South African Art Times

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ART TIMES

Colin Richards 1954 - 2012 Photo: Alexander Richards

Nize Nisikhonzele Thela Banolla Bo II

An exhibition by

BAMBO SIBIYA

‘KHUMBULA EKHAYA’ 2 March – 28 March 2013

Held in association with Clive Viveiros and Dr Eric Hefer of pinpoint one human resources.

140 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood T: 011 447 0155/98, e-mail: info@gallery2.co.za, www.gallery2.co.za

Call for expression of interest and submissions

SA Art Times April Edition features:

SA FINE ART PRINTMAKING Email us with your information relating to traditional and digital printmaking including: Print workshops, galleries that deal in handmade/ digitally limited editioned prints. Print studios, collections, material suppliers, suggested artists profiles etc.

Email them to editor@arttimes.co.za by the end of February, latest, first week of March 2013.

ART TIMES | EDITORIAL

CONTENTS

February 2013 Daily news at www.arttimes.co.za Editor: Gabriel Clark-Brown Advertising: Eugene Fisher Subscriptions: Julia Shields News Editor: Jim Wolf Listings: Julia Shields Admin: Bastienne Klein

editor@arttimes.co.za sales@arttimes.co.za subs@arttimes.co.za

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Editorial Department to pay a possible R29 million for - Venice 2013 - Matthew Blackman 2013 Fine Art Auction Season line up. Michael Coulson January soundbites Obituary: Colin Richards - Sean O’Toole Local Paul Emsley paints the first official portrait of HRH The Duchess of Cambridge The Kate Middleton Portrait Debate - Stefan Hundt South African Gallery Guide: February Mushrooms abound in Cape Town Visuele Kuns : Absa KKNK 2013 Gallery Buzz Gordon Froud makes moving public sculpture in Plett. Chris Reinders Millions for minors, miners and minions on - Strauss’s Summer Auction Bonham’s Kentridge Sale The Artful Dodger: The ANC’s art investment game. J Brooks Spector Letter to the Editor: Is the South African Art Market relevant? - or we just playing a game of Monopoly with pretty pictures? - Anthony Silberberg - London Letter - By Nushin Elahi

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Wanted: June 2012 Edition Due to an over demand for this edition, we are needing 20 extra June 2012 crisp copies to bind for are archives and SA National Library donations. If you have copies to part with we will pay you R 50 per copy accepted.

Please email us your availability, and we can roll from there.

Best, Gabriel, Editor. editor@arttimes.co.za or call 021 424 7733

Be part of our next March AT Magazine

Our March 2013 edition of The SA Art Times features The Absa KKNK 2013.

Global Art Information Group

To this regards we will be profiling the exciting visual arts events of the festival, while also increasing our magazine circulation and exposure to the SA Art loving audience at this amazing event.

Be sure to contact Eugene directly at 021 424 7733 or sales@arttimes.co.za for the best exposure and promotion of your arts business.

VENICE 2013 / NEWS | ART TIMES

Department to pay a possible R29 million for Venice 2013 - Curators given 19 days to make proposals

johans borman F I N E

square meters (roughly the size of the front three rooms of the South African National Gallery).

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CAPE TOWN

It was reported in The Art Newspaper in 2011 that countries would be offered ‘long-term concessions’ on buildings in the same Sale D’Armie in ‘return for funding the renovation works to the buildings’. The president of the Biennale, Paolo Baratta, was stated as saying that each investing country would face a €1.5m to €1.7m (R15-million to R17-million ) commitment.

First Published on www.artthrob.co.za By: Matthew Blackman Yesterday the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) sent out a press release calling for curators to ‘submit a concept, motivation and profile for the South African exhibition to be realized within the framework of the 55th International Art Exhibition – Venice Biennale 2013.’ According to the release, prospective curators with international experience have until 8 February to submit a full proposal and budget for the world’s premier international art exhibition.

The DAC’s email, sent to various stakeholders within the visual arts industry, stated that an advert was soon to run in a national newspaper reflecting the same information. Despite the tight timeframe the call for curators has been widely expected after the Director General, Mr Sibusiso Xaba, announced in October last year that South Africa would be participating in the event in 2013 despite the controversies that occurred in 2011.

However, what has come to light in the press release is that the DAC has taken a twenty-year lease out on a building in Venice in which the exhibition will take place. This admission comes only three months after Mr Xaba stated in a speech to the arts community on 25 October that: ‘For 2013, the department has requested the Biennial Foundation to provide a temporary space’.

Mr Xaba premised that by saying that: ‘The department is currently negotiating with the Biennial Foundation with regard to a permanent exhibition space. As this will require a substantial amount of money, DAC must also consider future sustainability of such a permanent space.’

This announcement of a twenty-year lease not only seems to contradict Mr Xaba’s October announcement, but also flies in the face of the steadfast refusal, over the last two years, from the department to answer questions surrounding the rumours that the DAC had taken a twenty-year lease out in a building in Venice.

The space that South Africa has leased, according to the press release, is in the Sale D’Armie building in the Arsenale (an area in Venice where part of the Biennale takes place) and is 250 SA ART TIMES. February 2013

It has not yet been confirmed if South Africa has agreed to this ‘commitment’. However, on the Biennale’s website an article appeared on the 21 December 2012 stating that: ‘The Board of Directors [of the Venice Biennale] also acknowledged the works currently underway or soon to begin at the Arsenale and in the area of the Sale d’Armi, [are] consequent to the agreement with the United Arab Emirates and with South Africa.’

It would now seem that at the very least by the 21 December 2012, a substantive agreement for South Africa to fund the redevelopment of the building had been reached. This despite the fact that by the 25 October 2012 the Director General of the DAC stated that no such agreement had been reached and that they would only deliberate on the issue of a permanent space after the 2013 event had taken place.

According to the Financial Times the renting of spaces in the Sale D’Armie costs a further €40,000 - €200,000 (R400 000 to R2-million). This could potentially mean that South Africa is paying R19 million for the 2013 venue alone.

The budget for the actual curated exhibition has not been released. It is widely assumed that the budget will match the R10 million that was paid to the last curator, Monna Mokoena. The press release from the department stated that potential curators will be given from 21 January until the 8 February to submit their proposals for the concept and planning of the exhibition. The curators responsibilities will include: 1)Theme of the exhibition, 2) Selection of artists, 3) Liaison with Commissioner, 4) Liaison with Biennale organisers, 5) Liaison with the company responsible for the logistical aspects, 6) Marketing & PR material including catalogue, written material and social media.

Erik Laubscher

‘Broken dam, Swartberg’ (1999)

Oil on canvas

A showcase for the best of SA Masters and leading contemporary artists Telephone: 021 683 6863 E-mail: art@johansborman.co.za Mon-Fri: 09h30 - 17h30 Sat: 10h00 - 13h00 or by appointment

16 Kildare Road, Newlands Cape Town

The budget for the event must include: • • • • • •

Curatorial fee Transport and insurance Commissioning of new art works Mounting and dismantling Marketing and PR S&T for curator, artists, technicians including two trainees • Catalogue • Venue security • Design and construction of exhibition

Susqya Williams ‘The Eleventh Totem’

Hand woven tapestry

www.johansborman.co.za 07

ART TIMES | 2013 FINE ART AUCTION SEASON LINE UP. SA LEADING ART AUCTION HOUSES REACTION TO DALRO

2013 Fine Art Auction Season line up Fine Arts Auction houses reaction to Dalro image copyright is R10m-R15m, but then it’s down to about R1.5m. At Stephan Welz & Co, which last year disastrously pitched two Sterns at R3m-R5m and R4.5m-R5m, the top estimate this year is only R650 000-R750 000.

Strauss kicks off the season on February 4 at the Vineyard. Two of the four sessions feature art, with only a handful of international works. In the early evening session, 117 lots of SA art carry an estimate range of R2.02m-R2.86m, and the main evening session comprises another 101 lots estimated at R27.6m-R39.3m, taking the total to 227 lots, R29.6m-R42.2m, a third of that being just the one item. Last year 204 lots were estimated at R23.4m-R26.5m.

There are nine lots with a low estimate starting at R350 00 or more. Apart from Malay Girl, there’s another Stern portrait (R1.5m-R2m, but this is topped, at R1.6m-R2.2m, by Anton van Wouw’s bronze Miner (the inside front cover) and Walter Battiss’s Figures in a Landscape (inside back cover). Also on R1.5m-R2m is a Maggie Laubser portrait (back cover) On R500 000-R700 000 is A Hugo Naude Interior. Stanley Pinker’s Window on District Six is R400 000-R600 000, a Laubser still life R350 000-R500 000, and a Keith Alexander landscape R350 000-R450 000.

Strauss & Co’s February 2013 sale catalogue.

By Michael Coulson While both main local auction houses continue to object to Dalro’s efforts to collect royalties for reproductions of pictures in sales catalogues, those for the first two sales of the year, both in Cape Town, reflect different strategies. Strauss & Co defiantly puts an Irma Stern on the cover, but its MD, Stephan Welz, tells me that he does not intend to pay royalties for catalogue pics. “I don’t see why sellers of art works should be disadvantaged in this way.” The catalogue displays Dalro-stable artists as prominently as ever.

At Stephan Welz & Co (no relation), on the other had, Jack Rosewitz tells me that his firm is paying royalties -- but adds, in an ominous mutter, “for the moment, I don’t know for how long though.” He adds that the firm respects copyright, and would support an artists’ resale royalty, paid by buyers, as has been introduced in some European countries, but is not happy with the way Dalro is applying the law in SA. His MD Fred Scott, who had considerable experience of intellectual property law in his earlier career, goes so far as to call the SA law “archaic.”

Having said that, the firm’s catalogue cover is of an attractive but relatively low priced painting by Peter Clarke, and while some reproductions of the relevant artists, like Stern and Maggie Laubser, contain references to copyright being held

by Dalro and artists’ trusts, these pics are noticeably smaller than usual.

A spokesman for Dalro tells me his organisation has noted Strauss’s actions, and is considering its reaction. It’s clear that all parties are consulting their lawyers, and though nobody wants to see the dispute end up in court, that possibility can’t be ruled out.

This auction, incidentally, is the first since Rosewitz stepped down as chairman.

In a little publicised move in November, he and Scott were joined as shareholders by the SA Gold Coin Exchange and its Scoin retail subsidiary. That company’s owner Alan Demby has taken over the chair, with Rosewitz now vice-chairman.

The size of the Gold Coin Exchange stake has not been disclosed: that company’s web site calls it “substantial” and Rosewitz says it’s “enough”; it must be, to justify assuming the chair.

The auctions themselves reflect the way the market has changed over the past year. In both cases, there are more lots than a year ago but generally lower gross estimates. The exceptional estimates -- especially for Stern -- that featured last year have, bar one, disappeared. Strauss’s top estimates last year were R2.5m-plus for a Stern and a Pierneef landscape; this year the cover, Malay Girl, 08

The six just outside, except for a Strat Caldecott landscape at R300 000-R500 000, are all at R300 000-R400 000: Pieter Wenning’s Malay Quarter (the frontispiece), a Jean Welz nude, a Wolf Kibel landscape (evening session frontispiece), an Alexis Preller landscape and a Pinker still life. Also featured is Helmut Starcke’s Clumsy Angel (early evening frontispiece, R60 000-R80 000).

Battiss is the most represented artist, with 17 lots, followed by Laubser (eight), David Botha, Tinus de Jongh and Erik Laubscher (six each) and Hugo Naude and Pinker (five each).

Stephan Welz & Co is at Constantia on February 19 and 20, all the art coming on the first day. There are in effect four sessions of SA art. in the morning 89 lots have a gross low estimate of just under R380 000. The average of only R4 000 speaks to the investment value, if not the artistic merits, of these works. In the afternoon, another 95 lots have a gross low estimate of about R1.15m. The evening session opens with a selection of contemporary lots, many of them international, whose SA component comprises 24 lots with a gross low estimate of about R650 000. Then comes the main session, a relatively strained 83 lots put at R7.8m, making a grand total of 292 lots with a gross low estimate fractionally over R10m.

Last year’s estimate was 238 lots with a low estimate of R17.23m, but the actual sales of R5.76m show how unrealistic this was.

Eight lots carry low estimates of R250 000 and upwards, with another four on R200 000. There’s no seven-digit lot: top estimate is R650 000- R750 000 for a Van Wouw Bushman (inside back cover). On R600 000-R800 000 is a Pinker nude, on R350 000-R400 000 a Stern Zanzibar Woman and a majestic Adolph Jentsch landscape and on R300 000-R400 000 a Laubser landscape. Peter Clarke’s Space and two figure studies by Eleanor Esmond-White are on R250 000-R300 000.

The four lots with lows starting at R200 000 and various highs are an Alexander landscape, Johannes Meintjes’ Dream of Cape Town, a Gregoire Boonzaaier landscape and Preller’s Christ.

Most represented artists are Clarke (whose Bathers, at R180 000-R200 000, is on the cover) and Pieter van der Westhuizen, at 10 each, followed by Conrad Theys (nine), Boonzaaier and Kenneth Baker (seven each), Norman Catherine, Frans Claerhout and Pierneef (six each), and Terence McCaw, Edward Roworth and Stern (five each).

