-1939) The Hall, Newlands House, R80 000 – R120 000 Sold for R255 112

Herbert Gustav Schmaltz (Carmichael) (1856-1935) Palace Of The Popes – Avignon, R120 000 – R150 000 Sold for R139 152

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GALLERY GUIDE: NOVEMBER 2017

EXHIBITIONS, EVENTS, GALLERY GUIDE & ART TO BUY • ONGOING SHOWS: NOVEMBER 2017 • OPENING EXHIBITIONS: NOVEMBER WEEK’S 1 - 4 • UPCOMING SHOWS: DECEMBER ONWARDS 17

Lucinda Mudge, baby I live for danger (black). 2016 Cermaic Platinium and Gold Lustre 49cm high, EVERARD READ CIRCA. 56

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GHOST IN THE MACHINE R I C H A R D S MIT H EBONY CAPE TOWN 02.11.17 - 29.12.17 67 LOOP STREET, CAPE TOWN +27 (0) 21 424 9985

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INFO@EBONYCURATED.COM 55 WWW.EBONYCURATED.COM

ONGOING SHOWS: NOVEMBER 2017

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KALK BAY MODERN GALLERY UNTIL 11/11/2017 BEEZY BAILEY, “CAT JUMPING OVER THE MOON” WWW.KALKBAYMODERN.CO.ZA

ECLECTICA DESIGN AND ART DREAM RIFT UNTIL 13/11/2017 WWW.ECLECTICADESIGNANDART.CO.ZA

WWW.DAVILLE.CO.ZA

UNTIL 11/11/2017

UNTIL 13/11/2017

UNTIL 14/11/2017

ASSOCIATION OF ARTS PRETORIA ANGELA BANKS 27/10/2017 UNTIL 15/11/2017 WWW.ARTSASSOCIATIONPTA. CO.ZA

STEVENSON JHB STEVEN COHEN PUT YOUR HEART UNDER YOUR FEET ... AND WALK! UNTIL 17/11/2017 WWW.STEVENSON.INFO

GOODMAN GALLERY JHB KAPWANI KIWANGA THE SUN NEVER SETS UNTIL 18/11/2017 WWW.GOODMAN-GALLERY. COM

UNTIL 15/11/2017

UNTIL 17/11/2017

UNTIL 18/11/2017

SMITH ANOTHER HELPING 19/10/2017 UNTIL 18/11/2017

OLIEWENHUIS ART MUSEUM NEW BREED ART COMPETITION EXHIBITION 05/10/2017 UNTIL 19/11/2017

WWW.SMITHSTUDIO.CO.ZA

UCT IRMA STERN THE JOURNEY AS DESTINATION

BY SIMON JONES UNTIL 18/11/2017 WWW.IRMASTERN.CO.ZA

UNTIL 18/11/2017

UNTIL 18/11/2017

UNTIL 19/11/2017

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DAVILLE BAILLIE RICHARD SCOTT JOHANNESBURG UNTIL 14/11/2017

WWW.NASMUS.CO.ZA

ONGOING SHOWS NOV 2017

WWW.GRANDEPROVENCE.CO.ZA

SALON NINETY ONE FIELD - A GROUP EXHIBITION FEATURING THE WORK OF NINE FEMALE ARTISTS UNTIL 25/11/2017 WWW.SALON91.CO.ZA

UNTIL 22/11/2017

UNTIL 25/11/2017

UNTIL 25/11/2017

STEVENSON CPT GUY TILLIM MUSEUM OF THE REVOLUTION UNTIL 25/11/2017 WWW.STEVENSON.INFO

ART IN THE YARD PERCEPTIVE RESONANCE SOLO EXHIBITION BY ADRIAAN DIEDERICKS UNTIL 26/11/2017 WWW.ARTINTHEYARD.CO.ZA

LA MOTTE MUSEUM DIE KRAAL - HOMAGE TO THE WORK OF NICOLENE SWANEPOEL, IN CONJUNCTIONWITH A TRIBUTE TO THE LIFE AND WORK OF JH PIERNEEF. UNTIL 26/11/2017 WWW.LA-MOTTE.COM

UNTIL 25/11/2017

UNTIL 26/11/2017

UNTIL 26/11/2017

GALLERY AT GRANDE PROVENCE SOLO EXHIBITION BY ANTON SMIT THE WALKING MAN 8/10/2017 TILL 25/11/2017

ART FRANSCHHOEK OPENS 26/10/2017 UNTIL 27/11/2017 WWW.FRANSCHHOEK.ORG.ZA UNTIL 26/11/2017

UNTIL 26/11/2017 W W W. A R T T I M E S . C O . Z A

UNTIL 27/11/2017 59

ONGOING SHOWS NOV 2017

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MANZART MANZART ‘17/’18 SUMMER EXHIBITION 27/10/2017 TILL 27/11/2017

BARNARD GALLERY AT SAND’S EDGE 31/10/2017 TILL 28/11/2017

WWW.MANZART.COM

WWW.BARNARDGALLERY.COM

THE CHRIS TUGWELL GALLERY TIENIE PRITCHARD 50 YEARS OF SCULPTURE UNTIL 30/11/2017 012 346 0925 WWW.CHRISTUGWELL.CO.ZA

UNTIL 27/11/2017

UNTIL 28/11/2017

UNTIL 30/11/2017

NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN ART MUSEUM THE WAY OF WATER 27/09/2017 TILL 30/11/2017 WWW.ARTMUSEUM.CO.ZA

MOLLIE TOWNSEND LIGHT IN FALSE BAY UNTIL 14/12/2017 THE ST JAMES RETIREMENT HOTEL / TEL: 021 709 0708/021 788 8931

UNTIL 30/11/2017

UNTIL 30/11/2017

UNTIL 14/12/2017

ART AT TOKARA VINTAGE 2017 01/10/2017 TILL 15/01/2018 083 675 1825 INFO@JULIAMEINTJES.CO.ZA WWW.JULIAMEINTJES.CO.ZA

IZIKO SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL GALLERY AT FACE VALUE | COLLECTION OF PORTRAITURE. UNTIL 15/12/2017 WWW.IZIKO.ORG.ZA

