oil on board
Artwork date: 1972
Signature details: signed and dated 30.12.72 bottom right
Sold for R295,880
Estimated at R250,000 - R400,000
Condition Report
The overall condition is excellent. The paint is stable and vibrant, the painting was cleaned and a thin layer of matt varnish applied by our restorer this month.
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.
oil on board
Artwork date: 1972
Signature details: signed and dated 30.12.72 bottom right
(1)
45 x 57 cm
Notes:
It is difficult, given the mental and emotional distance set up by time passed, to understand the extent to which forced removals in the apartheid era damaged and traumatised the communities they disrupted. In Peter Clarke’s case his family had long settled in Simon’s Town, and Clarke himself found work at the town docks. His days would have been filled with epic coastal vistas looking down over the harbour from the hillside above.But then came the forced removals of the local community to Ocean View, further north, in the early 1970s, leaving the Clarkes, as Rankin and Hobbs point out in their monograph on the artist, temporarily one of only two ‘Coloured’ families left in Simon’s Town.[i] Due to an administrative delay the Clarke family would only finally relocate to Ocean View in mid-1973. The desolate nature of the landscape around Ocean View, in stark contrast to the drama and richness of Simon’s Town, would have come as a shock to Clarke’s painterly imagination. Indeed, Rankin and Hobbs attribute a relative drying up of his output then to the forced change of landscape.These factors in Clarke’s life recontextualise this important work at auction. Its significance lies partly in its precise date – 30 December 1972 – and that it is an ambitious, relatively large-scale work in acrylic, an unusual medium for the artist. The idyllic scene of the sun setting over two tranquil fishermen out on the Atlantic Ocean is one that Clarke might have seen in his many trips to Kommetjie, the unspoilt and beautiful stretch of coastline almost equidistant from Simon’s Town and Ocean View. Clarke’s care with his colour palette in his realisation of the deep and radiant sunset is evident, as is the air of poignancy as well as tranquillity about the work. It is as if, on the cusp of a new year in which he is leaving his beloved Atlantic coast home behind, Clarke is saying farewell to its beauty.The painting is a wonderful example of Clarke’s larger-scale landscapes, and is never-before-seen at auction or by dealers. Unusually, and entirely coincidentally, the auction is taking place on Peter Clarke’s birthday!
James Sey
Sources:
[i] Rankin, E. and Hobbs, P. (2014) Listening to Distant Thunder: The art of Peter Clarke. Cape Town: Fernwood Press. p. 122.
[ii] Ibid. p.131.
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Auction: Modern & Contemporary Art, 2nd Jun, 2019
Aspire Art Auctions presented a focused and insightfully compiled selection of top-quality modern and contemporary art in their latest sale in Johannesburg.
The company’s commitment to innovation led to a bold and signature move in this sale, which featured a special section dedicated to photography. The medium has been traditionally strong among South African artists but has been without a proper focus in the local auction market. The ground-breaking segment featured a wide range of the most important South African photographers, including Pieter Hugo, David Goldblatt, Guy Tillim, and Zanele Muholi. In addition, the sale starred a number of the market’s big signatures – Alexis Preller J.H. Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto, and Maggie Laubser and top contemporary artists including, Diane Victor, and Wim Botha.
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.
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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.