The opening sales of the year are always a nervous occasion, more so than usual this year. Strauss’s Stern will be the belwether, and it will be interesting to see whether Clarke can join the list of auction regulars.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

ART RADAR / NEWS | ART TIMES 2012_Nov_ArtTimes_70x297 11/22/12 6:27 AM Page 1 C

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art radar For daily updated art news go to: www.arttimes.co.za Paris unveils airport art IAFRICA: Valentin Bontemps: Fancy a slice of art in between flights? Culture vultures now have a chance to satisfy their on-the-go urges with a new museum in the heart of France’s largest airport, showcasing collections from top art institutions. Meant as a “window” onto the capital’s main museums, the exhibition space unveiled on Tuesday at Charles de Gaulle international airport will allow passengers “to get to know Paris’ rich cultural offering better,” said Pascal Bourgue, marketing and services director at Aeroports de Paris.

Virgin launches ‘first art gallery at 35,000ft’ for upper class airline passengers who can buy the pictures with their duty free.

One artist is taking his work to new heights, exhibiting and selling to airline passengers in the first art gallery at 35,000ft.London-based artist Ben Eine’s artwork will be on show to plane passengers from London to New York in this unique collaboration with Virgin Atlantic. Priced between £2,500 and £15,000, Eine’s work, best known for his alphabet lettering on shop shutters in Shoreditch and Brick Lane in London.

SA artist’s official portrait of Kate gets mixed reviews Mail & Guardian: Mike Collett-White : The first official portrait of Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge, popularly known by her former name Kate Middleton, was unveiled in London on Friday, and opinion was sharply divided over an image many deemed unflattering. The 31-year-old, who, as a glamorous future queen, is one of the world’s most photographed women, is portrayed in the large canvas with a faint smile, long, copper-tinted hair and shadows under her eyes. Kate Middleton may be putting on a brave face, but the Duchess of Cambridge claims to be “very pleased” with the result.

Growth in internet sales forces fraud issue THEARTNEWSPAPER: Identifying forgeries being sold on websites is not enough to tackle the problem (Convictions tend to involve fraudsters who use the internet as one of many places to sell)As internet sales of art reach unprecedented levels—witness Christie’s sale of Edward Hopper’s October on Cape Cod, 1946, which went for an online record of $9.6m in November—concerns about online fraud are also on the rise.

The issue is attracting increased attention after a two-week conference in Dubai in November of international government representatives who are putting the regulation of internet traffic on the agenda across multiple industries.

Romania arrests three men over Dutch art heist: report (Reuters) - Romanian authorities have arrested three men suspected of stealing paintings by Picasso, Matisse and Monet from Rotterdam’s Kunsthal museum in October, local news agency Mediafax said on Tuesday. Thieves made off with seven paintings, which also included a Gauguin, a Lucian Freud and a Meyer de Haan, thought to be worth tens of millions of dollars in a brazen and meticulously planned operation.

African art may get London fair THE ART NEWSPAPER. By Anna Somers Cocks.Fair will be international, de luxe and is planned for 2013. Africa is increasingly seen as the continent of opportunity, and where there is economic vigour, the West starts looking for new talent to feed the market. So African art could now be getting its own international fair, from 14 to 20 October 2013, to coincide with Frieze. Its name is 1:54, there being 54 sovereign countries in Africa.

Art Basel Unveils Plans for Hong Kong HONG KONG — The city’s top art fair is getting bigger, richer and sleeker. The reason: The world is paying attention, organizers say. Art Basel today announced the gallery lineup for its new Hong Kong fair in May, with 48 new galleries that have never shown works in the city before. It has also invested more money into reshaping the show’s architecture and design, and recruited a new team of VIP managers to make sure the world’s biggest collectors find what they want.

Art auctioneers eye another bonanza in early 2013 REUTERS: By Mike Collett-White. (Reuters) - The world’s two biggest auction houses are predicting a bumper start to 2013, with estimates from key sales in London this February up sharply from last year. Confident that super-rich collectors and wealthy art institutions will continue their hunt for the very rarest works of art, both Christie’s and Sotheby’s are looking to improve on already spectacular gains in recent years.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

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ART TIMES | OBITUARY: COLIN RICHARDS 1954 -2012

Obituary: Colin Richards

By Sean O’Toole In his top floor office at the Michaelis School of Fine Art, on a rectangular desk adjacent to a locked bookshelf filled with his cherished Samuel Beckett books, Colin Richards – the prematurely deceased artist, educator, scholar and humanist – kept a stuffed parrot. It was a gift from Pippa Skotnes, a colleague and fellow professor in the University of Cape Town’s art faculty, which he joined in 2010 after 24 years at Wits.

“When he first came into my office he saw my African Grey parrot skin and was so transported by it I had to give it to him,” explained Skotnes. “He made several drawings of it.”

The lifeless parrot, together with the enormous personal library he kept on campus, offers one way (and there are many others) of knowing Richards, a man committed to seeing and knowing. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive. His conceptually applied practice – much like his patiently achieved scholarship – aimed to reconcile embodied action with dispassionate appraisal. Take the parrot.

In 2009 Richards held a solo exhibition with dealer Alet Vorster, whose Gallery AOP in Johannesburg has long shown his work. Titled Parrot Parrot, the exhibition featured a trio of works serially describing the bird that best epitomised his interest in “skill and fakery”. One was a mimetic representa10

Photo: Alexander Richards

tion of an African Grey, done in watercolour; the other two, both pen and ink drawings, described its shape and silhouette.

“Colin was deeply preoccupied with parrots, and tortoises, with the idea of an original and the painstakingness, as he put it, of making a copy,” said Skotnes of his recent preoccupations as an artist. Previously, he had repeatedly drawn the Veil of Veronica, another meditation on originality based on the legend of the shroud bearing a likeness of the face of Jesus.

“In his work he created complexity through a small prism, an illusion of something through a deep commitment to labour,” added Skotnes.

Initially employed as a medical illustrator, completing his formal art training while working, Richards was encouraged to show his work by his wife and life-long colleague, painter Penny Siopis.

“Always respectful of the other’s teaching, activism and intellectual pursuits, the two remained each other’s toughest and most reliable critic,” offered artist and writer Sue Williamson.

Richards kept on using his drawing pens throughout his career. “Illustration is a hinge between the linguistic and the visual, and it can turn many ways,” he told artist Kathryn Smith, a kind of protégé of his. Smith profiled her former Wits teacher in the 2004 volume, 10 Years 100 Artists, edited by Sophie Perryer.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

A peculiar book, which reiterated the race contests and exhibitions of power and parochialism that continue to dog the local art world, Richards used it as a forum to showcase his remarkable “fairness” – a word emphasised by Jane Alexander, a colleague of his at Michaelis. Unlike most of the other selectors, who made racially aligned choices, Richards opted to spotlight Alan Alborough, Kendell Geers, Moshekwa Langa, Senzeni Marasela, Samson Mudzunga, Johannes Phokela and Smith.

“There has been a shift from depicting identity in patently political ways to more provisional performing of identity,” he wrote of his selection. “Such tendencies often traverse rural/cosmopolitan divides, even though metropolitan spaces remain the principal stage for artistic work.”

His interest in the creative work of other artists saw Richards take up larger book-length writing assignments. In 2005 he authored a monograph on artist Sandile Zulu for David Krut Publishing. It included an acute appraisal of the role of landscape and ideology. “The divide between different symbolic and economic worlds, different entitlements, different ideas of being, belonging, possessing is decisively drawn across this fractured, bounded world, a land of cultivated grievances and unhealed hurts, wounds dressed in barbed wire,” wrote Richards. He offered this is relation to the Kwa-Zulu Natal Midlands – it could apply far more widely.

Despite his scholarly panache, Richards was by no means prolific: much of his written output scattered across journals, edited volumes and catalogues.

He died leaving an unfinished research project into the work of Durant Sihlali, whom he described as “unique” and “uniquely neglected” in his 2004 obituary. The diffuseness of Richards’s archive does not lessen its importance.

“Back in the early 1990s when we were still struggling to get art history as a discipline to acknowledge African contemporary art, Colin was one of the few anywhere who brought a dedicated and strictly scholarly approach to that effort through his own pioneering work,” said Olu Oguibe, the Nigerianborn US-based artist and historian who contributed to the early reception of contemporary African art internationally. “Those days seem so far in the past now, but such was the dearth of interest and knowledge that every contribution made a significant difference.

Oguibe recalls Richards’s contributions to the influential journal Third Text, of which he was also a member of the advisory board. In 1991 he authored an important essay for the journal in which he explored the relationship between “symbol and substance, the imagined and the material”. He used the creative work of unheralded local artists – Siopis and Alexander included – to argue his point about the need to “uncover our history and recover our traditions … in memory of those who cannot return”.

Although deeply private, Richards did not ring fence his scholarship. Indeed, his Catholic reading habits amplified his gifts as a teacher and writer. Corina van der Spoel, proprietor of Boekehuis, the defunct Melville bookshop whose closure Richards’ protested in a public petition, remembers him as a “consummate bibliophile”.

“I loved the fact that the more obscure the title, the more specialist the field and intended readership of the book, the better the chances were that it would fascinate him,” she said. Fittingly, the shop included an artwork of his, a work showing a shelved collection of books on animals bought over the years from the shop.

Like much of his work, it was guided by a moral imperative: in this instance, to see and know the animal, and by so doing acknowledge “the care, the love, the violence, the death-dealing duplicities and desires that run through our human-animal entanglements”. He wrote this in 2007, five years before a slip in his bathroom culminated in something terrible – the untimely death of bountiful mind and generous teacher.

Colin Richards, born 1954, died 26 December 2012, is survived by his wife Penny Siopis, daughter Khadija, and son Alexander. There will be a memorial at Hiddingh Hall, Michaelis, at 4 pm on Friday, February 1.

(Right) Colin Richards, Ivory Tower, digital print on paper, 103 x 66.5 cm.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

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ART TIMES | PAUL EMSLEY’S HRH THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE COMMISSION

Local Paul Emsley paints the first official portrait of HRH The Duchess of Cambridge

Prince William, Duke of Cambridge meets artist Paul Emsley as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge looks on after viewing his new portrait of the Duchess during a private viewing at the National Portrait Gallery on January 11, 2013 in London, England. WPA Pool, Getty Images complete a work. I find that my constant concerns about the comfort of the model disturbs this process.

HRH Dutchess of Cambridge. Paul Emsley’s work took several months using a technique of building thin layers of oil and glazes on canvas.

Paul Emsley, the 2007 winner of the BP Portrait Award, was selected from a shortlist of four potential candidates. The portrait was unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery, 11 January 2013 and will be displayed there as part of their collection.

Statement by Paul Emsley. “In February 2012 I was preparing to leave for a Retrospective Exhibition of my work at the Sasol Museum in Stellenbosch, South Africa. I was contacted by Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery in London to say that I had been selected as one of four potential candidates to paint the first official portrait of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge for their collection. The Duchess had been selected as a subject through the Gallery’s annual process and had recently become the Patron of The National Portrait Gallery. We were asked to come to a meeting at the Gallery offices. We would each have 20 minutes to discuss our working methods and to show her and Sandy some examples of our work. As it happened the meetings were to be held on the morning on which I was due to return from South Africa.

After landing at Heathrow I took the underground to Central London. The meeting went well and I found The Duchess very easy to be with. She has studied History of Art and her comments and questions were intelligent and perceptive.

About three days later I was telephoned by Sandy to say that I had been selected by the Gallery to do the portrait. It was made clear that everything was to be kept secret until the official unveiling.

I then attended a meeting at Kensington Palace with Her Royal Highness and Sandy. We discussed the process to be followed, dimensions, format (head and shoulders), colouring, clothing to be worn and so on. She preferred to be portrayed as her natural self rather than her official self. I said that I would like to make a feature of her beautiful hair.

Much of my life has been spent working from life and I now prefer to bring photographs into the process. In trying to find a space for observational drawing based work within contemporary art I have moved toward greater detail. This means that I take a long time of intense concentration to 12

The Duchess visited my studio in Bradford on Avon. I took a series of photographs in the studio using flash lighting. We both felt that these were too stiff and formal. We attempted to take some outside but due to the persistent rain and cold the results were unsatisfactory. After lunch I asked the Duchess to sit next to a window. Using natural light we managed to get a number of good images which have proved useful.

A second session was held at Kensington Palace. This time the weather cleared up and at last I was able to get a small number of outside shots.

These were exactly what I had been looking for. She at once appeared more natural and her hair formed interesting shapes with which I felt I could work. I also did some quick drawings for observational purposes.

At this point discussions were held with The National Portrait Gallery as to which images would be suitable for the portrait. Her Royal Highness is well known for her warm smile. At first I was cautious about a smiling portrait but in our discussions Sandy encouraged the idea and I came to see that in this way her natural warmth could be conveyed.

I began the portrait soon after this. It is painted on a fine grained acrylic primed canvas with a synthetic polyester backing. I started with the eyes as they would naturally be the focus of the portrait. I gradually brought in all the other features, adjusting each one to the other in order to create a sense of harmony. The painting is built up of many layers of thin oil paint. This allows me to achieve the subtle tonal transitions which I am after. As forms and relationships in the painting began to develop a pleasing circular rhythm began to frame the face, formed by shapes within the hair and the bow of the blouse. The painting took about three and a half months to complete. As I worked I sent images to the Duchess’s Secretary so that she was able to observe the development of the portrait. I was also in constant contact with Sandy whose support was invaluable.