ART@ALMENKERK BUZZTED - A GROUP EXHIBITION UNTIL 31/12/2017

UNTIL 15/01/2018

UNTIL15/12/2017

UNTIL 31/12/2017

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INFO@ARTATAFRICA.ART WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART

ONGOING SHOWS NOV 2017

ART@DURBANVILLEHILLS MARKE MEYER EXTENDED SOLO UNTIL 31/12/2017

ART@CLOCKTOWER IT’S NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE UNTIL 31/12/2017

WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART

WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART

ART@DURBANVILLEHILLS SCULPTURE ESTATE AND GALLERY DEVINE GARDENS UNTIL 31/01/2018 WWW.ARTATAFRICA.ART

UNTIL 31/12/2017

UNTIL 31/12/2017

UNTIL 31/01/2018

IZIKO SA MUSEUM MY NAAM IS FEBRUARIE: IDENTITIES ROOTED IN SLAVERY UNTIL 31/03/2017 WWW.IZIKO.ORG.ZA

Joshua Miles, Signal Hill Pines, Reduction Linocut, 2017

L IST Y O U R G AL L ERY & S ELL ART

WWW.ARTTIMES.CO.ZA

SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADING VISUAL ARTS PUBLICATION

UNTIL 31/03/2017

SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADING VISUAL ARTS PUBLICATION WWW.ARTTIMES.CO.ZA

SOUTH AFRICA’S LEADING VISUAL ARTS PUBLICATION

SANLAM PORTRAIT AWARDS 17 SEPTEMBER | 2017 WWW.ARTTIMES.CO.ZA

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OPENING EXHIBITIONS: NOVEMBER 2017 EVENTS, GALLERY GUIDE & ART TO BUY

Detail, Richardscott, London, 160x110cm 62

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@A F R I C A

A RT

ART

@CLOCKTOWER

ART

@A L M E N K E R K

ART

@DURB A N V I L L E H I L L S

I N T H R E E W O R L D C L A S S V E N U E S I N A N D A R O U N D C A P E T O W N , W E C R E AT E M E A N I N G F U L A R T E X P E R I E N C E S , C U R AT E D B Y I N T E R N AT I O N A L LY A C C L A I M E D C U R AT O R S

W W W. A R TATA F R I C A . A R T

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082 774 1078

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I N F O O A R TATA F R I C A . A R T

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PALETTE FINE ART GALLERY

LAUNCHES THIRD GALLERY IN DE WATERKANT, CAPE TOWN www.palettesculpturegallery.co.za

Palette Fine Art gallery was founded in July 2013 in the beautiful and historic town of Stellenbosch.

In April 2017, a second gallery opened its doors in Waterkant Street, Cape Town.

October 2017 saw a third gallery come to life (Palette Art in the Piazza) in the eclectic Cape Quarter Lifestyle Village.

Each gallery has its own ambience and art suited to the environment. Palette in the Piazza has a sleek look with silver bronzes and monochrome paintings. Personalized service is the gallery’s strong point.

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Sitting Man in Bronze Nickel by Lydia da Silva.

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UCT IRMA STERN MUSEUM Cecil Road, Rosebank, Cape Town

THE JOURNEY AS DESTINATION an exhibition of paintings by SIMON JONES 28 October - 18 November 2017 Museum open: Tuesday – Friday 10 a.m – 5 p.m.

Saturday 10 a.m – 2 p.m.

Enquiries: Penny Dobbie – 021-424-8349 e-mail: denarius@mweb.co.za

Summer Gala Exhibition @ Stellenbosch Art Gallery 34 Ryneveld St, Stellenbosch Opening Thursday 23 November 2017 @ 19:00 Until 31 January 2018 Special opening address by Stéhan Grobler, Steinhoff Ltd. Wine and snacks will be served.

Tel: +27-21 887 8343 / Cell: +27-076 279 2175 email: mjg@kingsley.co.za 34 Ryneveld Street, Shop 1, Ryneveld Plaza, Stellenbosch www.stellenboschartgallery.com Laubscher, Frederik Bester Howard (Erik) (1927 - 2013) “Euphorbia”, Oil on Board, 77.5 x 56.5cm Signed: “Laubscher” (Lower/Right), Dated: 1957

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OPENING EXHIBITIONS / WEEK 1 NOV

THE SCENT OF JOSS STICKS

A SOLO EXHIBITION BY VANESSA BERLEIN AT ECLECTICA CONTEMPORARY / 02 NOV - 01 DEC Dr Danny Shorkend Reviews / www.eclecticacontemporary.co.za

Gaiete Parisienne

Vanessa Berlein describes her work for her show at Eclectica Contemporary, entitled “The scent of Joss Sticks”, as a nostalgia for her childhood. She is referring to parties that would take place at her parents’ home, far from city life. She recollects the characters, the music, the light and even the smell of the ambiance that fills her with childhood wonder, mystery, mischievousness and a certain innocent freedom. It is here, as she muses that her parents are like kings and queens at such lavish extravaganzas. The imagery has been drawn from photographs of her parents 10th wedding anniversary in 1971.

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The real question is: Has Berlein found an appropriate aesthetic to rekindle and communicate these childhood memories?

She intentionally works on brown cardboard giving the viewer a sense of the ephemeral, as if the paintings are like snapshots in time, markers and snippets of what was and yet as transient as the flow of time is. Thus, the material backing supports her sense of the dream world of yesteryear and the constant ebb of time.

The pattern-motif is, as the artist writes in her statement, a capturing of the “opulence” and “sumptuousness” of these events.

