31st Oct, 2016 20:00

Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art

 
Lot 15
 
Lot 15 - Hugo Naudé (South Africa 1869-1941)

15

Hugo Naudé (South Africa 1869-1941)
Drying fruit

oil on canvas laid down on board

Artwork date: 1896
Signature details: signed and dated '2 IV 96' (sic)

Sold for R682,080
Estimated at R600,000 - R900,000


 

oil on canvas laid down on board

Artwork date: 1896
Signature details: signed and dated '2 IV 96' (sic)

(1)

40.5 x 52.5 cm

Notes:

Drying Fruit, dated 1896, is a fine example of Hugo Naudé’s early academic training, first at the Slade School of Art in London during the years 1989-90 and later on from 1890-94 at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich where he concentrated on mastering portraiture.

However, before returning permanently to South Africa in 1896, Naudé spent a year working with the artists known collectively as the Barbizon Group at Fontainebleau in France and, looking at this painting, it seems very likely that he was influenced by the genre paintings of these artists, especially the work of Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) who was one of the leading members of the Group along with Théodore Rousseau (1812-1867) and Charles François Daubigny (1817-1878). The plein-airist approach of this Group seemed to have had an enduring influence on Naudé’s work.

Apart from his well-known Fontainebleau landscapes, Millet’s interest later focused on scenes of peasant life and their arduous day-to-day labour in the fields, subject matter which was familiar to Naudé as is evident in Drying Fruit, having been born on a farm and being well acquainted with the daily activities of the family farm, ‘Aan-de-Doorns’ in the Worcester district.

An important work which Naudé might have seen or might have prompted (or influenced) the subject matter of Drying Fruit, could have been Millet’s painting entitled The Gleaners (1857), (now in the Musée d’Orsay), in which he portrays three destitute peasant women collecting the remains or left-overs of the annual harvest. In Drying Fruit, Naudé depicts a similar back-breaking farming activity, namely spreading the fresh fruit, possibly apricots and raisins, onto bulrush (palmiet) matting (matjiesgoed). This was common practice in earlier years in the Worcester area which, to this day, is well known for its dried fruit, as well as mebos (dried and sugared apricots). Here the labourers are all wearing either hats or kopdoeke, to shield them from the summer sun flooding this entire pastoral scene. This painting is an exceptional example of Naudé’s early approach towards the South African landscape.

Eunice Basson

Sources:

Alexander, L., Bedford, E. and Cohen, E. (1988). Paris and South African Artists, 1850-1965. Catalogue. Cape Town: South African National Gallery.

Broughton, M. (1957). Founders of Painting at the Cape since 1857. Catalogue. Cape Town: The Cape Argus.

Van Niekerk, R. (1976). Landscapes from the Permanent Collection. Catalogue. Cape Town: South African National Gallery.

You can place an absentee bid through our website - please sign in to your account on our website to proceed.

In the My Account tab you can also enter telephone bids, or email bids@aspireart.net to log telephone/absentee bids.

Join us on the day of the auction to follow and bid in real-time.

The auction will be live-streamed with an audio-visual feed.

Auction: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 31st Oct, 2016

The line-up for our inaugural sale included an extraordinary selection of art. Works ranged from JH Pierneef’s breathtaking Karoo near Hofmeyer, painted in 1930, to Dan Halter’s 2006, ultraviolet light, Pefection. 

Sculptures varied from Edoardo Villa’s acknowledgment of French artist, Aristide Maillol to Wim Botha’s heads that draw on classical and contemporary sources and Ed Young’s cheeky nude self-portrait. Also included were impressive photographs by award-winners, David Goldblatt and Pieter Hugo.

The auction set an impressive standard, with an outstanding sell-through rate of over 75% across 121 lots. The top lot of the sale was Alexis Preller’s exceptional Profile Figures (Mirrored Image), selling for over  R7-million. Record sales were achieved for Villa, Goldblatt, and Hugo, amongst others.

Viewing

Friday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 5 pm
Saturday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 28 October 2016 | 10 am – 4 pm

 

View all lots in this sale

Images *

Drag and drop .jpg images here to upload, or click here to select images.



 

Currency conversions are based on the exchange rate at the auction's start time and date. Bidders should verify the current exchange rate on the day of the sale. All invoices and payments must be made in South African Rands.

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE:


 

Logistics

While we endeavour to assist our Clients as much as possible, we require artwork(s) to be delivered and/or collected from our premises by the Client. In instances where a Client is unable to deliver or collect artwork(s), Aspire staff is available to assist in this process by outsourcing the services to one of our preferred Service Providers. The cost for this will be for the Client’s account, with an additional Handling Fee of 15% charged on top of the Service Provider’s invoice.

Aspire Art provides inter-company transfer services for its Clients between Johannesburg and Cape Town branches. These are based on the size of the artwork(s), and charged as follows:

Small (≤60x90x10 cm): R480

Medium (≤90x120x15 cm): R960

Large (≤120x150x20 cm): R1,440

Over-size: Special quote

 

Should artwork(s) be collected or delivered to/from Clients by Aspire Art directly, the following charges will apply:

Collection/delivery ≤20km: R400

Collection/delivery 20km>R800≤50km

Collection/delivery >50km: Special quote

 

Packaging

A flat fee of R100 will be added to the invoice for packaging of unframed works on paper.

 


International Collectors Shipping Package

For collectors based outside South Africa who purchase regularly from Aspire Art’s auctions in South Africa, it does not make sense to ship artworks individually or per auction and pay shipping every time you buy another work. Consequently, we have developed a special collectors’ shipping package to assist in reducing shipping costs and the constant demands of logistics arrangements.

For buyers from outside South Africa, we will keep the artworks you have purchased in storage during the year and then ship all the works you have acquired during the year together, so the shipping costs are reduced. At the end of the annual period, we will source various quotes to get you the best price, and ship all your artworks to your desired address at once.

Aspire Art will arrange suitable storage during, and cost-effective shipping at the end, of the annual period.

 


Collections

Collections are by appointment, with 24-hours’ notice

Clients are requested to contact the relevant office and inform Aspire Art of which artwork(s) they would like to collect, and allow a 24-hour window for Aspire Art’s logistics department to retrieve the artwork(s) and prepare them for collection.

 


Handling Fee

Aspire Art charges a 15% Handling Fee on all Logistics, Framing, Restoration and Conservation arranged by Aspire.