There are difficulties when painting someone whose image appears so pervasively in the media. Although my work is described by some as ‘realistic’ my intention is always to move beyond that to an atmosphere I find intriguing. I hope that this brings something unique to the portrait.

Paul Emsley, Bradford-on-Avon, January 2013 Top right: Paul in his studio Middle: facing the media at The Portrait Gallery.

(Right) Nelson Mandela, The Mandarin’s Daughter.

Black chalk and pencil drawing. See more work at www.paulemsley.com SA ART TIMES. February 2013

ART TIMES | PAUL EMSLEY’S HRH THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE COMMISSION / RESPONSE

Media response to Paul Emsley’s portrait of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge Jerry Saltz on Kate Middleton’s Terrible Official Portrait

and of itself, the painting is unqualified outright drivel.

As the Post might put it: It sucks. It’s an absolutely lackluster, conventionally generic, photorealistic rendition of a pretty, white, thin, young, bourgeois-looking woman with long hair. At best, the painting looks like a Breck Girl ad, a portrait of the dean of a fancy girls’ boarding school, or some corporate-trading-firm officer. The technique is diligent, the colors dim, the surface is run-of-the-mill lustrous, the composition is monotonous and humdrum, and the face in the picture is fairly common, somewhat vacuous but pretty.

Nothing about it is distinctive, original, or anything other than mediocre.

Lest we forget, however, painting works its dark arts in mysterious ways. This dreary picture brilliantly reveals much about its subject, its critics, its supporters, and the British feel for painting. Middleton, we’re told, “studied art history.” She picked the painter, Paul Emsley. We’re seeing exactly how she thought she’d be seen, how she sees herself, how she wants others to see her. The picture was 100 percent approved by the royal couple. She described it as “just amazing. I thought it was brilliant.” So much for her art-history background. Her husband concured, “It’s absolutely beautiful.” I hate to break it to the British, but their future whatever-they’re-going-to-bes have pretty soft taste — nay, bad taste — in art.

Meanwhile, transfixed by the subject alone, lovers and haters alike miss how lackluster the actual picture is, too.

Frankly, I’d toss out the portrait and start again. I’d genuinely love to see Chris Ofili or Sarah Lucas get a crack at Kate. I can imagine brilliant things coming from these artists. Do that and the Brits would really have something to get their knickers twisted over, and not this shopworn picture of what looks like a shop girl.

Kate’s portrait – straight from the Twilight franchise

ant from the Twilight franchise? The first thing that strikes you about Middleton’s visage as it looms from the sepulchral gloom of her first official portrait is the dead eyes: a vampiric, malevolent glare beneath heavy lids. Then there’s the mouth: a tightly pursed, mean little lip-clench (she is, presumably, sucking in her fangs). And god knows what is going on with the washed-out cheeks: she appears to be nurturing a gobbet of gum in her lower right cheek. The hair is dull and lifeless; the glimpse of earring simply lifts her to the status of Sloaney, rather than merely proletarian, undead. Royal portraits are, of course, a killer.

It takes a very great artist indeed to pull off anything beyond insipidity, and the only recent painting of

the Queen that is at all memorable – or has any pretensions to psychological insight – is, needless to say, Lucian Freud’s – a kindly, even pitying image, but completely uncompromising. Paul Emsley, by contrast, seems to have taken fear at the commission: at his best, he is a much better artist than this work suggests. A portrait of fellow artist Michael Simpson, which won the BP Portrait award in 2007, was full of an ethereal tenderness and lightness.

But his painting of Middleton lacks that sense of the delicate evanescence of the flesh: instead, she has been flattened into a curious Vaseline-smeared, soft-focus dullness.

Michael Glover: Paul Emsley’s Duchess of Cambridge portrait is catastrophic

than a machine?

Unfortunately, there is also the downside to such an approach. If he or she gets it slightly wrong, as has happened here, the results can be catastrophic.

This is a painting which is striving to be a perfect likeness of a photograph of a woman of conventional good looks who has been co-opted into the royal family from some barbarian northern outpost by dint of marriage. Unlike, say, the portraits of a great royal likeness-maker such as Antony Van Dyke, it is not even trying to flatter. Flattery requires dexterity, subtlety, an ability to play with an image and its context. There is no context here – no map, no skull,

no heraldic mace - little other than a face. It is a face which is beginning to look just a touch dropsical. It sags a little, ageing it needlessly. The cheeks incline towards the hamsterish. And what of this - ah! - hair?

It is hair whose featheriness has been borrowed from an advert for shampoo. It is an image which also seems to be emerging (striding towards us perhaps, hair gently bouncing) from some slightly misty otherwhere, an unsmiling gift to a nation under the Coalition’s almighty cosh.

Perhaps just a hint of teeth - that promise of pearly breath beyond the lip gloss - would have improved it. Slightly.

Photshoppers were quick to mock up their own version of the artwork, with several alternatives going viral hours after the oil painting’s unveiling.

Even Rowan Atkinson’s Mr Bean makes an appearance. Source Daily Mail

GUARDIAN (UK) The Duchess of Cambridge’s official portrait, by Paul Emsley, shows her washed-out, heavy-lidded and seemingly fanged Charlotte Higgins : Looming from the gloom … the first official portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge by Paul Emsley. Photograph: NPG/Rex Features Kate Middleton is – whatever you think of the monarchy and all its inane surrounding pomp – a pretty young woman with an infectious smile, a cascade of chestnut hair and a healthy bloom. So how is it that she has been transformed into something unpleas-

GUARDIAN (UK) The first official portrait makes Kate Middleton’s cheeks look hamsterish, and her face saggy and a touch dropsical, writes Michael Glover. Photographic realism is much more difficult than it always seems. It is rather as if the painter is envious of the so called truth-telling powers of photography, and that if he can do at least as well as the photographer, he deserves to be mightily pleased with himself. For, after all, is he not a hand rather 14

VULTURE: By Jerry Saltz: Paul Emsley’s portrait of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Art usually only makes the news in America when the subject is money. Here, the dollar is king. In Great Britain, the queen is “king.” Even though it’s still a mystery to many Americans, the British populace’s unhinged fixation on and fetishization of their ever-beloved royal family knows no bounds.

Combine this national obsession with one of those garden-variety fits of art shock the English love, and sparks will fly. Sure enough, last week Britain went bananas about the new royal portrait of the 31year-old wife of Prince William, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge. By Saturday, the front page of the New York Post blared news about the “fury” the painting was producing in England.

London “arts writers,” aflutter, were aghast that Middleton “looks nothing like this in real life.” Others, overwrought, had waterworks about the way the picture makes “the future queen look like a dowdy 45-year-old,” resembling “something unpleasant from the Twilight franchise.” Gotta love that use of “unpleasant.” There are complaints that she looks “haggard,” that the eyes are too far apart or too small. The lips are pursed, the cheeks “lumpy.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the flapdoodle, a splendacious art-historian named Christopher Lloyd gushed in an official video about the greatness and mystery of the portrait, comparing it to Leonardo fucking da Vinci and Albrecht Dürer! This 24-karat fruitcake yammered about the picture’s “psychological import,” its “ethereal effect,” and its “slow, methodical method.” Leave it to the British to go whole hog in both directions at once — and for everyone to somehow still get it wrong. What’s lost to all of the royalty-obsessed critics and supporters is that, in

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

Nell Kaye (1912 – 1969) Kenneth Bakker (circa 1967) 450 mm height Bronze Sanlam Art Collection

SPI National Portrait Award 2013 R100 000 prize

awarded for the winning portrait.

Enter by 19 August 2013.

Please visit www.spiportraitaward.co.za for the rules and entry form.

ART TIMES | PAUL EMSLEY’S HRH THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE COMMISSION / SA ART TIMES FACEBOOK PROFILE FEED

Have your say on Kate on The SA Art Times Facebook Profile Danelle Malan I like the portrait. I’m glad the painter did not try to flatter the subject (evident especially around the eyes) like this was some kind of Photoshopped glamour shot. I think perhaps people have that popular media image in mind, rather than the person, when looking at this painting.

Art Times thank you for feedback!

Leah Hawker Disaster. She look like she’s in her 50’s. I think the painter has captured her future face not her now face....

Karlien Erasmus It is KITSCH! Marlise Joubert Love it! Its stunning!!

Gary Shean its bollocks.

Walter Bakker Unimaginative and dreadfully boring. A snapshot would have been better.

Dianne Shean Awful makes her look 20 years older!!!~ Carolien Greyling Maybe the painting is a more realistic image than the photos we see in news media.

any life. This has also killed the ‘full of life face’ and the vibrant smile of the Duchess of Cambridge. A light shinning against the background wall was definitely going to add some atmosphere and suggest an even brighter figure. Flat vertical brush-strokes around her hair are not effective leaving the figure without any presence. The most important part of a portrait is the eyes.

Paul’s ability to invite us to enter the Duchess of Cambridge and experience her emotions through her eyes was outré.

Kathryn Harmer-Fox It’s a good likeness - and there’s a gentle liveliness to it. There must have been a very specific brief that came with this portrait and I would imagine that he has met them all. Traditional portraiture of this nature is so easy to judge unfairly because of our exposure to a more eclectic and contemporary art form where anything that smacks of ‘academic’ art is derided and/or undervalued. I also say ‘well done Paul”.

Steve Annesley Austen A good likeness, but all she needs is the proverbial Tretchi-tear running out of her one eye, and there will be a print hanging on every sitting room wall in Danville.

Dana Biddle Art is soo subjective, at the end of the day - what does the duchess think, that’s what’s important. I think he’s captured her likeness beautifully.

drab with it. I’m disappointed because his tecnique and skill is incredible but this painting is awful.

Laurie Kemp Smith Kelly Cutter, I so agree with you. She does look so much older, and far too mature - and this artist is amazing.

Carina Viljoen Rossouw Who said a portrait must be right from the front? Would have been more interesting if her head was slightly angled. Beautiful tecnique but poor choice of position and she does look older:( Alan Basil Grobler Printmaker If the Duchess is pleased with the portrait, that’s all that matters!

Johannes du Plessis Paul Emsley’s technique is unique and outstanding and should be respected.No wonder he lives in another country, give him more credit for what he stands for.

Kate Middleton is going to get older anyway.

Gerda Genis I agree that this probably came with a very tight and specific brief which makes it extremely difficult for any artist. But the truth is that she looks 20 years older than her real age and that is a disaster. Perhaps the makeup is just too heavy and there is no sparkle in her eyes. I have loads of respect for mr Emsley and feel for him dearly. Sometimes you can work yourself into a corner and there’s no getting out of it.

Like someone else said, if the duchess likes it, who are we to say anything? Question is: did he get commissioned or did he paint it just because he can?

Christopher Fotheringham Caro, why do you care?

Karina Hudson Is this a “what you are going to like in 20 years if you keep on smoking” picture??

Anso de Wet I’m not a big fan of portraits, but this one is amazing!

Alan Basil Grobler Printmaker Excellent likeness! Well done Paul! Time now to do one of the Duke!

Gretha Aalbers Bearing in mind the size of the portrait, and the delicate colouring, one cannot really judge from a photograph.

Emsley is a superb and subtle craftsman. I think he has captured something of her character and spirit - although it is not a particulary original or daring work of art. The question is, what was his commission, what are the criteria for a portrait. Surely not to portray her as a celebrity cover girl.

Viv King Struggling to think why it is boring to me- maybe the composition- full frontal, no interest in the background- too flat, dreary colours. why do realism without colour? Unless you are saying the subject is colourless. If so, you succeeded.

Alice Pretorius Pitzer The portrait of Kate shows stress and a sense of excitement?

Gunda Kwint disappointing

Lita Hartman Don’t like it. She looks much older. The hair however is amazing.

Carolien Greyling Christopher Fotheringham I don’t, I suppose I’m just procrastinating.

Shaun Sebastian why all the wrinkles?

James Olmesdahl It’s unbearably dull. The kind of thing you might expect to see in one of those books on “How to Paint Portraits”. Although, even those have more life and colour to them.

Zach Taljaard I was trying to figure out why I was so repulsed initially by the portrait and now realized that it reminds me of the Bragolin crying children

Liza Fatti do you want the focal point to be the background or the face. this portait focuses on the character that lies behind the eyes and the facial expression. their is so much to see in the eyes.

Stephanie Wolhuter Inggs BORING

Richard Scott Art If you look at long enough it comes to life.

The Catherine Christie Gallery a disaster - Catherine Christie

Mandi Baldry It is well executed but boring

Neil Moss terrible. A bad photgraph

Jacqui Jax Simpson I think what many fail to understand that this is a Royalty portrait which follows in a long line of similar portraits and I am certain that there were very specific guidelines that the Artist had to follow. Well done to Paul Emsley for bringing her to life despite all this and for including so much of her personality in this painting.

Diane Sharon Van Wyk Am so disappointed - he has made her look like a boring dowager before her time. The technique etc might be excellent but his capturing of her inner spirit has not happened.