I would add that it also creates a sense of continuity, as if the framework of one’s

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OPENING EXHIBITIONS / WEEK 1 NOV

childhood plays itself out as one gets older.

Yet these patterns are patiently rendered and their design as such act as friendly incubators of the characters she paints.

Berlein uses the painterly medium to render mimetic likeness, but clearly there is an emphasis on the emotional state of the figure as well as the creative costume design. Can one go beyond the literal, photographic meaning, of its one to one correspondence with childhood memory, now recaptured as an artwork, a painting?

enactments and processes, that it indeed encapsulates the will of the artist that struggles with and through the paint medium. Such an axiom is, I believe well founded and so painting has reached neither an end in abstract art, nor a consummation by being fixed to one style.

Painting is enlarged and not made obsolete by new methods (of inquiry).

All in all, one might sense Berlein’s labour of love and her invocation of a romantic vision of yesteryear. And yet yesterday is gone;

Perhaps a better question is: one might notice – and the recently opened Zeitz Mocca reinforces this – that painting may appear to be waning, where digital new media, installation and photography are now dominant mediums, so that one might ask of the very relevance and value of painting as a method in contemporary art, notwithstanding its privileged historical and theoretical discourse?

I think this is a good question, for the simple reason that what many artistic modalities often miss or partially lack is the very visceral quality of making and painting and the equally visceral quality of perceiving a painting. In both cases, one empathizes with a kind of movement of the brush as colour and line fuse into a potentially strong compositional unity, over and above what is termed iconographic meaning. This tangible sense, if one can call it that, is at risk of being lost (consumed?) with other, perhaps more digital methods of making art.

Berlein’s controlled and acute observational skills aligned to adept painting, conjures in the viewer a certain repour with the figures and “wall-paper” designs of her work. That is not to deny, say the value of a photograph or an installation around the same theme – only to point to the difference that painting offers, and that it need not be deconstructed to the point of extinction.

Thus, the kind of colloquial or common wisdom that the value of say a Van Gogh is exceptional is axiomatic based around principles such that the energy, consciousness and life is somehow contained in the act of and expression of such

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Take 5

in fact, yesterday itself is a distortion today, processed through a subjective lens. Art then is a grand delusion, like the play of these parties. Even after Jackson Pollock, literal and representational art is renewed. That is, one may intuit in Berlein’s work a realism that is not real; a skilful rendering of the observable world that are simply formal arrangements of adjacent shapes and colours. Such is the flimsiness of what one (consciously) recalls and its inherent lack of a clear-cut narrative and meaning, other than that which one chooses to ascribe to it – as “events” and “happenings” in life and in art. The Scent Of Joss Sticks will be showing at Eclectica Contemporary, 69 Burg Str. Cape Town, until 01 December 2017.

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A SOLO EXHIBITION BY DUNCAN STEWART Opening Sat 18 November at 11 am. The exhibition runs until 11 Dec 2017.

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PROUDLY PRESENTS AN EXHIBITION BY :

CLARE MENCK & WEYERS DU TOIT Sunday 12 November at 11h00 2017

“Don’t cry for me Africana”

“ Frauke bathing”

Weyers du Toit oil on canvas

Clare Menck oil on canvas

Figurative work in oil by Clare Menck and representational oils by Weyers du Toit.

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MOK GALLERY WEYERS DU TOIT AND CLARE MENCK 12/11/2017 UNTIL 07/12/2017 MURATIE WINE ESTATE STELLENBOSCH WWW.MOKGALLERY.COM

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SURROUND BY NHLANHLA NHLAPO AND SCULPTURE

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Venue: Muratie Wine Estate Stellenbosch. Wine and cheese to be enjoyed. Rsvp by 9 November. cecile@mokgallery.com Cecile Blevi 0725535547 www.mokgallery.com. Facebook and Instagram. exhibition ends 7 December 2017. Gallery hours Tuesday-Sunday 10.00-16.30

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MOK GALLERY: AN EXHIBITION BY CLARE MENCK & WEYERS DU TOIT EXHIBITION BY CLARE MENCK AND WEYERS DU TOIT MOK GALLERY 12 NOVEMBER / www.mokgallery.com

“Emerald swimmer from above (self portrait)”, 2017

Clare Menck (b.1969) is a figurative painter specialising in oils. Her passion for painting figures in a landscape setting in or around water is further augmented with a line of selfportraiture often (but not always) swimming.

The landscape (especially water) becomes a metaphor for a deeper meaning surrounding the human subjects that inhabit it as if they are players on a natural stage.

The artist revels in summery subjects making bathers her focus; Clare is renowned for her delightful painterly treatment of light and colour especially when capturing swimmers in water.

Lately, in a more moody atmospheric vein, Clare has turned to painting hounds by pools in moonlight. And occasionally, ‘retro’ subjects with some social commentary.

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Her different themes always have in common an uncanny observation of experienced reality portraying a deep sense of the inner worlds of these human and animal subjects.

Clare Menck is a Master’s graduate from the University of Stellenbosch with an Advanced Diploma in Fine Art from Michaelis (UCT).

Her retrospective book “Clare Menck: Hidden Life” edited by Stefan Hundt, curator of Sanlam’s Art Collection, travelled the country to major museums and galleries as the accompanying catalogue to her midcareer retrospective celebrating 20 years of painting.

Weyers du Toit (b.1973) paints representational oils. He favours working directly from life in one session. This preference results in his challenging, direct method: Alla Prima.

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His subject matter is often the ordinary, overlooked.

What moves him is unconventionally beautiful.

He chooses a measuring cup as a flower vase and paints bananas that are well over ripe. He plays with food, takes a bite and then paints it. What he makes is then entirely autobiographical and what he chooses to paint, out of his direct surroundings, is that with which he identifies, or which moves him emotionally. He finds beauty in the obscure.

The result is work that is loaded with pathos.

Fine Art Diploma, Cape College (1992-1994).

