charcoal, pastel and conté on paper
Artwork date: 1996
Signature details: signed and dated
Sold for R2,560,500
Estimated at R2,500,000 - R3,000,000
Condition Report
The drawing is in very good condition. The charcoal, conté and pastel are stable, there is minor cockling to the paper sheet but condition is good overall. The drawing has been framed in a wooden frame and hinged to museum quality mount boards.
Please note, we are not qualified conservators and these reports give our opinion as to the general condition of the works. We advise that bidders view the lots in person to satisfy themselves with the condition of prospective purchases.
charcoal, pastel and conté on paper
Artwork date: 1996
Signature details: signed and dated
(1)
55.5 x 74.5 cm
Notes:
William Kentridge’s landscape works are unmistakable. They are a significant and persistent visual motif of his entire oeuvre, forming an essential part of his thematic drawings: as evocative standalone accompaniments to his large-scale performance pieces and animated films, and as the conceptual underpinning to many other works. In terms of these drawings as works of landscape art, many commentators have remarked on his clear visual and ironic references to monumentalist landscape artists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Far from being tributes or falling into the tradition of such works, Kentridge’s landscapes are much more overtly contested and mutable terrains.The ‘colonial landscape’ drawings are particularly fine examples of scenes that we might consider ‘historical erasure’. In Kentridge’s recent international stagings of his large scale performance The Head and the Load, and the associated exhibition Kaboom! at the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, the importance of landscape drawing is clear. Far from being the background to or context of a scene or tableau, the landscape is a central character and employed to great narrative effect: alternating between evoking precise locations or entirely stripped of specifics, crafted to fit a globalised narrative of the First World War and Africa’s place in it.In the same way, the earlier colonial landscape drawings render implicit critiques of the struggle over the representation of territory in the colonial era. Indeed, the attempt to represent land in a particular way lies at the heart of the ideology of the colonial enterprise.
With this important landscape drawing, Kentridge’s characteristic subversion lies in the mutability of the chosen scene. The swift river and tumbling waterfall, with its heavy black rocks resisting the unceasing flow of water, is destined for human interference and erasure. A process of ownership and control will be exerted over this seemingly immanent and sublime piece of nature.Though less readily identifiable as a specific place than many of his other landscapes, the drawing is beautifully elegiac. Its mid-range perspective and the compelling central composition of the rocks suspended almost magically in the midst of the foaming white water attract the eye. Allegorical and subtle, the work is a particularly strong instance of Kentridge’s landscape drawing.
James Sey
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, 3rd Mar, 2019
Aspire Art Auctions set a new bar for the market in its Autumn 19 Auction in Cape Town, with a South African auction record for its cover lot.
An early work, by international star Marlene Dumas, Love Lost (1973/4) achieved R7 283 200, more than doubling its pre-sale estimate of R3 000 000. Further successful sales included a range of paintings by Alexis Preller from across his career, and new world records for work by Jane Alexander, Simphiwe Ndzube, and Moshekwa Langa. These results further establish Aspire’s growing reputation as the discerning auction house for handling contemporary South African art.
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.
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.