William Kentridge (South Africa 1955-)
Standing woman

acrylic, charcoal and collage on paper

Artwork date: circa 1997
Signature details: signed bottom left
Exchange Rates*: USD 27145.07 – 38003.10
EURO 24668.26 – 34535.56
GBP 20759.78 – 29063.69

(1)

50 x 35 cm; framed size: 69 x 53.5 x 2 cm

Provenance:

Private collection, Johannesburg.

Acquired directly from the artist.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK:

Throughout the 1990s William Kentridge travelled the world – including visits to Italy, France, Austria, Portugal, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States of America – diversifying his distinctive artistic practice and building exquisite and challenging worlds from his drawings, etchings, theatre productions and films.

Standing woman, created circa 1997 [1] , echoes the interesting use of colour in drawings of that period and a notable parallel can be seen in the work Untitled (Nandi in a Pool of Water) (1994).

Although the female figure in the current lot and Nandi are similar in their positions – mid-walk and almost modestly looking down – they are likely different entities entirely. Nandi is a key character who acts as a witness and surveyor of the landscapes in Kentridge’s Felix in Exile, the fifth from a series of nine films for the artist’s seminal Drawings for Projections. This character is a recurring subject in these drawings and films. In contrast, the identity of Standing woman remains unknown.

Whereas Felix in Exile was created in 1993, prior to the first democratic elections in South Africa, Standing woman was purportedly made after the fall of Apartheid. Kentridge is known for creating series of artworks that are similar yet differ in terms of his use of colour – and recurring motifs and colours form an integral part of his artistic style. Thus, while the true relation between the pair may be stylistic, political or personal, it is unlikely accidental.
Although her identity remains a mystery, what makes Standing woman striking in Kentridge’s oeuvre, is the use of soft amber hues, unique in their warmth and extensive coverage of the paper. The entire female figure is flooded with a golden light, then – in a gesture and style that echoes the image of Nandi – she is further covered with a motion of orange streaks. There is a lightness that colour brings that makes the figure stand out from other drawings of the period.

[1] Lucia Boer and Warren Siebrits in conversation with Carina Jansen via email, 27 May 2025.

Untitled (Nandi in a Pool of Water) (1994)

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.