Oils and Drawing under Liesbeth Gunther.

“He chooses a measuring cup as a flower vase and paints bananas that are well over ripe.

He plays with food, takes a bite and then paints it.”

Other artists that have had influence on his learning process via crits and/or courses include: Hennie Niemann Snr (visits and discussions 2008-2009), Ryno Swart (figure painting workshop 2014), Joshua Miles( Woodcuts) - and recently Andries Gouws (figure drawing and painting workshop, and other discussions).

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FEATURED ARTIST: JOSHUA MILES

JOSHUA MILES ; WHERE THE HEART IS SA PRINT GALLERY SATURDAY 25 NOVEMBER 2017/www.printgallery.co.za

A Series of new Reduction Lino and Woodblock Prints Joshua Miles holds his 5th solo show at The SA Print Gallery with new work from Josh’s exciting world of Cape scenes produced by using his magic Lino reduction and Japanese print techniques. The work explores an everchanging world of country and city through Joshua’s unique and restless eye comparing the tranquil isolation and colour of the Overberg, Karoo and Cityscapes.

Bend above the city, reduction linocut

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JOSHUA MILES “WHERE THE HEART IS”

Spiderwebs In The Mist, Reduction Linocut, 2017 80

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Kayamandi word wakker, Reduction Linocut, 2017

Highly collectable work, Joshua has carved himself a quality reputation as one of South Africa’s most collectable artists who consistently produces art with passion, dedication and quality.

Exhibition Opens November 25th 2017 107 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock Show ends 23 December 2017

Lionshead, Reduction Linocut, 2017

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The shy and observant introvert

How would you describe your style and the genre you work in?

Contemporary realism maintaining a figurative approach.

Does your themes portray your love for this country and does this love inspire you?

The South African landscape is vast and multi dimesional, like the people of our country. The aloes and proteas represent the South African landscape.

They are strong and hardy flora, and representational for us as people and how we can endure more than we think and still be strong. Emotional and subjective work represents my feelings of optimism for the beautiful country we live in.

I am a ‘young’ South African artist, I live in a country with so many possibilities. I see myself working and staying in this country. I love embracing the South African vibe.

Figure, 775x370, Oil on canvas, R7 500

You are moving away from only botanical themes. Figures form part of your recent work . Explain.

www.aliceart.co.za | 54 dryf road, ruimsig, roodepoort

I am more than the flowers I am known for. I am more than what you can see. As an artist and a person I express myself through my art. Visually not verbally. And I needed to affirm myself as a multi facetted artist and person. A mentor nudged me into a new direction, I did hesitate, it was a bold step, but as an artist I feel it has set me free, and I am now more open to do what I want and love, rather than what is expected.

Which South-African artist inspire you and why?

William Kentridge. I am in love with his work since

Christelle’s exhibition will be at

ALICEARTGALLERY FOR THE ULTIMATE EXPERIENCE IN ART

SINCE 1990

4 - 12 November 2017 High School art. It’s strong conceptual work, in my medium of choice. I am in love with the darkness of the work. Recently I started to follow the work of Themba Khumalo. Such amazing strong work and I think a South African artist to observe.

Background and qualifications.

Studied Fine Art at TUT from 2003-2007 and obtained my B-Tech Fine Art Degree Cum Laude Started teaching art at a local High School, Hoërskool Monument, 2007 – 2010 Post Graduate Certificate in Education at Unisa in 2007 – 2008 Art and Design Teacher at Abbotts College Johannesburg South 2011 – 2012 2013 onwards – Full time artist and art teacher

When did you decide to become a “professional” artist?

I decided in Grade 2 that I would like to be an artist, “a painter” as I wrote it down. I forgot about this dream but realised around 2011 that a dream will only stay a dream if I don’t start working on it. I started to create again after a seven year absence from the art world.

In 2011 I decided to approach art galleries in my area to find out how they take in new artists. I was then selected to be part of their New Signatures Exhibition. It was such an exciting time for me and I am so priviledged for the chance they gave me as an inexperienced artist. This oppertunity changed my life and my carreer in a matter of months.

AliceArtGallery | 011 958 1392 | 083 377 1470 | info@aliceart.co.za

Figure, 775x370, Oil on canvas, R7 500

How did you become part of Alice Art Gallery?

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page 104 Rebooted UNFOLDING HISTORIES

EXHIBITION CLOSURE EVENT JUSTICE MATHONSI

When: 4th November 2017 (ofcial closing event) Where: Artist Proof Studio, Bus Factory, 3 Helen Joseph Street, Newtown, Johannesburg Time: 12pm

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SLEE GALLERY 103 DORP STREET 021 887 3385 WWW.SLEE.CO.ZA

STELLENBOSCH ART GALLERY CONTEMPORARY AND FINE ART HAND BLOWN GLASS, CERAMICS AND SCULPTURES WWWSTELLENBOSCHARTGALLERY.CO.ZA

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SARONSBERG CELLAR GALLERY PERMANENT EXHIBITION 0232300707 INFO@SARONSBERG.COM WWWSARONSBERG.COM

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PROUDLY PRESENTS AN EXHIBITION BY :

CLARE MENCK & WEYERS DU TOIT Sunday 12 November at 11h00 2017

“Don’t cry for me Africana”

“ Frauke bathing”

Weyers du Toit oil on canvas

Clare Menck oil on canvas

Figurative work in oil by Clare Menck and representational oils by Weyers du Toit.

Venue: Muratie Wine Estate Stellenbosch. Wine and cheese to be enjoyed. Rsvp by 9 November. cecile@mokgallery.com Cecile Blevi 0725535547 www.mokgallery.com. Facebook and Instagram. exhibition ends 7 December 2017. Gallery hours Tuesday-Sunday 10.00-16.30

NiCOLAAS MARiTZ ANNUAL STUDiO EXHiBiTiON

3 Dec 2017 - 28 Jan 2018

MARiTZ STUDiO & GALLERY 5 Nemesia Street, Darling, South Africa

by appointment

078 4197093 https://sites.google.com/site/nicolaasmaritzgallery/

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GALLERY BUZZ

ARTISTS, GALLERIES EXHIBITIONS AND A LITTLE VINO ART IN THE YARD - ADRIAAN DIEDERICKS EXHIBITION / www.artintheyard.co.za

Angelique & Joss Donders, Axel Spanholtz, Mario Motti.

