18th Mar, 2026 19:00
Modern & Contemporary Art
32
Stanley Pinker (South Africa 1924-2012)
L’état c’est moi
oil on canvas
Signature details: signed bottom right
Literature: Pinker, S. (2004). 'Stanley Pinker', Cape Town: Michael Stevenson, illustrated on p.92.
Exchange Rates*: USD 12 602 - 18 903
GBP 10 671 - 16 006
EURO 9 310 - 13 965
R800,000 - R1,200,000
Buyers Premium
oil on canvas
Signature details: signed bottom right
Literature: Pinker, S. (2004). 'Stanley Pinker', Cape Town: Michael Stevenson, illustrated on p.92.
Exchange Rates*: USD 12 602 - 18 903
GBP 10 671 - 16 006
EURO 9 310 - 13 965
(1)
48 x 125 x 3 cm
Provenance:
Private collection, Cape Town.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
Stanley Pinker is best known for his sharply observant political satire, in which caricature and symbolism are deployed to dissect structures of authority. Working within the charged climate of twentieth-century South Africa, Pinker consistently interrogated power: colonial, nationalist, and bureaucratic, exposing its absurdities as much as its violence. His works frequently combine painted and sculptural elements, allowing narratives to unfold gradually across the surface.
Titled L’état c’est moi, translated as “I am the state”, this work borrows the phrase widely attributed to Louis XIV. Though historians continue to debate whether the monarch spoke the exact words, the declaration has come to symbolise a particular concentration of authority: the merging of individual identity with national power. Over time, the phrase has become shorthand for absolute rule; for systems in which leadership and state appear indistinguishable. It has resurfaced throughout art history in works that reflect on unchecked dominance and governance, and in Pinker’s hands, the title introduces a meditation on how authority can be embodied, projected and sustained.
The composition unfolds laterally like a political frieze. Military forces advance across a fragmented vision of Africa, their presence cutting through landscapes populated by animals and symbols of territorial division. References to San (Bushman) figures and rock painting motifs evoke deep histories embedded in the land, now visually engulfed by systems of control. At the left, a monkey sits rigidly, a traditional mask positioned behind its head, overtaken by camouflage, as though indigenous identity itself is being subsumed. To the right, symbols of looming military forces seem to almost ambush the composition. Above the central register, a red snake slithers ominously, an age-old emblem of corruption, menace and stealth. The use of a British-style uniform situates the imagery within the visual language of colonial rule, yet the work resonates equally with apartheid-era governance, systems in which authority operated with sweeping force, often bypassing moral accountability while claiming national legitimacy.
COLLECTIONS:
The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch; Iziko South African National Gallery; University of Cape Town; Spier Art collection, Stellenbosch; Johannesburg Art Gallery and the Oliewenhuis Art Museum; Bloemfontein.
The overall condition is very good.
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Auction: Modern & Contemporary Art, 18th Mar, 2026
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