oil on canvas

Artwork date: 1961
Signature details: signed mid-bottom; inscribed with the artist's name on the reverse
Exhibited: SMAC Gallery, Stellenbosch, 'Erik Laubscher: A Major Retrospective', 5 December 2009 to 25 February 2010.
Literature: Fransen, H. (2009). 'Erik Laubscher. A Life in Art'. Stellenbosch: SMAC Publishing, illustrated on p. 120

(1)

41 x 51 x 1.5 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Cape Town.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

Erik Laubscher had a strong affinity for still-life painting throughout his entire artistic career. To him, it offered a unique way to explore the fundamental aspects of art. His artistic journey was significantly shaped by the international Modern Abstract movements, with particular inspiration drawn from the avant-garde contributions of the École de Paris and New York School. These influences compelled Laubscher to continually seek new perspectives and novel ways of artistic expression. As a result, the numerous still-life pieces he created over the years came to mirror his stylistic evolution and accomplishments.

By the 1960s, hard-edge abstraction became the hallmark of Laubscher’s mature signature style. Still Life with Pear is a remarkable and notable painting from this period, showing the start of the artist’s pioneering exploration into geometric and spatial organization. Laubscher painted this still life in 1961, the same year he presented his first Johannesburg solo exhibition at Gallery 101.

Laubscher's choice of subject matter was grounded in everyday, unassuming objects found in his immediate surroundings – here, for example, a pear and a pumpkin. These familiar items recurred in various other still-life compositions from the same era. He formally arranged them on a plain surface, juxtaposed against a non-descript dramatically dark background. The setting and the objects are rendered in bold, flat outlines filled with warm colours, accented by areas of texture. He also simplified perspective, allowing one to observe closely how the various shapes of colour connect.

The compositional relationship between all these pictorial elements is of importance in this painting. For Laubscher, this was a primary method of taking the ‘art of painting’ away from a purely representational function and directing it more towards abstraction. It is this balance between ‘form for its own sake’ and the artist’s enduring interest in the reality from which it was taken, that embodies the true character of Laubscher’s abstract expression. Still Life with Pear is a strong and well-composed work - captivating in its elegant simplicity.

Marelize van Zyl

COLLECTIONS

The artist is represented in numerous local collections, notably, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; Javett Art Centre, Pretoria; South African Constitutional Court, Johannesburg and the Rupert Museum, Stellenbosch.