Adriaan Diedericks and Sharlene Dieraba

Sasha and Jenny on left Frans Baerveldt and Bill Sargent on right 92

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0, Cape Quarter Square, merset Rd, Green Point, Town, South Africa

The Cape Gallery, 60 Church Street, Cape Town seeks to expose fine art that is rooted in the South African tradition, work which carries the unique cultural stamp of our continent. featured artist: Tyrone Appollis THE CAPE GALLERY

Open Mon - fri: 9h30 - 17h00 Sat: 10h00 - 14h00 27 21 423 5309 cgallery@mweb.co.za www.capegallery.co.za

Cape Quarter Square 27 Somerset Road Green Point Phone 021 4213333 email carmel@global.co.za www.carmelart.co.za

Phone: 0214213333 Email: carmel@global.co.za www.carmelart.co.za

OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY 9h00 to 18h00 SATURDAY TRADING 9h00 to 15h00

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GALLERY BUZZ

ARTISTS, GALLERIES EXHIBITIONS AND A LITTLE VINO GRAHAMS FINE ART GALLERY - CHRISTY LEE RODGERS EXHIBITION www.grahamsfineartgallery.co.zaco.za

Christina Allum, Christy Lee Rogers, Brenda Wild

Terrence McNamee and Thomas Jiji

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Anna Starcke

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GALLERY BUZZ

ARTISTS, GALLERIES EXHIBITIONS AND A LITTLE VINO LIZAMORE & ASSOCIATES - COME HELL OR HIGHWATER OPENING / www.lizamore.co.za

Robert A. Hamblin (Artist) and Angela De Jesus (Curator at UFS gallery)

Opening - UFS gallery

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Mawi Tshengela and Robert A. Hamblin

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ART LIFE: WILDEKRANS COUNTRY HOUSE, HOUW HOEK WHERE ART, NATURE, FOOD AND LIVING HARMONIZE Written by Greg Penfold

Gaiete Parisienne

Art Times pops into a quiet paradise started thirty years ago by Alison Green and architect Barry Gould.

Thousands upon thousands of cars pass by the little town of Houw Hoek every festive season; for most holidaymakers, it’s a momentary blur, at best a refreshment stop on the way from Cape Town to the wellmarketed, tourist-saturated Garden Route.

If they but knew what rewards await those with the discernment to linger in the area …

Wildekrans Country House is a case in point. It’s not just an historic Cape Dutch homestead set against a dramatic mountainous landscape backdrop – it’s constantly evolving garden is a uniquely

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creative space graced by art works from a plethora of South Africa’s finest creative minds. Here, art and nature have reached a mutual understanding which finds expression in an endless conversation of colours, textures and forms. It’s a conversation that the guest is invited to participate in rather than stand back and admire, simply by wandering the winding paths among the lofty trees and encountering the works of art that have accumulated over the years.

It all began in 1999, when civil engineer Alison Green and architect Barry Gould moved from Johannesburg to Elgin to take over the family’s Wildekrans Country House. Avid art collectors since the 1980s, they immediately

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ART HOME / WILDEKRANS COUNTRY HOUSE

filled the home and B&B with their own private collection. Then they set to work on the formal garden. The manicured lawns, neat rose beds, fruit orchard and pond were allowed to grow wilder; areas were slowly converted to indigenous plantings; the roses were confined to a small area, with the other beds being turned over to restios, grasses, proteas, agapanthus and ericas. The further one walks from the homestead, the wilder the garden becomes, until finally it verges on the natural wilderness of the Kogelberg Biosphere. And all the while, there are the artworks punctuating the experience with unexpected surprises along the way.

The response from guests has been fantastic. As one enthusiastic review states, “It is a place where life becomes art and art mirrors life, a place where sculptural forms become functional and where every surface is a potential canvas and every material a possible medium… even the mountains are an art-form as the fynbos changes with the seasons as different species come in to flower” (Responsible Traveller).

Best of all, the garden is always renewing itself. At the end of October each year, Alison and Barry offer the garden to an artist to install works for the summer, making the most of the surroundings and the backdrop of the mountain. This is timed to happen at the start of the Elgin Open Gardens – when 18 open gardens in the Elgin and Bot River districts open to the public over two weekends.— and runs until Easter the following year. Artists to date have included Nikki Swanepoel, Guy du Toit, Wilma Cruise, Strijdom van der Merwe and Herman van Nazareth. This year, visitors can look forward to Greta Davis’s FOLLOW and new works by Wilma Cruise, Guy du Toit and Sheen Ridley.

How have your guests taken to contemporary art in their spaces? Do you think that they would see things differently when they return?

That we could not predict. Guests do sometimes purchase work from us; many know the artists’ work and engage with the art literature we have and share stories about their own art experiences. What we can say is

“At the end of October each year, Alison and Barry offer the garden to an artist to install works for the summer, making the most of the surroundings and the backdrop of the mountain.”

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ART HOME / WILDEKRANS COUNTRY HOUSE

that guests arrive having left their daily, often stressful, grind. After a few days at Wildekrans Country House, they seem to be in a far happier space, whether it be from the art and natural environment context, good food, wine or beds, we couldn’t say.

Do you shift the work around from time to time or try to keep things similar?

We do try and invest in a new work each year and this naturally brings about movement.

Much of the art is in the communal spaces, barn and garden. And then we have our favourites in our little cottage. People do excitedly remember the works, a popular one is “Sheep are safely grazing” by Wilma Cruise as it is well photographed and installed in the middle of the garden visible from most parts of the property.