Cindy Mac Nicol- Kapp I find it to be very well done. I dont recall ever seeing a very exciting painting of other royals when I visited the UK...not BORING but very appropriate!

Karl Gustav Utterly disappointing and old school - why not give the job to contemporary british artists like Glenn Brown?

Carol Mangiagalli I think it is great.Trouble is we only see her on the media so she has to give big smiles to the press. This is a relaxed painting and an excellent likeness. Very natural and i have always liked Emsley’s work. She chose the artist!

Rima Geffen She looks much older in the painting. Although it is technically very well done and it is beautiful, it is a boring painting for someone as young as her.

Adele Fouche Difficult subject and very hard to tell on a tiny photo.

Cindy Duncan Oh it’s just fuddy duddy. Hoping there would be some kind of ‘click here to see...’

Tandaza Ntikinca I thinks its a good, looks like her... but ten years older!!

Linda Barbara Crofton dont think it looks too much like her - mouth completely different - if u asked me without telling who it is it would take a few mins to work out - looks 20 yrs older Leanie Wessels this doesnt speak to me at all- the pose looks like one of those 1980s family potrait type photos with traditional lighting and boring brown background. why didnt the royals opt for a photo instead?i feel sorry for the artist who was obviously comissioned to do it this way Joy Rosario Proportions are out

Erna Buber-deVilliers Schutte Nope. Don’t like it. She looks like the evil witch in a soapie. Plenty of artists are good at photo-realism, so even the technique does not impress me.

Katja Babich Oosthuis Portraits always open up so much debate. They say the artist always includes a part of him/herself in a portrait. Wouldn’t be interesting to see her portrait done by a younger more contemporary artist?

Vanessa Swanepoel She looks stoned?

Jean Degenaar I think it’s beautifully done!

Chazelle Leonida Bruno Looks somewhat older ...perhaps after some facial Surgery at 50 .

Moira MacMurray Is she about to burst out laughing, or is she a little smug, or maybe its her Mona Lisa smile! I quite like it.

Maryna Moolman looks very old Andreas van Wyk Paul knew exactly what he was doing and what the client liked. Good for him.

Bongani Mkhonza While Paul Emsley tried to use a simple is often more effective approach when painting this Duchess of Cambridge’s portrait; he did not take the background seriously and this resulted in a flat smoky colour and over-smoothing of the paint over the background. This in my opinion did not work at all as it sort of uniformed the background quality of this portrait, resulting in an ugly dark flat smoky brown surface without

Graeme Watt Joy Rosario - i doubt Paul Emsley would do a portrait with the proportions being out. Ridiculous comment.

Chazelle Leonida Bruno I agree with the “stoned “, And very ‘puffy ‘ face !!! there is a resemblance `/

Luzamba Zemba TRY IT YOURSELF & LEARN HOW EASY IT CAN BE,whatever she is,it’s a portrait,older or not,the artwork is done,we are all going to live with it for as long as it can.

Roy De Vos It’s a disaster ... how do you want to portray a study? At their best looking or how they look having had to sit for Paul Emsley? Bored, tired and dying for a G&T...

Errol Westoll Picture looks flat and dead to me. Maybe its just a poorly lit photograph... Will it be around forever? Hope not.

Kelly Cutter In my opinion Paul Emsley is one of the greatest artists of our time. However, this painting makes the beautiful Kate Middleton look 20 years older than she is and extremely

Ansie Zondagh du Toit I think she asked for him.

Mlou Newdigate It is not a “if the Duchess is pleased” then you should be pleased too situation. The painting is really boring. If this boring portraiture style is the tradition- it needs to be radically shocked into something new and fresh. Her eyse are creepy and she looks self satisfied and smug. Maybe we all would if we had pulled off our childhood dream to be next Queen of England.

Dawie Scholtz Look like Granny....... Flipp’n Cool I don’t think she looks old, to me she looks sophisticated. A smile is a smile, I don’t see any smugness there - if one eyebrow was slightly raised it might be considered smug. It’s a bit old-school, but the likeness to the photo is just about perfect. If she likes it, then the rest of our opinions are moot. Besides that, I’d like to know how many people commenting negatively here actually have the qualifications to do so - anyone can be a critic, not everyone can be a brilliant and well respected artist...

Gerhard Muller Im a dedicated art lover, ok... but I can’t think of anything else to say but: Looks like a drag queen. It’s really a disaster.

Carol Anne Storm Green NOT at all flattering !!!

Gavin Calf I can’t argue. It is technically good but I ask: Is she there? Her eyes are clear and bright... etc. But she’s not there!!!

June Wells I think it’s a great likeness and the eyes are beautiful. She certainly is ‘there’, cheeky little smile, lovely.

Umcebo Trust Would any portrait have been acceptable?

Technically good, and we are all spending time examining and talking about it..... surely mission accomplished?

Jannie Barnard http://makingamark.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/ paul-emsley-and-duchess-of-cambridge-two-videos.html?m=1 Carol Potter That’s what Kate wanted, she had input in painting... There will be more to come for all to criticise Liz Paterson Gosh too many are trying to be art critics here.

All I would like to say is that the painting is boring. I don’t paint realism, so would have liked to have seen colour. I think portraits very difficult to execute.

Clifton Edit bad kitsch and do we need to give any attention to the royal family - are they not totally irrelevant ?

Clifton Edit Cadbury’s should commission a whole series of other members of Ye Olde Very Royal Family for boxes of chocolates and all you lovers of royalty can collect them Suzanne Du Toit Is it not totally irrelevant to question the relevance of the royal family?

Clifton Edit possibly maybe but schlock overload caused the tilt Malcolm Payne http://www.vulture.com/2013/01/jerry-saltz-onkate-middletons-portrait.html

PAUL EMSLEY’S HRH THE DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE COMMISSION / FURTHER DEBATE | ART TIMES

The Kate Middleton Portrait Debate

By Stefan Hundt Head of Sanlam Private Investments’ Art Advisory Service: That this portrait should elicit such a flurry of media is not surprising, after all it is of a “royal celebrity”. And that it should evoke such responses shows that the power of the painted portrait remains present, despite the overwhelming photographic exposure of the princess.

The artist, Paul Emsley – who has deep roots in South Africa – is being roundly criticized by professional and armchair art critics alike. There seems no end to the vitriol surrounding this portrait directed against Emsley, Middleton and the royal family. Not having seen the painting nor the person in the flesh, so to speak, I am not inclined to speak out about the quality of the work. For one, the portrait is very large in scale and looking at the picture dramatically reduced to fit on a computer screen means that one cannot be sure of anything. This emphasizes the point that there is really no substitute for experiencing a painting in the real. No matter how much art history you study remotely from the physical object, the corporeal experience of the physical object diligently studied will always be a revelation for any serious art student.

We still have an inherent faith and expectation that the painted image will, and ought to, convey something more about the person than just a likeness – that, somehow, our experience of a painted portrait should contain more than just the visual titillation of the retina and the cognitive recognition of the image as representing a known face. Is this perhaps all just projection?

Much of the criticism levelled against Emsley’s portrait of Kate, is that the painting lacks life and that it is so “ordinary” and placid in its execution that it fails to live up to the perceived life characteristics of the person portrayed.

This complexity of the relationship between the painted perceived image and the image of the subject in the mind is inevitably fraught with subjectivity and influenced heavily by the deluge of existing imagery of Kate Middleton.

It is therefore not surprising that Emsley’s painting of Kate has failed to meet the subjective expectations of so many people who have already developed an iconic image of her in their mind’s eye. No wonder we have to cope with so many poor, and at times, outrageously disingenuous portraits of Nelson Mandela in South Africa.

Being commissioned to paint the portrait of a celebrity has its attractions, besides the long term enhancement of the artist’s reputation, there is also the privilege of spending some time privately with a person who enjoys a privileged status in society. The downside is that the artist has a slim chance of being successful in their portrayal. Vanity and the commissioned portrait always seem to be bedfellows. Usually it is only years after the initial public and critical disdain that the portrait of a prominent figure begins to enjoy public acclaim. Perhaps more often because of the person portrayed than the quality of the painting or sculpture. Paul Emsley had no easy task and perhaps in years to come this painting of Kate Middleton will become “loved”. For now it sets the measure by which any subsequent portrait will be compared.

As an integral part of Western visual culture the portrait has evolved into a specialized practice and an aesthetic subject is no longer dependent on a commissioner for its existence. The active exhibition programme of the National Portrait Gallery in London is testament to the currency that the portrait holds as the museum both solicits, commissions and collects portraits.

The annual BP Portrait awards is one such mechanism that solicits entries internationally and sustains the interest in portraiture in the United Kingdom and worldwide.

In South Africa portraiture although only a small aspect of the broader art history of painting, has enjoyed sustained support over many years as traditions such as the painting of the University Vice-Chancellor and company chairman still continue within many organisations. A more public consciousSA ART TIMES. February 2013

ness and awareness about portraiture and the diverse ways it can be approached has yet to develop. The last decade and a half of the new South Africa has been plagued with the ubiquitous and often sentimental homage to leadership through the brash oversized bronze or psychedelically afrokitsch adorned head and shoulders paintings of the likes of Nelson Mandela, Gatscha Buthelezi or Desmond Tutu.

The recently launched Sanlam Private Investments (SPI) National Portrait award offers a prize of R 100 000 to spur emerging and established local artists to seriously consider the making of portrait. Be it a local celebrity, the granny around the corner or just themselves in two or three dimensions, each will present a unique challenge. Much like the British counterpart the SPI Portrait Award will hopefully bring out the best that South African artists, both professional and amateur can produce, which no doubt will initiate a lively public debate about the winning portrait in August this year. For further information visit www.spiportraitaward.co.za/

Paul Emsley: Reaction to my Duchess of Cambridge portrait is like a ‘witch-hunt’ “Half the problem is the portrait doesn’t photograph well” and (he) urged people to view it for themselves at the National Portrait Gallery, where postcards of his work are the fastest-selling of any painting”.

STANDARD (UK) The artist whose portrait of the Duchess of Cambridge was widely ridiculed claimed today that he was the victim of a “witch-hunt”.

Paul Emsley said criticism of his first official painting of Kate was “so vicious” he doubted whether there was any merit in the work.

He was accused of making her appear a decade older than her 31 years, giving her “hamsterish” cheeks and a look as “soundless and smooth as an undertaker’s makeover”, while others described the portrait as “catastrophic” and “rotten”. Mr Emsley, 65, said: “Some of the words written about it were so personal. I’d be inhuman if I said it didn’t affect me. When you take on commissions like this it is hazardous and you expect a bit of flak, but I expected nothing like the criticism I received.

“It felt like a bit of a witch-hunt and people who had not even seen my portrait joined in. It was not only destructive to me, but particularly upsetting for my two daughters and my wife.”

Glasgow-born Mr Emsley was chosen by the director of the National Portrait Gallery, Sandy Nairne, after winning its BP Portrait Award in 2007. Kate sat for him twice, at his studio in the West Country and at Kensington Palace, and described the result as “absolutely brilliant” when she and Prince William saw it on the morning of its unveiling on January 11.

“Her words meant more to me than anything else said or written,” said Mr Emsley. He told Hello! magazine that “half the problem is the portrait doesn’t photograph well” and urged people to view it for themselves at the National Portrait Gallery, where postcards of his work are the fastest-selling of any painting.

17

SOUTH AFRICAN GALLERY GUIDE

FEBRUARY 2013 ‘I Collect Gingers’ A Solo Exhibition By Anthea Pokroy : CIRCA on Jellicoe / SPEKE Photographic Anthea Pokroy has been collecting gingers since 2010. Two and a half years and 500 gingers later, the red-headed Johannesburg-based artist and photographer will be presenting her debut solo exhibition at CIRCA on Jellicoe in Rosebank, Johannesburg. Pokroy explains, “It was only after my first photography session with seven ‘gingers’ that I began exploring the innate sense of community and collective experience that emerged from the otherness of the ‘gingers’ ”. Through her photographs Pokroy begins to construct a narrative, history/future and system of classification around this self-identified ‘race’. Pokroy uses this minority (2% of the world population) and mythical (historically considered witches and demons) group of red-headed people to highlight the obscurities of racial classification and discrimination which remain prevalent in South Africa. In a context that has historically been obsessed and oppressed by skin colour, Pokroy suggests an ironic alternative to genetic and pigment-based racial profiling. She begins to imagine what a ginger utopia might look like and what its implications would be. See more www.circaonjellicoe.co.za Until 2 March 2013

The Artists’ Press

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“surface” A solo exhibition by Helena Hugo 24 January - 10 March 2013

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Free State Bloemfontein Oliewenhuis Art Museum Until 10 March, “Surface”, solo exhibition by Helena Hugo.

Until 31 March, “Contemporary Bloemfontein Artists”, an exhibition of works by contemporary artists living in Bloemfontein or who grew up and studied there.

16 Harry Smith Str, Bloemfontein. T. 051 011 0525 oliewen@nasmus.co.za www.nasmus.co.za

Clarens Art & Wine Gallery on Main The Gallery houses an exquisite collection of art by well-known artists like Frederike Stokhuyzen, Aviva Maree, Gregoire Boonzaier, J.H. Pierneef, Pieter van der Westhuizen, Erik Laubscher, Jan Vermeiren, Marjorie Wallace, Eben van der Merwe, Conrad Theys, Hennie Niemann, Hannetjie de Clercq, ceramics by Laura Du Toit, sculpture

by Fana Malherbe & Jean Doyle, glass by David Reade & Shirley Cloete and numerous others.

