17th Sep, 2025 19:00
Modern & Contemporary Art
56
William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)
Dancer Twice
digital print with extensive hand-colouring in wash, pastel and charcoal, on Arches 356 gsm tooth rag paper
Artwork date: 1996/7
Signature details: signed, dated 21 March 1997 and numbered DPIXV in pencil in the margin
Edition: a proof before the edition of 50
Literature: Law-Viljoen, B. (ed). (2006). 'William Kentridge Prints'. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, illustrated in colour on pp.58-59.
Exchange Rates*: USD 22 847,34 - 34 271,01
GBP 16 909,82 - 25 364,72
EURO 19 502,62 - 29 253,92
digital print with extensive hand-colouring in wash, pastel and charcoal, on Arches 356 gsm tooth rag paper
Artwork date: 1996/7
Signature details: signed, dated 21 March 1997 and numbered DPIXV in pencil in the margin
Edition: a proof before the edition of 50
Literature: Law-Viljoen, B. (ed). (2006). 'William Kentridge Prints'. Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, illustrated in colour on pp.58-59.
Exchange Rates*: USD 22 847,34 - 34 271,01
GBP 16 909,82 - 25 364,72
EURO 19 502,62 - 29 253,92
(1)
image size: 68.5 x 102.5 cm; framed size: 109 x 140.5 x 3.5 cm
Provenance:
Private collection, Johannesburg.
Aspire Art, Modern & Contemporary Art, 3 September 2020, lot 135.
ABOUT THE ARTWORK
In the mid-nineties William Kentridge was introduced to the possibilities of digital printing by David Krut, who was closely involved with various workshops in the USA. Kentridge selected two classic dancing figure drawings, which Krut took to Urban Digital Color in San Francisco for printing. The cutting-edge studio was established by Griff Williams in 1993 and had an IRIS printer, which was revolutionising the photography world at the time. Limited scanning capacity at that time meant reducing the size of the images. The dancing figures were printed with the white background drawing on the left and the darker image on the right. After complex pioneer scanning and printing, half the planned Dancer Twice images on paper arrived for Kentridge to work further. He added a wash, which allowed for uncontrolled variations since the ink is soluble in water. Having requested the balance of the series, Kentridge noted upon their arrival that the images had been reversed. Due to the experimental nature of the project, the artist accepted it as a fait accompli and took up the challenge of producing a ground-breaking suite of works exploring the possibilities of this new technology. These historic works mark the birth of digital printing in South Africa, yet by working on each individual print with charcoal, wash and collage, Kentridge transformed each into a unique work of art. Given that no two works are alike, they are described as a variable edition.
Dancer Twice is unique for its sublime beauty, free of the pain and anguish associated with so many of Kentridge’s drawings for projection. Here, a dancer with an apparently effortless surge of expressive energy leaps forward, the folds of her diaphanous tunic gracefully animating the action. Dance and dancers recur throughout Kentridge’s oeuvre – More Sweetly Play the Dance (2015), for instance, takes the form of a tragic procession; Notes for a Model Opera (2015), with dancer Dada Masilo, comments on the manipulation of art for propagandistic purposes; while the monumental frieze flanking the Tiber, Triumphs and Laments: A Project for Rome (2016), incorporated two troupes of dancers advancing towards one another. Yet none matches the charming celebration of life in this lovely early work.
COLLECTIONS:
The artist is represented in numerous local and international collections, notably, the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Tate Modern, London; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; George Eastman Museum, New York; Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu; Kalamazoo Institute of Arts (KIA), Michigan; The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Chicago; Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town; University of Cape Town and the Zietz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town.
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Auction: Modern & Contemporary Art, 17th Sep, 2025
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