Does the combination of fine art both inside and outside with food, wine and nature enhance the visitor’s experience?

We think so. The garden, history and art provide a giant context to the food, wine and walking.

Our art does need to be strong and significant to bear the context of magnificent mountains and the 1811 Cape Dutch architecture.

What other activities are there to offer in the area of the art of living?

We offer a three- or four-day slackpacking trail of fifty or sixty kilometres through fynbos and farms. This Green Mountain Trail brings together all the contemporary components of leisure.

For more information please see: www.wildekrans.co.za / or call 028 284 9827

“The garden, history and art provide a giant context to the food, wine and walking.”

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wallcandies.com Golden Age of Mailships

wallcandies.com Masked Heroes

wallcandies.com Freedom

BOOK REVIEW: AFRICA MODERN

AFRICA MODERN: CREATING THE CONTEMPORARY ART OF A CONTINENT In partnership with Wallpaper* magazine

The KT Wong Foundation has launch its publication of Africa Modern: creating the contemporary art of a continent. The brainchild of Thomas Heatherwick, visionary British architect, and Lady Linda Wong Davies, chairwoman of the KT Wong Foundation, the book is a celebration of the creative wave sweeping Africa, with a generation of artistic talent rising to prominence across the continent and internationally.

Africa Modern is a vividly illustrated, and powerfully timely exploration of this dynamic new artistic environment. Produced independently by the KT Wong Foundation to mark its tenth anniversary, as the leading platform for cross cultural projects, Africa Modern is created in partnership with Wallpaper* magazine

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and Thomas Heatherwick, designer of Zeitz MOCAA, the museum of Contemporary African Art in Cape Town.

The book includes a unique, first person account of the design and construction of the museum by Heatherwick alongside photos and imagery by the celebrated architectural photographer Iwan Baan.

Edited by leading British writer and cultural commentator Ekow Eshun, Africa Modern is a survey of the cultural activity from across the continent with a specific focus on South Africa, featuring specially commissioned visual projects from leading artists such as Nicholas Hlobo, Pieter Hugo, William Kentridge, Mohau Modisakeng, Ntone Edjabe, Santu Mofokeng, Mary Sibande, Penny Siopis, Mikhael Subotzky and Matthew Wild, alongside writers, Achille Mbembe, Sean O’Toole, Ashraf Jamal and Sisonke Msimang.

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ARTSY AND THE RISE OF THE MATCHMAKER MARKET

EDITORS CHOICE: ARTICLE PRINTED FROM ARTSY.COM

No single seller has achieved critical mass, and the model that has gained the most traction is the third-party marketplace, which functions not as a threat to existing, trusted brands but as a facilitator for them. Rather than competing with bricks-and-mortar houses for quality consignments, they help market it to a wider clientele and provide sophisticated live-bidding technology.

In the bricks-versus-clicks shakeout, the new power players in online auctions are harvesting data from both the supply and demand sides.

Devang Thakkar was half awake at 4am, Seattle time, and had to blink twice at the live auction at Phillips in Hong Kong on his screen.

A client in New Jersey was bidding over Artsy’s app, going after a George Condo painting. The bidder was knocked out once, then twice, but ultimately prevailed, winning the Condo for an above-­ estimate HK$2.48m. In that moment Thakkar, a trained software engineer and head of auctions for Artsy, knew his vision was working.

With the New York-based start-up’s announcement over the summer of an additional $50m in venture funding, online auction wars are heating up. According to the 2017 Hiscox Online Art Trade Report, the past year has seen increasing competition in the digital sales sphere, causing casualties for online start-ups that had vowed to “disrupt” the estimated $3.75bn segment of the industry.

The heritage incumbents are stepping up their game; in a bold move, Sotheby’s announced in late August that it was doing away with buyer’s premium for online-only sales.

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“A philosophical switch” Megan Newcome, the director of digital strategy at Phillips, which has experimented with various online partnerships, believes a “philosophical switch” is afoot. “I think in the past, the concept was ‘Let’s partner with these sites in the hope that everyone that bids will then come to Phillips and forget about the old channel.’” Now, she says, the sense is, the more doorways the better: “We’re not necessarily trying to drive them to Phillips.

We just want to expose that audience to the Phillips brand.”

Boston-based Invaluable is one such example.

With 5,400 sellers, three million monthly unique visitors and $10bn in listed items, it is a giant in the third-party platform arena. (The next largest, LiveAuctioneers, lists around 3,500 sellers.) Its chief executive since 2012, Rob Weisberg, a former Zipcar executive, believes the iPad is overtaking the paddle—more than 40% of the site’s traffic is from a mobile device.

Launched in 2009, Invaluable.com is the product of a merger of auction-support businesses, including the vast auction price database Artfact. By providing an integrated plug-in on the back end for the houses’ own websites and serving thousands of sales to potential buyers through a single portal, Invaluable allows small, local houses visibility alongside multinational firms.

This model, whereby houses essentially “keep” the existing clients of their own websites but

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gain access to a wider audience through Invaluable.com, “created a separation of church and state that was palatable to the auction houses”, Weisberg says. If you are Sotheby’s, he says, “you have no visibility into a Christie’s customer’s behaviour unless that customer is buying from both. Invaluable has the unique position of seeing buyer behaviour across 5,000 auction houses…We give them targeting capabilities through media channels that they could not do themselves.”

For buyers, it is one-stop browsing and bidding.

“We act as the personal shopper,” Weisberg says. “Essentially, we’re going through 10,000 catalogues a month on your behalf to find and filter just the stuff you’re interested in seeing.”

Fine art is the most popular category on the site, which also offers antiques, jewellery, furniture, and other collectables. (Christie’s is notably absent, favouring proprietary channels.

Sales through its site totalled $217m last year.