279 Main Str, Clarens T. 058 256 1298 or Anton Grobbelaar. C. 082 341 8161 anton@artandwine.co.za www.artandwine.co.za Blou Donki Art Gallery Windmill Centre, Main Str, Clarens T. 058 256 1757 manager@bloudonki.co.za www.bloudonki.co.za Johan Smith Art Gallery The gallery permanently exhibits a wide variety of classical and selected contemporary art works featuring Johan Smith, Elbè van Rooyen, Elga Rabe, Graham Carter, Nicole Pletts, Gregoire Boonzaier, Otto Klar, and various others. Specializing in ceramics, the gallery supports artists such as Hennie Meyer, Karen Sinovich, and Heather Mills, among others. Collectable bronzes and handmade glass

by David Reade also available.

Windmill Centre, Main Str, Clarens T. 058 256 1620 manager@bhm.dorea.co.za www.johansmith.co.za

Gauteng Johannesburg Absa Art Gallery 4 – 28 Feb, “Notes”, an exhibition by Ian Grose. This is his first solo exhibition since winning the L’Atelier in 2011.

Absa Towers North, 161 Main Str, Jhb. T. 011 350 5139 artgallery@absa.co.za www.absa.co.za Alice Art 217 Drive Str, Ruimsig. T. 011 958 1392 C.083 331 8466 alice@aliceart.co.za www.aliceart.co.za The Art Place 144 Milner Ave, Roosevelt Park. T. 011 888 9120 theartplace@newnet.co.za www.artplace.co.za Artist Proof Studio Bus Factory, 3 President Street, Newtown Cultural Precinct.

T. 011 492 1278 C. 084 420 7998 www.artistproofstudio.co.za gallery@artistproofstudio.co.za Artspace Jhb 2 Feb – 2 March, “Noise”, a solo exhibition by Lehiogonolo Mashaba.

Chester Court, 142 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood.

T. 011 880 8802 artspace@wol.co.za www.artspace-jhb.co.za

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

The Bag Factory 10 Mahlatini Str, Fordsburg. T. 011 834 9181 info@bagfactoryart.org.za www.bagfactoryart.org.za Christie’s International Auctioneers.

Gillian Scott Berning, Independent Consultant.

T 031 207 8247 Gillian.gsb@mweb.co.za www.christies.com CIRCA on Jellicoe Until 2 March, “I Collect Gingers”, Anthea Pokroy’s debut solo show.

2 Jellicoe Ave. T. 011 788 4805 info@circagallery.co.za www.circaonjellicoe.co.za David Krut Projects Until 9 Feb, “Fragments of a Burnt History”, an installation by Faith47 comprised of found objects and artwork created in the artist’s studio, as well as a new series of monotypes produced in collaboration with the David Krut Print Workshop.

142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood. T. 011 447 0627. claire@davidkrut.com www.davidkrutpublishing.com Everard Read Jhb Until 9 Feb, “Trees Unseen”, a photographic exhibition by Tony Manning.

6 Jellicoe Ave, Rosebank, Jhb. T. 011 788 4805 gallery@everard.co.za www.everard-read.co.za The Fine Arts Studio Offering part-time courses in oil painting and drawing, designed for beginners and experienced artists alike.

Rivonia, Sandton. C. 082 904 3720 / 083 306 3972 michelle@thefineartsstudio http://thefineartsstudio.co.za/ Gallery 2 Until 9 Feb, an exhibition of works by various artists including Karin Daymond, Eric Duplan, Bronwen Findlay, Colbert Mashile, Carl Roberts and many more.

2 – 28 March, ‘Khumbula Ekhaya’, a debut solo-exhibition of work by the ABSA Gerard Sekoto Award Winner 2012, Bambo Sibyia, hosted by Gallery 2 in association with Clive Viveiros and Dr Eric Hefer.

140 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood. T. 011 447 0155 info@gallery2.co.za www.gallery2.co.za Gallery AOP Until 16 Feb, “Dynamic Stasis”, an exhibition by Jessica Meuninck-Ganger & Nathaniel Stern.

44 Stanley Ave, Braamfontein Werf (Milpark) Jhb. T. 011 726 2234. info@artonpaper.co.za www.galleryaop.com Gallery MOMO Until 7 Feb, “The Troyeville Bedtime Story”, a story told in photographs by Johannes Dreyer.

52 7th Avenue, Parktown North, Jhb. T. 011 327 3247 info@gallerymomo.com www.gallerymomo.com Goodman Gallery JHB Until 16 Feb, “To Photograph the Details of a Dark Horse in Low Light”, an exhibition by Broomberg & Chanarin.

163 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood. T. 011 788 1113 jhb@goodman-gallery.com www.goodman-gallery.com Grahams Fine Art Gallery The gallery exhibits fine examples of South African art, including works by: Maggie Laubser, J.H Pierneef, Irma Stern, Freida Lock, Walter Battiss, Alexis Preller, Gerard Sekoto, Robert Hodgins, Stanley Pinker & Peter Clarke. Unit 46, Broadacres Lifestyle Centre, Cnr Cedar & Valley Rds, Broadacres, Fourways, Jhb. T. 011 465 9192 sarah@grahamsgallery.co.za www. grahamsgallery.co.za

16 Halifax 16 Halifax Str, Bryanston. Dana MacFarlane, C. 082 784 6695 dana@16halifaxart.co.za www.16halifaxart.co.za In Toto Until 4 March, “Trees”, an exhibition featuring Sandy Behrmann, Belinde Fourie, Vivianne Jaques and Maria Angela Patrizi.

6 Birdhaven Centre, 66 St Andrew Str, Birdhaven.

T. 011 447 6543 megan@intotogallery.co.za www.intotogallery.co.za Isis Gallery Take advantage of introductory prices for new artist, Bastiaan van Stenis. View new works by Mauro Chiarla and Brian Rolfe.

Shop 163, The Mall of Rosebank.

Contact Daniel Erasmus T. 011 447 2317 info@isisgallery.co.za www.isisgallery.co.za Johannesburg Art Gallery JAG Until 10 March, “French Connections”, a partnership with l’Institut Français d’Afrique du Sud presents an exhibition of French works, curated by Sheree Lissoos and Antoinette Murdoch.King George Str, Joubert Park, Jhb. T. 011 725 3130 tinym@joburg.org.za www.joburgculture.co.za/museums-galleries/jag Market Photo Workshop Gallery Until 15 March, “Transition”, part of The Social Landscape Project, which investigates ideas around land, and the role that photography continues to play in the representation and re-imagining of land.

2 President Str, Newtown, Jhb. T. 011 834 1444 www.marketphotoworkshop.co.za info@marketphotoworkshop Manor Gallery 2 Feb – 2 March, the annual Valentine’s Exhibition. Stunning works in all media by top South African artists.

Norscot Manor Centre, Penguin Drive, Fourways.

T. 011 465 7934 gallery@wssa.org.za www.wssa.org.za Resolution Gallery Until 14 Feb, “Aesthesia”, an exhibition by André S Clements. Unit 4, Chester Court, 142 Jan Smuts Avenue, Parkwood, 2193. T. 011 880 4054 info@resgallery.com http://resgallery.com Russell Kaplan Auctioneers Auctioneers of Fine Art, Antiques and Collectables.

Ground floor, Bordeaux Court, Corner of Garden & Allan Rds, Bordeaux. T. 011 789 7422 C. 083 675 8468 rka@global.co.za www.rkauctioneers.co.za Sandton Auctioneers Fine Art, Furniture, Carpets & Collectables.

Showroom: No 8 Burnside Ave, Craighall Park, Jhb. T. 011 501 3360 sandtonauctioneers@telkomsa.net www.sandtonauctioneers.com Standard Bank Gallery Cnr of Simmonds & Frederick Str.’s, Jhb. T. 011 631 1889 sue.isaac@standardbank.co.za www.standardbankarts.co.za Stephan Welz & Company 13 Biermann Ave, Rosebank, Jhb. T. 011 880-3125 jhb@stephanwelzandco.co.za www.stephanwelzandco.co.za Stevenson Johannesburg Until 1 March, “The Loom of the Land”, a group exhibition curated by Anton Kannemeyer.

62 Juta Str, Braamfontein, Jhb. T. 011 326 0034 jhb@stevenson.info www.stevenson.info

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GALLERY GUIDE | FREE STATE, GAUTENG, NORT WEST, MPUMALANGA & WESTERN CAPE Strauss & Co. 89 Central Str, Houghton. T. 011 728 8246 C. 079 367 0637 jhb@straussart.co.za www.straussart.co.za

St Lorient Fashion and Art Gallery 492 Fehrsen Str, Brooklyn Circle, Brooklyn, Pta. T. 012 4600284 anastasi@iafrica.com www.stlorient.co.za

UJ Art Gallery 6 – 27 Feb, “Discordance”, an exhibition by Michael Meyersfeld. To be opened on the 6th by Stephan Hobbs and Marcus Neustetter at 18:30 for 19:00.

Cnr Kingsway & University Rd, Auckland Park, Jhb. T. 011 559 2099 aedempsey@uj.ac.za www.uj.ac.za/artscentre

UNISA Art Gallery Until 8 Feb, The Advanced Diploma in Visual Arts Student Exhibition 2013.

Kgorong Building, Ground Floor, Main Campus, Preller Str, Pretoria. T. 012 441 5876 tshannn1@unisa.ac.za www.unisa.ac.za/gallery

The White House Gallery The gallery has a wide ranging portfolio featuring renowned masters such as Chagall, Marini, Miro, Moore, Portway, Pasmore, Stella, Picasso, Dine & Hockney - to name a few. Also the more affordable works of up and coming artists in Britain and France, along with globally acclaimed South African artists.

Shop G11 Thrupps Centre, Oxford Rd, Illovo, Jhb. T. 011 268 2115 alan@whg.co.za www.thewhitehousegallery.co.za

Pretoria Alette Wessels Kunskamer Operates as an art gallery and art consultancy, specialising in South African art as an investment, dealing in Old Masters, and selected contemporary art. Maroelana Centre, 27 Maroelana Str, Maroelana, Pretoria. T. 012 346 0728 alette@artwessels.co.za www.artwessels.co.za Association of Arts Pretoria 8 – 27 Feb, an exhibition by Ilona Petzer.

15 Feb – 5 March, an exhibition by Wayne Vivier.

22 Feb – 13 March, an exhibition by Boudiccea Studios. 173 Mackie Str, Nieuw Muckleneuk, Pretoria.

T. 012 346 3100 artspta@mweb.co.za www.artsassociationpta.co.za Centurion Art Gallery 4 – 22 Feb, “Arts Poetica in Wonderland”.

25 Feb – 15 March, an exhibition by Philiswa Lila.

A commercial satellite of the Pretoria Art Museum. c/o Cantonment and Unie Avenues, Lyttelton T. 012 358 3477 artg@tshwane.gov.za www.pretoriaartmuseum.co.za/centurion Fried Contemporary 1146 Justice Mahomed Street, Brooklyn, Pretoria.

T. 012 346 0158 C. 082 523 6989 info@friedcontemporary.com www.friedcontemporary.com Front Room Art 116 Kate Ave, Rietondale. Jennifer Snyman 082 451 5584 jennifer@frontroomart.co.za www.frontroomart.co.za Gallery Michael Heyns 194 Haley Str, Weavind Park, Pretoria.

T. 012 804 0869 michael@michaelheyns.co.za www.michaelheyns.co.za Pretoria Art Museum Cnr Frances Baard and Wessels Str, Arcadia Park, Arcadia, Pretoria. T.012 344 1807/8 art.museum@tshwane.gov.za www.pretoriaartmuseum.co.za Sandton Auctioneers Fine Art, Furniture, Carpets & Collectables.

Showroom: 367 Lynnwood Rd, Menlo Park, Pta. T. 012 460 6000 sandtonauctioneers@telkomsa.net www.sandtonauctioneers.com

22

University of Pretoria Mapungubwe Gallery, Old Arts Building, UP. T.012 420 2968 museums@up.ac.za www.up.ac.za

North West Potchefstroom NWU Gallery 14 Feb – 15 March, “BooMenSlik”, a fibre art exhibition by Prof. Paul Schutte.

