Ending 4th Jul, 2023 19:25

20th/21st Century Classics

 
  Lot 45
 
Lot 45 - Dumile Feni (South Africa 1939-1991)

45

Dumile Feni (South Africa 1939-1991)
Untitled portrait

ink on paper

Signature details: signed bottom left
Literature: Dube, PM. (2006). Dumile Feni Retrospective. Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery, illustrated in colour on p. 82.
Location: Cape Town

Sold for R15,242
Estimated at R7,000 - R10,000


 

ink on paper

Signature details: signed bottom left
Literature: Dube, PM. (2006). Dumile Feni Retrospective. Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery, illustrated in colour on p. 82.
Location: Cape Town

(1)

18 x 9.5 cm; framed size: 37.5 x 28 x 1.5 cm

Provenance:

The Desmond Fisher Family Private collection, Cape Town.

DUMILE FENI'S PASSION FOR DRAWING

Although Dumile Feni worked in different disciplines including painting and sculpture, drawing was the artistic talent he engaged in for the longest time. The artist began creating drawings from the age of 6 and it was to become a most fundamental and well-loved part of his practice.

Feni was constantly drawing throughout his formative years and it was part of his daily routine into adulthood. As a young boy, he would sketch before he did anything else in the morning be it talking or eating. This was an unusual habit that intrigued his parents who eventually made sure that he had paper and a pen before they went to bed.

Drawing the world and the people around him continued to play a pivotal yet informal role throughout Feni’s life until his early 20s when he began to see art as a career rather than a habit. In 1963 the artist suffered from Tuberculosis which saw him being admitted to the Charles Hurwitz South African National Tuberculosis Association (SANTA) Hospital in Johannesburg. During his time as a patient, Feni received art materials which he used to paint murals in the hospital with fellow artist Ephraim Ngatane. It was around this time when he met other artists such as Louis Maqhubela and Cecil Skotnes who further nurtured his artistic career and essentially motivated him to become an artist.

While he was beginning to build a thriving career in South Africa, Feni was also deeply affected by the oppressive apartheid regime in South Africa and during the 1960s his drawings began to depict the harsh realities of black South Africans. Fearing harassment from the apartheid forces, he made the difficult decision to go into exile in London.

Desmond Fisher, an entrepreneur with a great interest in South African art who was a patron of modernists such a Sydney Kumalo, Cecil Skotnes and Ezrom Legae also developed a deep respect for Feni’s work. In 1968 before Dumile Feni left South Africa, Fisher bought a small suitcase with several drawings which aided Feni when he left South Africa. Many of these drawings featured in the Dumile Feni exhibition at the Standard Bank National Arts Festival in Makanda 1991 co-curated by Fisher and his friend and advisor Linda Goodman of the Goodman Gallery.

Mtha Poni

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Auction: 20th/21st Century Classics, ending 4th Jul, 2023

 

Aspire Art brings a new sale of established South African masters to market. Traditional favourites include artists J.H Pierneef, Adriaan Boshoff, Maud Sumner and Anton Van Wouw, while the sale boasts well-loved modern artists such as Walter Battiss, Christo Coetzee, Peter Clarke, Dumile Feni and Cecil Skotnes. A notable selection of South African abstract art also highlights artists Lionel Abrams, Kenneth Bakker, George Boys, Fred Schimmel and Larry Scully amongst others.

Of particular interest is the inclusion of works from the collections of two important patrons of South African art, the late Desmond Fisher and Dr Matthys Strydom. A special selection of small and intimate drawings by Dumile Feni purchased directly from the artist by Fisher highlights Feni’s exceptional skill in his drawings which were central to his artistic practice. Also on offer is a  selection of artworks including editioned works by Gregoire Boonzaier, Francois Krige, Alexander Podlashuc and Cecil Skotnes from the collection Dr Strydom – a passionate art collector and director of the Strydom Gallery in George.

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