Bonhams has also so far eschewed third-party platforms.)

Invaluable’s technology, m ­odelled on the Nasdaq stock exchange, is used by eBay Live Auctions and Sotheby’s, which since 2015 has relied on Invaluable to power its online bidding. “We’re running 17,000 auctions a year—24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, in 52 countries,” Weisberg says.

“Milliseconds matter. You have to be able to take high-frequency trading bids from all over the world.” In 2016 it upgraded its video feed, a feature that Weisberg believes is key to kindling competition: “It can be like a prize fight at very high levels. Live video capability is paramount to maintaining that feeling of excitement.”

When he read in TechCrunch this past summer that the Artsy co-founder Carter Cleveland had dismissed current video technology as not yet ripe for his site, given the global spread of Artsy users, Weisberg says, “I wanted to send a note over saying ‘We’ve been doing this for over five years.’”

George Condo’s Naked Lunch (2008) was sold for HK$2.48m in a live auction via Artsy’s app at Phillips Hong Kong Courtesy of Phillips Creating a virtuous cycle. While Invaluable has built a reputation on translating auctions into the digital sphere, the continually evolving Artsy is a more amorphous entity that tends to inspire either enthusiasm or confusion. Its co-founder and president Sebastian Cwilich, a former Christie’s executive, speaks of eventually becoming a centralised hub for all art information and transactions, and the company has so far totted up more than $100m in investment, including from the dealer Larry Gagosian and Dasha Zhukova, the founder of Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow.

According to Robert Read, the author of the Hiscox report, art start-ups face a “chickenor-egg” challenge: they must generate trust to win quality partners or consignments, which generate more trust, creating a virtuous cycle.

Mindful of this loop, Artsy has systematically cultivated art-world players ranging from museums to fairs to galleries big and small, all while cementing its credentials among a youthful and tech-obsessed audience via splashy Art Basel Miami Beach parties and other events.

Artsy claims 24 million unique visitors since the site was launched in 2012, many drawn by its deep well of editorial content. The site’s bread and butter is exhibition and artwork listings for 2,000 galleries around the world, helping drive more than $20m in monthly sales.

When he arrived in 2015, Thakkar’s brief was to create a live auction integration that, in its elegance and accuracy, would help breed that elusive trust. He settled on a hybrid system wherein an Artsy clerk in the room translates the bid activity to the Artsy app, while users’ bids—including those placed before the sale’s start—are automatically sorted for the clerk to register in the room on their behalf. “It’s pretty complex math that happens in the back end,” says Thakkar who, while at Microsoft, invented

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EDITORS CHOICE

the control-Z “undo” keyboard shortcut.

“But we’ve simplified that into a humanreadable, six-button thing. You can’t get it wrong.” Since the first live sale with the Swiss auctioneer Koller in June 2016, he can recall a single hitch: when Amazon’s cloud, which hosts the lot images, went down, and a Phillips sale had to be delayed for 30 minutes.

From two auctions in 2015 to 41 in 2016, Artsy is on track for more than 170 in 2017, bridging its audience to select sales at Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips, plus a range of smaller houses, including Rago in Lambertville, New Jersey, Waddington’s in Toronto, and Veritas in Portugal. Bidding activity has grown 900% year on year, with Artsy clients in 84 countries bidding on a third of all lots listed on the site and winning about 8% of them.

In July, Artsy and Phillips presented Summer School, a co-curated online auction that culminated in a party.

Cracking Open a Pipeline Heritage Auctions, with a market-leading $348.5m in online sales in 2016, might not seem to need Artsy’s help, but last year the Dallas-based house began listing select sales with Artsy to reach a different audience. Leon Benrimon, the house’s director of Modern and contemporary art in New York, is able to sell edgier material on Artsy than he can on Heritage’s own, and has also accepted consignments from Artsy users. Last season, he recalls, Heritage offered an Alex Israel via Artsy. “We had bids up to the high estimate of $200,000 on Artsy in advance of the sale. Not the day of—in advance of it. That’s something that people would have told you would never happen, but it’s happening.”

But if a buyer bids through Artsy, they are effectively Artsy’s client—which is where the site’s gallery network becomes a distinct advantage. For those who lose out on a lot, “we do help that user discover other things in the future”, Thakkar says. Depending on their preferences, a user might receive an email showing them what other works by the artist

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are available in other auctions or galleries on the site. If the work is an edition, Artsy might be able to source another by notifying its seller network. “We’re starting to experiment: if there is an exact match available today, how do we best connect them?” Thakkar says. But— as with its nascent consignment channel— any matchmaking by Artsy would be double blind: “Both parties have to agree, and then we connect the dots. We are looking at what we can do for this under-bidder scenario, where we can, under a privacy umbrella, start introducing people.”

The company is seeking creative ways to leverage the supply and demand data it is harvesting. Anders Petterson, the founder of the market research firm ArtTactic, says, “I think to engage new people, new tools are required. New collectors want transparency, particularly in the online market. And you have the financial services industry looking at art as an alternative asset class, a financial instrument, and they require data.” The problem for the art market so far has been that it is too small and too slippery to quantify with the existing data points—and those who have more intel have been happy to keep it to themselves.

In April, Artsy acquired ArtAdvisor, a data science firm co-founded by Lucas Zwirner and Massachusetts Institute of Technologytrained “taste” specialist Hugo Liu, who was appointed Artsy’s first chief scientist. Liu’s field is trend prediction and artificial intelligence; his hire suggests that the company will lean more heavily on personalised data to create actionable insights—however each user, from the day-trader to the nervous novice, might define that. “Data helps us create a better customer experience”, says Cwillich, “and you can imagine a product where we’re able to advise our partners on the appetites of our collectors and broader market trends.”

Read is loath to place bets on any future winner, but says: “People look online for information about art and also opinions about art. If you become the go-to place for information, I think that gives you an incredibly powerful position.”