14 Feb – 15 March, staff exhibition featuring Ian Marley, Louisemarie Combrink, Richardt Strydom and Steven Bosch, in the NWU Botanical Garden Art Gallery. North-West University Gallery, Building E7, NWU Potchefstroom Campus, Hoffman Str, Potchefstroom. T. 018 299 4341 christina.nauratttel@nwu. ac.za www.nwu.ac.za/content/puk-arts-nwu-gallery

Hartbeespoort Dam Edwards Fine Art, Modern & Contemporary William Kentridge, Marlene Dumas, Robert Hodgins, Cecil Skotnes & Edoardo Villa. Sculpture by Anton Smit. Shop 24, Xanadu X-ing Shopping Centre, Cnr. Xanadu Boulevard & R511, Xanadu, Hartbeesport. C. 076 472 9812 efa@myconnection.co.za

Mpumalanga Dullstroom Art @ sixty seven A selection of fine art, ceramics and blown glass art pieces by well-known local artists. Shop no.9, 67 Naledi St, Dullstroom, Mpumulanga. T. 013 254 0335 mikek@boardwalkmanor.co.za www.shopat67.com

White River The Artists’ Press Professional collaboration, printing and publishing of original hand-printed artists lithographs, by the Artists’ Press. Also artists’ books, monotypes & letterpress prints, particularly for artists working in SA. Waterfield Farm near White River, Mpumalanga T. 013 751 3225 print@artistspress.co.za www.artprintsa.com The Loop Art Foundry & Sculpture Gallery A collaboration and network for the avid art patron and collector as well as a full service facility for the artist. This is the place where you will find a unique and superior item or have something commissioned that you have always envisioned. Casterbridge Complex Corner R40 & Numbi Rds, White River.

T. 013 758 2409 theloop@worldonline.co.za www.tlafoundry.co.za

The White River Gallery Casterbridge Centre, R 40 Cnr. of Hazyview & Numbi Gate Rd, White River.C. 083 675 8833. art@whiterivergallery.co.za www.whiterivergallery.co.za

Western Cape Cape Town /A Word of Art Until 9 March, ‘Ways of Seeing’, the result of a month-long painting project in Cape Town and Johannesburg, curated by Ricky Lee Gordon.

66 Albert Road, Woodstock Exchange.

C. 083 300 9970. rickylee@andpeople.co.za www.a-word-of-art.co.za Absolut Art Gallery Permanent exhibition with the best Masters and Contemporary artists. Namely: JH Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto, Hugo Naude, Adriaan Boshoff, Frans Oerder, Maurice Van Essche, Tinus De Jongh, Gerard Bhengu, Ephraim Ngatane, Cecil Skotnes, JEA Volschenk, Conrad Theys, William Kentridge, to name a few.

Shop 43 Willowbridge Lifestyle Centre, Carl Cronje Drive, Tyger Valley, Bellville. T. 021 914 2846. info@absolutart.co.za www.absolutart.co.za.

Art b 13 Feb - 8 March, “New Beginning(s)”, featuring 40 Artists, including: Strijdom van der Merwe, Sophie Peters, Hennie Meyer, Nina Liebenberg, Lunga Kama and Theo Kleynhans. Curated by Elizabeth MillerVermeulen. The Arts Association of Bellville, The Library Centre, Carel van Aswegan Str, Bellville.

T. 021 918 2301. info@artb.co.za www.artb.co.za/gallery.htm Artvark Gallery 48 Main Rd, Kalk Bay. Tel. 021 788 5584 artvark@iafrica.com www.artvark.org Ashbey’s Galleries Antiques and fine art auctioneers and appraisers.

43-51 Church Str, CT. T. 021 423 8060 info@ashbeys.co.za www.ashbeysgalleries.co.za AVA Until 8 Feb, “Greatest Hits 2012: If the Halls Could Talk”, an exhibition co-curated by Stacy Adriaans and Kirsty Cockerill. Association for Visual Arts, 35 Church Str, CT. T.021 424 7436 avaart@iafrica.com www.ava.co.za Alex Hamilton Studio Gallery Until 25 Feb, “Street View: Woodstock”, an exhibition

by Mark Hilltout showcasing drawings of Woodstock, Salt River and Observatory. 3rd Floor, 9 Barron St, Woodstock. T. 021 447 2396. C. 084 409 6801 alex@alexhamilton.co.za www.alexhamilton.co.za The Avital Lang Gallery Two Oceans House, Surrey Place, Mouille Point, CT. (Next to Newport Deli) T. 021 439 2124. avital.artistinc@gmail.com www.avitallang.com Barnard Gallery 13 Feb- 14 March, “Around a Mountain”, an exhibition by Philippa Allen.

55 Main St, Newlands. T. 021 671 1666 gallery@barnardgallery.com www.barnardgallery.com

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE Blank Projects Until 23 Feb, “6+1…14+1; 1st, 2nd“, by Jaco van Schalkwyk and “Talking About 12 Paintings”, by Gerda Scheepers.

113-115 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. C.072 507 5951 info@blankprojects.com www.blankprojects.com BRUNDYN + GONSALVES Until 6 March, “in-”, a group exhibition with participating artists Luami Calitz, Ruann Coleman, Frances Marais, Sepideh Mehraban, Miranda Moss, Emma Nourse, Matty Roodt, Chris van Eeden and Sunette Viljoen.

71 Loop Str, CT. T. 021 424 5150 info@brundyngonsalves.com www.brundyngonsalves.com Cape Gallery Until 9 Feb, a show of work by Mandy McKay, Helen van Stolk and Veronica Reid.

10 Feb – 2 March, “People and Places of the Cape”, a solo exhibition by Roelof Rossouw.

60 Church Str, CT. T. 021 423 5309 web@capegallery.co.za www.capegallery.co.za Carmel Art Dealers in Fine art, exclusive distributers of Pieter van der Westhuizen etchings. Cape Quarter Square, 27 Somerset Rd, Green Point. T. 021 4213333 carmel@global.co.za www.carmelart.co.za Casa Labia Gallery Until 24 Feb, “The Summer Show”, a show curated by João Ferreira showcasing work by artists such as Robert Hodgins, Brett Murray, Julia Rosa Clark, Beezy Bailey, Lynette Bester, Judy Woodborne and Eris Silke.

Tuesday 12 Feb – Sunday 17 Feb, Jo Jardine will be giving tarot card readings by appointment. Casa Labia Cultural Centre, 192 Main Rd, Muizenberg. T. 021 788 6068 gallery@casalabia.co.za www.casalabia.co.za The Cellar Private Gallery The Cellar Private Gallery of Art deals exclusively in original & investment art, offering works by a variety of renowned & upcoming SA artists. 12 Imhoff Str, Welgemoed, Bellville.

T. 021 913 4189 info@thecellargallery.co.za www.thecellargallery.co.za Christie’s International Auctioneers.

Juliet Lomberg, Independent Consultant. T. 021 761 2676 jlomberg@iafrica.com www.christies.com Christopher Møller Art Until 21 Feb, a solo exhibition by Barry Jackson.

7 Kloofnek Rd, Gardens, C T. T. 021 422 1599 Info@christophermollerart.co.za www.christophermollerart.co.za The City Bowl Gallery Hand thrown decorative and functional wares. Pottery Classes. Ceramic Design. Bespoke Pottery.

2 Norwich Ave, Observatory. T. 021 447 4884 C. 083 412 8098 Garth Meyer: garthme@iafrica.com Commune.1 Gallery Until 28 Feb, “The Outcome of Turner Adams”, an exhibition by Gordon Clark.64 Wale Street, CT. T. 021 423 5600.

Contact Leigh-Anne Niehaus. info@commune1.com www.commune1.com

Dante Art & Decor A modern art gallery since 1995. Proudly South African art, ceramics, gifts & decor. Furnishing your home with a modern touch of Beauty. Shop L90- Cavendish Square, Claremont. C. 084 700 9196, gabby@danteartgallery.co.za www.danteartgallery.co.za David Krut Projects David Krut Projects, Montebello Design Centre, 31 Newlands Ave.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

T. 021 685 0676. Jacqueline@davidkrut.com www. davidkrut.com Ebony Showing new work by Jean-Claude Mochetti and new oil paintings by Grace Kotze and Ashleigh Olsen. Also on show is a unique iJusi Portfolio featuring work by William Kentridge, Willem Boshoff, Roger Ballen, Guy Tillim and many more. A new addition of two surfboards from ‘Delft’ - The Spider Murphy Series by Givan Lotz and Jonathan Bambrook. Please also join us for ‘First Thursdays’, hosted on 7th February, when we will be open until 9pm.

67 Loop Str, CT. T. 021 424 9985. gernot@ebonydesign.co.za www.ebonydesign.co.za Eclectica Art & Antiques Purveyor of fine arts, antiques and objects d’art. Emphasis on finding beautiful, interesting pieces both locally and internationally. 11A Wolfe Str, Chelsea Village, Wynberg, CT. T. 021 762 7983 info@eclectica.co.za Erdmann Contemporary & the Photographers Gallery ZA Until 23 Feb, “Stratum – Contemporary South African Art”, a summer group exhibition featuring works by William Kentridge, Jane Alexander, Roger Ballen, David Lurie, Wilhelm Saayman and more. 63 Shortmarket Str, CT. T. 021 422 2762 galleryinfo@mweb.co.za www.erdmanncontemporary.co.za Everard Read CT Until 12 Feb, “What would Wisdom say to your Dark Heart?”, 6 moral lessons by Deborah Bell, a solo exhibition of new works on paper.

13 – 28 Feb, “Dancing in the Woods”, a solo exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Beezy Bailey.

Until 1 April, “A Summer of Sculpture”, in association with the Mount Nelson, an exhibition of sculptures in the grounds on the hotel, celebrating top South African sculptors.

Portswood Rd, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, CT. T. 021 418 4527 ctgallery@everard.co.za www.everard-read-capetown.co.za 34 Fine Art Until 16 Feb, an exhibition by Mr Brainwash.

2nd Floor, The Hills Building, Buchanan Square, 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock. T.021 461 1863 info@34fineart.com www.34fineart.com The Framery Art Gallery Throughout Feb, a group exhibition including works by Sophie Peters, John Kramer, Hardy Botha, Frank Ross, Vernon de Wee, Darryl Edwardes and more.

3 – 31 March, a group exhibition featuring Boyce Magandela, Khanya Mehlo, Ronald Muchatuta, Marcelino Manhula and Miranda Vinjwa. 67A Regent Rd, Seapoint.

T. 021 434 5022 C. 078 122 7793 debbiegrewe@gmail.com The Framing Place 46 Lower Main Rd, Observatory. T. 021 447 3988 C. 072 731 7682 info@framingplace.co.za G2 Art A gallery of diverse and interesting work by local artists, with exciting new offerings by Nicole Pletts, Ronel Human, Adolf Tega, Vanessa Berlein and sculpture by Armand du Rand and Aleri Odendaal. 61 Shortmarket Str between Loop Str & Bree Str. T. 021 424 7169 di@g2art.co.za www.g2art.co.za The Great Cellar Alphen Estate, Alphen Drive, Constantia. T. 021 671 6139 info@ceramics-sa-cape.co.za www.ceramics-sa-cape.co.za

Africa’s valuable talent. Having moved into cyber space, but based in Kenilworth, Cape Town, the gallery will be specialising in home and corporate visits.

Concord House (Pam Golding Building), Cnr Main & Summerly Rds, Kenilworth. C. 083 556 2540. gallery@new. co.za www.alldermangallery.co.za Goodman Gallery Cape Town 9 Feb – 16 March, ‘Ramokone’, an exhibition be Moshekwa Langa. 3rd Floor, Fairweather House, 176 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock. T. 021 462 7573/4 cpt@goodman-gallery.com www.goodman-gallery.com Hout Bay Gallery 71 Victoria Ave, Hout Bay. T. 021 790 3618 art@houtbaygallery.co.za www.houtbaygallery.co.za Infin Art Gallery A gallery of work by local artists.

Wolfe Str, Chelsea Village, Wynberg. T. 021 761 2816 & Buitengracht Str, CT. T. 021 423 2090. gallery@infinart.co.za www.infinart.co.za Irma Stern Museum Cecil Rd, Rosebank, CT. T. 021 685 5686 irmastern@uct.ac.za www.irmastern.co.za Iziko SA National Gallery 25 Queen Victoria Str, CT. T. 021 467 4660 info@iziko.org.za www.iziko.org.za Iziko Michaelis Collection Ongoing, Dutch treat: Dutch works from the 17th–20th centuries in Iziko collections. Iziko Michaelis Collection, Old Town House, Greenmarket Square. T. 021 4813800. hproud@iziko.org.za www.iziko.org.za Iziko Castle of Good Hope Until 28 Feb, MTN New Contempories Award 2012 (William Fehr Collection). “Fired”, a permanent exhibition of South African ceramics, (William Fehr Collection). Buitenkant Str, opposite the Grand Parade, CT. T. 21 464 1262 kmooney@iziko.org.za www.iziko.org.za Johans Borman Fine Art 9 & 10 February 2013, 10am – 5pm, exhibiting a selection of works by SA Masters and leading contemporary artists at the SAADA Antiques Fair, Kirstenbosch Gardens, Cape Town. 16 Kildare Rd, Newlands, CT. T. 021 683 6863. art@johansborman.co.za www.johansborman.co.za Kalk Bay Modern This gallery and craft shop showcases an eclectic mix of local South African art talent along with quality crafts from developing community groups. 1st Floor, Olympia Buildings, 136 Main Rd, Kalk Bay. T. 021 788 6571 kbmodern@iafrica.com www.kalkbaymodern.com Lindy van Niekerk Art Gallery A large selection of artworks by new and prominent South African artists and SA old Masters.

31 Kommandeur Rd, Welgemoed, Bellville.

T. 021 913 7204/5 lindy@artpro.co.za www.artpro.co.za The Lovell Gallery Until 27 Feb, “Timeline”, A rare view into a private art collection, showcasing work from internationally renowned artists such as Shepherd Fairey, Bison, Dran, Faith 47, Black Koki, Swoon, Conrad Botes, as well as yet to be recognized fresh talent. 139 Albert Rd, Woodstock.

T. 021 820 5505 info@lovellgallery.co.za www.lovellgallery.co.za

Gill Allderman Gallery The Gallery is dedicated to promoting some of South

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A v r i l H a t t i n g h

Avril Hattingh matriculated at the Johannesburg School for Art Ballet and Music and later completed the Diploma in Ceramics at Wits Technikon. She is a Book Illustrator by trade, which she did freelance at home for about fteen years while rearing her two children. Her artistic rst-love is portraits and gures.

The subject of her most recent work is the Musician, resulting from a number of paintings done for the new art gallery of the North West Musicon at the Klerksdorp Technical High School. Since doing this small series of paintings she has become increasingly captivated by the musician as subject – being fascinated by the uplifting, simple visual drama created by the musician in action. Apart from enjoying the dynamic compositions created by faces, hands and limbs interacting with elegantly shaped musical instruments, she delights in the challenge of visually describing the attitude and poise of the concentrating musician at work. She sees in the dedicated absorption of the musician, an aspect of unassuming gracefulness and dignity, which could not easily escape a keen illustrator’s eye.

Cello 15, 38 x 76cm oil on canvas

Much of Avril’s enjoyment of the musician as her subject matter lies in the way it so naturally reects a kind of harmony and peace found in godliness. Her desire in her art is to uplift the human spirit, and in any small way to reect – and honour Almighty God who created all things on earth and in heaven, who made us what we are and gave us all we have.

Violin 27, 20 x 25cm, oil on canvas

Cello 19, 21 x 25cm, oil on canvas

Trumpet iii, 25 x 20cm, oil on canvas

Tel: 083 331 8466 Alice: 083 377 1470 217 Drive Street, Ruimsig

Violin 26, 20 x 25cm, oil on canvas

alice@global.co.za www.aliceart.co.za

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Adrie Le Roux / Kirsten Beets / Maria Lebedeva / Kirsten Sims ~ 30 JAN - 23 FEB 2013 ~

Gallery Hours: Mon - Fri: 10h00 - 18h00 Sat: 10h00 - 14h00 www.salon91.co.za 021-424-6930 info@salon91.co.za Salon91. 91 Kloof Street, Cape Town.

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The Cape Gallery, 60 Church Street, Cape Town seeks to expose fine art that is rooted in the South African tradition, work which carries the unique cultural stamp of our continent.

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featured artist:Roelof Rossouw

THE CAPE GALLERY

Open Mon - fri: 9h30 - 17h00 Sat: 10h00 - 14h00 27 21 423 5309 cgallery@mweb.co.za www.capegallery .co.za

2:11 PM

WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE Lutge Gallery A selection of recent work by John Murray and John Kramer; ceramics by Lisa Ringwood, Christo Giles, Clementina and Ceramic Matters; photographs by Glen Green as well as tables designed by Allan Lutge. 109 Loop Str, Cape Town. T. 021 424 8448 lutgegallery@netactive.co.za MM Galleries Shop 3, 31 Palmer Road, Muizenberg, Cape Town.

T. 082 739 7567 www.mmgalleries.co.za

Salon 91 Until 23 Feb, “Aurora”, an all-female illustration show by Kirsten Beets, Maria Lebedeva, Adrie Le Roux and Kirsten Sims. 91 Kloof Str, Gardens, CT. T 021 424 6930 info@salon91art.co.za www.salon91.co.za South African Print Gallery

Michaelis Galleries Until 8 Feb, “The Cannibals’ Banquet”, a selection sculptures, drawings and etchings by Isabelle Grobler.

University of Cape Town, 31 – 37 Orange St, CT. T. 021 480 7170 cara.vanderwesthuizen@uct.ac.za www.michaelis.uct.ac.za

Call for submissions for Botanical limited edition handmade and digital prints

Provenance Auction House Auctioneers of Fine Art, Antiques and Home Luxury.

8 Vrede str, Gardens, CT. T. 021 461 8009 info@provenanceart.co.za www.provenanceart.co.za

South African Print Gallery Handmade, editioned Prints by leading SA Artists 109 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. T. 021 462 6851 info@printgallery.co.za www.printgallery.co.za

Red! The Gallery RED! The Gallery is a dynamic art gallery featuring work from South Africa’s best contemporary and emerging artists , including works by Andrew Cooper, David Kuijers, Wakaba Mutheki and Donna McKellar to name a few.

Steenberg Village shopping centre, Reddam Ave, Tokai.

T. 021 7010886 red@redthegallery.co.za www.redthegallery.co.za

Sanlam Art Gallery 2 Strand Rd, Bellville. T. 021 947 3359 sanlamart@sanlam.co.za www.sanlam.co.za

Rose Korber Art Extended until 28 Feb, “Summer Show 2012 – 2013”.

Consisting of Rose Korber’s personal overview of the current state of South African art, featuring paintings, mixed media works, original prints, photography, sculpture, ceramics and contemporary Shangaan beadwork. Artists include William Kentridge, Sam Nhlengethwa, Willie Bester, Simon Stone, Robert Slingsby, Richard Smith and many more.

48 Sedgemoor Rd, Camps Bay, CT. T. 021 438 9152 C. 082 781 6144 or 083 261 1173 roskorb@icon.co.za www.rosekorberart.com

StateoftheArt.co.za Online Art Gallery A curated online art gallery showcasing original and affordably priced artwork by Fine Arts graduates and emerging artists. Each artist has been hand-picked by our curatorial panel to ensure the quality of the work that you are purchasing.. Shop directly from the website and have your art delivered to your office or home. Start building your contemporary art collection today! Added value bespoke services include: Corporate Art Solutions; Art Specifier for Interior Designers and Architects, Collectors Resale and Art Commissions. We Ship Worldwide - art delivered to your doorstep. T.072 470 9272 info@StateoftheArt.co.za www.StateoftheArt.co.za

Rudd’s Auctioneers Antique, Fine and Decorative Art. 87 Bree Str, CT. T.021 426 0384 C. 083 406 4261 info@rudds.co.za www.rudds.co.za Rust-en-Vrede Gallery Until 14 Feb, “2013 Summer Sale”, Bargain prices for artworks from the walls, storerooms, studios and collections of our members.

19 Feb – 14 March, “ A Little Voodoo”, by Candice Dawn B (Salon A & B) and new works by Patrick Mokhuane (Salon C). 10 Wellington Rd, Durbanville. T.021 976 4691 rustenvrede@telkomsa.net www.rust-en-vrede.com Sally Louw Gallery 6 – 28 Feb, “Woodstock Retrospective”, a photographic exhibition by Jason Lauré. 77 Roodebloem Rd, Woodstock, Cape Town. T.072 713 8907 Sallyandmarcus@telkomsa.net

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

The Sudio Kalk Bay 1 – 14 Feb, showing current works by Donna McKellar and Marcelle Sprong.

14 – 25 Feb, “Nepal Vision”, an exhibtion by Nola Muller.

Main Rd, Kalk Bay. C. 083 778 2737 info@thestudiokalkbay.co.za thestudiokalkbay.co.za The Art Connection An online gallery curated by Priscilla Schoonbee, offering top class artwork by established and up-and-coming artists.

Also attends to the on-going art curatorship at The Bay Hotel in Camps Bay and Le Franschhoek Hotel & Spa. C. 082 463 6307 priscilla@themothercity.co.za www.theartconnection.co.za

The Pot Luck Club Gallery Contact curator Las Madurasinghe on 074 180 4895 The Old Biscuit Mill, 375 Albert Rd, Woodstock. gallery@thepotluckclub.co.za www.thepotluckclub.co.za The Project Room Gallery 1 Feb – 15 March, “People of the South”, by Gary Frier showcasing mixed media portraits of South African places, habits & inhabitants. 2nd floor, Old Port Captains Building, Pierhead, Dockroad, V&A Waterfront theprojectroomgallery.blogspot.com theprojectroom@africantradingport.com

Strauss & Co. 4 Feb, “South African Art, Furniture, Silver, Ceramics, Glass and Jewellery”, auction to be held at the Vineyard Hotel, Cape Town. The Oval, 1st Floor Colinton House, 1 Oakdale Rd, Newlands. T. 021 683 6560 ct@straussart.co.za www.straussart.co.za

SMAC Art Gallery, CT 7 Feb - 23 March, an exhibition by Johann Louw.

In-Fin-Art Building, Buitengracht Str, CT. T. 021 422 5100 info@smacgallery.com www.smacgallery.com

Stephan Welz & Company 19 & 20 Feb, Decorative and Fine Arts auction. Viewing 15, 16 & 17 February 10h00 – 17h00. The Great Cellar, The Alphen Hotel, Alphen Drive, Constantia.

T. 021 794 6461 ct@stephanwelzandco.co.za www.stephanwelzandco.co.za Stevenson Cape Town Until 23 Feb, “Black Cargo”, a solo exhibition by Serge Alain Nitegeka. Working in sculpture, painting and installation, this show follows Nitegeka’s debut Johannesburg solo, Black Lines, in March 2012. Ground Floor, Buchanan Building, 160 Sir Lowry Rd, Woodstock, CT. T. 021 462 1500. cpt@stevenson.info www.stevenson.info

Truly Fantastic Specialising in custom furniture and joinery, as well as canvases and easels. 1 Pine Tree Park, Lekkerwater Rd, Sunnydale. T. 021 785 1161 info@trulyfantastic.co.za www.trulyfantastic.co.za What if the World/Gallery Until 9 March, “Cars and Girls”, a solo exhibition by Frances Goodman. 1 Argyle Str. Woodstock, CT. T. 021 802 3111 info@whatiftheworld.com www.whatiftheworld.com Worldart Gallery 54 Church Street, Cape Town CBD. T 021 423 3075 info@worldart.co.za www.worldart.co.za Zizamele Ceramics Imhoff Farm, Kommetjie Rd, Kommetjie. T. 021 789 1491.

C. 084 556 6423 info@zizamele.co.za www.zizamele.co.za

Franschhoek Art In the Yard Newly opened in Franschhoek. The aim of the gallery is to give focus to artists with fresh ideas, whilst still holding true to skilled craftsmanship. The space is versatile, bright and inspiring.

Art is selected from upcoming, local and international artists and presently features paintings from: Abe Opperman, famed for his creative dimension in floral art; Vanessa Berlein with her Pre-Raphaelite styled ‘portholes’ on gold leaf; international artist Alexandra Spyratos, known for metallic wildlife murals; Jenny Merritt and her work in mixed media and Philip Barrett, sculptor and ceramist, with his bronzes and ‘heritage’ ceramics. Also featuring Franschhoek artists Johannes du Plessis, displaying his ‘incidental’ techniques and Lindsay Patton, a ‘contemporary impressionist’ of nudes and landscapes.

No.1 The Yard, 38 Huguenot Str. Franschhoek. T. 021 876 4280 art@artintheyard.co.za www.artintheyard.co.za

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WESTERN CAPE | GALLERY GUIDE Ebony Showing recent acquisitions from a selection of classic SA Masters including Gerard Sekoto, Christo Coetzee, Maud Sumner and many others. Contemporary works by Soma Holloway, Claudia Ongaro, Marlene von Durckheim, Francois Swanepoel, Matilda Temperley Aidon Westcott on display as well as the usual mix of great South African craft and design. Shop 4, Franschhoek Square, 32 Huguenot Str, Franschhoek. T. 021 876 4477 info@ebonydesign.co.za www.ebonydesign.co.za Is Art Le Quartier Français, 16 Huguenot Str, Franschhoek.

T. 021 876 8443 isart@lqf.co.za www.is-art.co.za The Gallery at Grande Provence Until 27 Feb, “Angels 7 – I am an African”, a group exhibition. Contributing artists include Christiaan Diedericks, Eugenie Marais, Strijdom van der Merwe, Mbongeni Butelezi, Richard Smith, MJ Lourens and many more.

Main Rd, Franschhoek. T. 021 876 8630. gallery@grandeprovence.co.za www.grandeprovence.co.za

George Cape Palette Art Gallery Engen Centre, CJ Langenhoven Str, Heatherlands, George. T. 044 873 6581 info@capepalette.co.za www.capepalette.co.za Strydom Gallery Until March, “George 44”, a summer exhibition.

New works by Guy Du Toit, Pauline Gutter, Clare Menck, Jaco Sieberhagen, David Brown, Sarel Petrus, Willem Boshoff, William Kentridge, Simon Stone and the Artist Proof Studio. 79 Market Str, George. T. 044 874 4027 info@artaffair.co.za www.artaffair.co.za

Mossel Bay

Rossouw Modern Art Gallery Hermanus Pencil sketch artist Jono Dry now exhibiting. View his work at the gallery or online. Also new works by Gail Catlin, Bas van Stenis, Hugo Maritz, Mario Leibner, Godfrey Ntakana, Sandy Diogo, Jenny Jackson and Obert Jongwe.