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SANLAM PORTRAIT AWARDS 17 SEPTEMBER | 2017 WWW.ARTTIMES.CO.ZA

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wallcandies.com Pink Lady by Lempricka

wallcandies.com Vintage Proteas

wallcandies.com Weird Fish

wallcandies.com Harries and Horned animals

wallcandies.com Heaven by Raphael

THE GOOD READ: HOW A SMOOTH OPERATOR SAVED HEATHERWICK’S MUSEUM VISION

By Claire Keeton First published in The Sunday Times

When celebrated Zeitz MOCAA architect Thomas Heatherwick saw that Johan Lotz had solved the problem of cutting flowing curves into concrete silos the ones which make up the soaring arch in the gallery s atrium he was exhilarated.

struggling to find a way to cut smooth curves into the silos before Lotz came along.

We were on a hanging scaffold 35m up and he charged over to me to give me a hug and said: You ve saved my project said the grizzled Lotz an unlikely Renaissance man who specialises in solving design problems.

They had been trying for six months and could not get it exactly right. Then Thomas Heatherwick told them that they must get an artist in and Dale (Blanchard) called me.

It s not every day that a retired artist of 68 gets to work on a R500-million project said the graphic designer-turned-creative troubleshooter.

The engineers working on the construction of Cape Town s new art museum had been

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He said: I came up with the idea of using stainless steel rods (to guide the grinders) for the curves and this worked like a charm.

The flowing curves in concrete inside the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa are testament to Johan Lotz s work.

Blanchard is the contracts director of WBHO the construction company responsible for the main cutting and demolition of silos which were nearly a century old. Johan came in as

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THE GOOD READ

the artistic eye with the fine eye of a sculptor.

The stainless steel rod system on either side of the curves was mainly developed by Johan who did the polishing down to the last millimetre. The atrium s concrete arches are a defining feature of Heatherwick s new architectural wonder whose design ranks alongside any contemporary art museum in the world.

Lotz said the concept was simple but getting it perfect was hard work. Seven days a week for 10 months Lotz was clambering up and down scaffolding about 25m high to do polishing cutting and supervising about half a dozen grinders. I was still working when they were carrying in the first artworks said Lotz.

The first time he walked into Zeitz MOCAA he could see the potential even though the space was a total wreck. The WBHO collective including Lotz this year won three Fulton awards which honour excellence and innovation in concrete design for their contribution to its transformation. When Lotz first met V&A Waterfront CEO Dave Green at the opening ceremony Green asked the polisher how long he had been in the concrete business. I said it was the first time in my life that I had touched concrete and he said that was impossible said Lotz laughing.

Now he s taking it easy back at home in Strand about 40km east of Cape Town. Thirteen years ago he moved to the coast with his wife and three children. In a lounge filled with his miniature artworks family portraits in frames he has restored and furniture he has built he talks about the unexpected trajectory his life took once he walked away from an executive advertising job. After school Lotz studied graphic design at Pretoria Technikon becoming friends with the late Braam Kitchen Boy Kruger. His paintings hang on Lotz s study walls.

In his free time Lotz painted miniatures and portraits and in the 1970s before computers his hobby was retouching photos. He followed a diverse path in printing and advertising picking up photographic and airbrushing

skills along the way before becoming the creative director of Pelham Advertising in Sandton.

I did not like having to work in a suit and tie and talk to clients said Lotz who opted out to start his own design studio with eclectic projects. Giant fibre glass commercial sculptures taxidermy murals airbrushing trucks and boats and arty projects for hotel magnates like Sol Kerzner earned him a creative living.

For instance he mounted and assembled all the sculptures in Cape Town s One&Only Hotel and gilded 49m2q of walls and pillars in the five-star hotel.

In 2010 Lotz designed and managed the construction of the 6m-high soccer balls that went up at airports across South Africa.

My design for the soccer balls done on a factory floor with a protractor tape measure and string was subsequently fed into the computer and it was 100% right he said. I go for what nobody can see or do or want to do.

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John Muafangejo Mother and child 1979

John Muafangejo John An Ark Noah 1979

Investement Print Dealers

109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, Tel. 021 4626851, www.printgallery.co.za

John Muafangejo Adam And Eva - 1968

John Muafangejo

New Archbishop Desmond Tutu Enthroned 1986

Investement Print Dealers

109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, Tel. 021 4626851, www.printgallery.co.za

John Muafangejo

Lonely Man, Man Of Man 1974

John Muafangejo

The love is approaching but too much of anything is very dangerous 1974

Investement Print Dealers

109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, Tel. 021 4626851, www.printgallery.co.za

John Muafangejo

Men-are-working-in-town.-They-are-working-in-mine-1981

John Muafangejo Orange Farm - 1974

Investement Print Dealers

109 Sir Lowry Road, Woodstock, Cape Town, Tel. 021 4626851, www.printgallery.co.za

16 -18 FEB 2018

CAPE TOWN ART FAIR CTICC

CONTEMPORARY ART FROM AFRICA AND THE WORLD CAPETOWNARTFAIR.CO.ZA

#CTAF18 @CTArtFair @ct_artfair @CTArtFair

TOPOGRAPHICAL PICTURES INCLUDING 20TH CENTURY SOUTH AFRICAN PICTURES •

14 December 2017 • London

VIEWING

•

9–13 December 2017 • 8 King Street • London SW1Y 6QT

CONTACT

•

Nicholas Lambourn • nlambourn@christies.com • +44 (0) 20 7389 2040

© The Irma Stern Trust, DACS 2017

AUCTION

IRMA STERN (1894–1966) The Watussi Chief’s wife, 1946 oil on canvas 24 ⅞ x 19 ⅞ in. (63.2 x 50.5 cm.) in the artist’s Zanzibar frame £600,000–800,000

Auction | Private Sales | christies.com Other fees apply in addition to the hammer price. See Section D of our Conditions of Sale at the back of the Auction Catalogue