3 Harbour Rd, Hermanus. T. 028 313 2222 info@rossouwmodern.co.za www.rossouwmodern.co.za Walker Bay Art Gallery View the wide selection of paintings, sculpture & ceramics by established as well as up and coming South African artists.171 Main Rd, Hermanus. Contact: Francois Grobbelaar 028 312 2928 francois@walkerbayartgallery.co.za www.walkerbayartgallery.co.za

Knysna Dale Elliott Art Galleries Leaders of the painting course concept in South Africa!

Shop 11, Knysna Mall Shopping Centre, Main Rd. T. 044 382 5646 dale@daleelliott.co.za www.daleelliott.co.za www.elliottartonline.wordpress.com A Different Drummer Recent works by Gráinne McHugh, Barry Barichievy and new lamps by Trevor Opperman.

Thesen House, 6 Long Street, Knysna. T. 044 382 5107.

C.082 552 7262 gallery@finearts.co.za www.finearts.co.za Knysna Art Gallery Old Gaol Complex, cnr of Main and Queen Street, Knysna.

T. 044 382 7124 knysnaartgallery@wispernet.co.za Knysna Fine Art Recent works by Deborah Bell, Sandra Hanekom, Phillemon Hlungwani, Joshua Miles and Guy Thesen.

Thesen House, 6 Long Str, Knysna. T. 044 382 5107.

C. 082 552 7262 gallery@finearts.co.za www.finearts.co.za

Artbeat Gallery 35 Gys Smalberger Str, Mossel Bay, T. 081 356 5295 artbeatmb@gmail.co.za

Sally Bekker Art Studio Ongoing exhibition of recent watercolour and oil paintings.

Upstairs in the Knysna Mall. C.082 342 3943. sally_bekker@hotmail.com

Hermanus

Langebaan

Abalone Gallery 1 Feb – 31 March, a group show featuring Titia Ballot, Gail Catlin, Christo Coetzee, Hannes Harrs, Jackson Hlungwani, Tadeus Jaroszynski, Lynette ten Krooden, Elzaby Laubscher, Carl Roberts, Fred Schimmel, Susanna Swart and Louis van Heerden. 2 Harbour Rd, The Courtyard, Hermanus. T. 028 313 2935 info@abalonegallery.co.za www.abalonegallery.co.za

Bay Gallery Bay Gallery supports excellent, local artists, many of whom are members of S.A.S.A. All mediums exhibited.

Marra Square, Bree St, Langebaan.

Contact: Daphne 073 304 8744 baygallery@xsinet.co.za www.baygallery.co.za

Art Amble Hermanus Village Ten diverse and unique Galleries all within walking distance in the heart of Hermanus Village. Four resident artists’ studios to visit. Collect your Art Amble Guide at any one of the Galleries in Main Road or at the Hermanus Tourism Office.

Terry Kobus: C. 083 259 8869. originals@hermanus.co.za

ArtKaroo Gallery Original works of art by established and emerging artists.

107 Baron van Reede, Oudtshoorn. T.044 279 1093 janet@artkaroo.co.za www.artkaroo.co.za

Bellini Gallery & Cappuccino-Bar 167 Main Rd, Hermanus. T. 028 312 4988 bellini@telkomsa.net www.bellini-gallery.co.za

The Post House Gallery Resident artist Adèle Claudia Fouché’s latest collection is permanently on display at the Post House. Until 28 Feb, “Future Memories”, featuring her latest works.

52 Park Str, Greyton, 7233. C. 082 522 4010. Contact: Adele Fouche. adele@artiststudio.co.za.

Originals Gallery The art studio and gallery of Terry Kobus. See the artist at work in his studio and view his latest paintings in an intimate gallery space. Shop 22 Royal Centre, 141 Main Rd, Hermanus. T. 083 259 8869 originals@hermanus.co.za www.originalshermanus.blogspot.com

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

Oudtshoorn

Overberg

Paarl Hout Street Gallery The Gallery specialises in South African paintings and fine art and features an extensive range of paintings, ceramics and sculptures by more than thirty South African artists.

270 Main Str, Paarl. T. 021 872 5030 zetler@icon.co.za www.houtstreetgallery.co.za

Piketberg The Art Business Contemporary Gallery and Art Consultancy 17 Main Str, Piketberg. C. 083 739 6196 / 072 659 1973 theartbusiness@gmail.com

Prince Albert Prince Albert Gallery Established in 2003, the Prince Albert Gallery always has an eclectic mix of art on display. From George Coutouvidis’s quirky post-modern cartoonism to Guy du Toit’s striking bronzes. 57 Church Str, Prince Albert. T. 023 541 1057. C. 082 749 2128 (Brent)karoogallery@intekom.co.za www.princealbertgallery.co.za

Somerset West Dante Art & Decor A modern Art Gallery since 1995. Proudly South African Art, Ceramics, Gifts & Decor. Furnishing your home with a modern touch of Beauty. Waterstone Village shop 37, Somerset West. C. 084 700 9196, gabby@danteartgallery.co.za www.danteartgallery.co.za Gallery 91 91 Andries Pretorius Str, Somerset West. T. 021 852 6700.

C. 084 441 7233 terry@gallery91.co.za www.gallery91.co.za Liebrecht Art Gallery Until 13 Feb, “Facing the Future: Portraits for Africa”, a national project with 550 portraits by 55 artists from all over South Africa. Some prominent artists included in the group are: Philip Badenhorst; Anthony Harris; Tanya Poole; Clare Menck and Kennett Sinclair to mention but a few. Exhibition marks the end of the gallery’s fifth birthday celebrations.

34 Oudehuis Str, Somerset West. T. 021 852 8030 C. 082 682 5710 vineyardartists@gmail.com www.liebrechtgallery.com

Stellenbosch Sasol Art Museum 52 Ryneveld Str, Stellenbosch T. 021 808 3691. corliah@sun.ac.za Slee Gallery 18 – 28 Feb, “Uttering the Myth”, a show by Katharien de Villiers & Luami Calitz.

101 Dorp Str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 887 3385 gallery@slee.co.za www.slee.co.za SMAC Art Gallery Closed until 7 May and will re-open with a retrospective exhibition by Hannatjie van der Watt on 9 May. 1st Floor, De Wet Centre, Church Str, Stellenbosch.

T. 021 887 3607 info@smacgallery.com www.smacgallery.com Stellenbosch Art Gallery An extensive selection of paintings, sculpture, handmade glass & ceramics by selected Western Cape artists are on offer to the discerning buyer. 34 Ryneveld Str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 887 8343 mjg@kingsley.co.za www.stellenboschartgallery.co.za US Art Gallery Cnr. of Dorp & Bird str, Stellenbosch. T. 021 828 3489 corliah@sun.ac.za www.sun.ac.za/usmuseum

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R U S T- E N - V REDE GALLERY 10 WELLINGTON RO A D , D U R B A N V I L L E TEL: +27 (021) 97 6 4 6 9 1 www.r ust-en-vrede. c o m

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ART MUSHROOMS IN CAPE TOWN | GALLERY GUIDE

Art mushrooms in Cape Town London based street artist Christiaan Nagel was in Cape Town setting up mushroom sculptures made from expanding foam/Polyurethane.

“I did four installations. They are mostly along Long Street. These include: Neighbourhood-yellow, Sergeant Peppers-pink, Adis in Cape-Red. The mushrooms are transient, short lived art. The classical artists/painters would spend year working on fresco’s and paintings. Modern art is quick, fun and short lived. Guerrilla style. But the mushrooms are open to debate. Mushrooms could refer to anything, mushroom clouds, psychedelic drugs...”

See more at: www.christiaannagel.co.uk/news and http://www.facebook.com/ChristiaanNagelOfficial. All pictures by Zane Mostert.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

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Diane Johnson - Ackerman www.dfjohnson-ackerman.co.za

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The Lovell Gallery l Artists Competition 2013 Submission date: 30 April For details visit www.lovellgallery.co.za or email info@lovellgallery.co.za

Gallery Hours: Tuesday - Friday 10h00 - 18h00, Saturday 10h00 - 14h00 139 Albert Rd, Woodstock, Cape Town I +27 21 447 5918 I www.lovellgallery.co.za

THE LOVELL GALLERY

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ART TIMES Please visit our new gallery in The Yard 38 Huguenot Str Franschhoek 7690 Tel: 021 876 4280

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WESTERN CAPE - OVERBERG | GALLERY GUIDE

Swellendam Kunstehuijs Fine Art Gallery Representing a wide variety of established and up-andcoming South African artists.

19 Swellengrebel str, Swellendam. T. 028 5142905 C. 082 4349291 grady@kunstehuijs.com www.kunstehuijs.com

Villiersdorp Dale Elliott Art Gallery 80 Main Rd, Villiersdorp. T. 028 840 2927 dale@daleelliott.co.za www.daleelliott.co.za www.elliottartonline.wordpress.com

Wilderness Beatrix Bosch Studio Unique works in leather as well as paintings & photography can be viewed at her studio.57 Die Duin, Wilderness.

T. 044 877 0585. C. 082 935 8354 bosch@beatrixbosch.co.za www.beatrixbosch.co.za Pharoah Art Gallery The gallery features an exquisite collection of Peter Pharoah’s fine art originals & prints including rich colourful portraits, unforgettable African wildlife and bold textured abstracts that are inspired by his travels around Africa.

Wilderness Centre, George Road, Wilderness T. 044 877 0265. C. 076 976 2629 gallery@peterpharoah.com www.peterpharoah.com

Kwazulu- Natal Durban The African Art Centre 94 Florida Rd, Durban. T. 031 312 3804/5 africanartcentre@afri-art.co.za www.afriart.org.za Artisan Gallery Showcasing a wide range of new works by some of Durban and South Africa’s most creative and talented artists. From fun and funky to elegant and classic, there is sure to be something for everyone. 344 Florida Rd, Morningside, Durban. T. 031 312 4364 info@artisan.co.za ArtSPACE Durban Until 9 Feb, “Phonography 2”, a group exhibition of smartphone photographs.

11 Feb – 2 March, “Facebooked”, a solo exhibition of paintings by Coral Spencer.

3 Millar Rd, Stamford Hill, Durban. T.031 312 0793 info@artspace-durban.com www.artspace-durban.com Christie’s International Auctioneers.

Gillian Scott Berning, Independent Consultant.

T 031 207 8247 Gillian.gsb@mweb.co.za www.christies.com The Collective Until 9 Feb, “It’s a Wrap”, an exhibition offering fine art along with a mixture of design, fashion, street art, jewellery, and more.

48b Florida Rd, (entrance in 4th Avenue) Greyville, Durban.

T. 031 303 4891 thecollectivedurban.blogspot.com Durban Art Gallery 2nd Floor City Hall, Anton Lembede (Smith) Str, Durban.

T. 031 311 2264/332 7286 strettonj@durban.gov.za www.durban.gov.za

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

Elizabeth Gordon Gallery A new selection of oils on paper from Sudanese artist, Hussein Salim. 120 Florida Rd, Durban T. 031 303 8133 joy@elizabethgordon.co.za www.elizabethgordon.co.za KZNSA Gallery Until 3 Feb, “KZNSA Members’ Exhibition: Urbanity”, a group exhibition. 166 Bulwer Rd, Glenwood, Durban.

T. 031 277 1705 gallery@kznsagallery.co.za www.kznsagallery.co.za Tamasa Gallery A small commercial gallery, Tamasa exhibits a broad variety of contemporary KZN artists. 36 Overport Drive, Berea, Durban. T. 031 207 1223. tamasacc@mweb.co.za

Ballito Imbizo Gallery Shop 7, Ballito Lifestyle Centre. T. 032 946 1937 info@imbizogallery.co.za www.imbizogallery.co.za

Pietermaritzburg Tatham Art Gallery On show until 2013, in the First Floor Galleries, South African Landscapes: “Storm in the Wheatfields” - History of the Tatham Art Gallery 1903 to 1974.

Cnr of Chief Albert Luthuli (Commercial) Rd & Church Str. (Opposite City Hall) Pietermaritzburg. T. 033 392 2801 thulani.makhaye@msunduzi.gov.za www.tatham.org.za

Underberg The Underberg Studio Set in a delightful garden facing the mountains, the gallery specializes in South African Fine Art landscape photography & Ceramics. Owned by photographer Lawrance Brennon and his potter wife, Catherine Brennon, the gallery is regularly updated with their latest work.

21 Ridge Rd, Underberg. Signage from R617 T. 033 701 2440 / 072 141 9924 / 082 872 7830 bren@yebo.co.za www.underbergstudio.co.za

Eastern Cape Alexandria Quin Gallery & Sculpture Garden Enjoy refreshments under the jacaranda tree while enjoying the sculptures of international sculptor Maureen Quin.

5 Suid Str, Alexandria, Eastern Cape, following the signs from the main street. T. 046 6530121 C. 082 7708000 quinart@mweb.co.za www.quin-art.co.za

East London Ann Bryant Gallery 1 – 28 Feb, Ann Bryant Art Gallery Permanent Collection.

A cross section of South African Masters from 1920’s to the present day, as well as a collection of European paintings mainly from the Victorian era.

1 – 16 Feb, “Excise and Exercise”, a solo exhibition of photographs by Eva Weidner, in the Coach House.

2 – 9 March, Maritza Coetzee exhibits work in oils and watercolour in the Coach House, opening on the 1st at 6:30pm. 9 St. Marks Rd, Southernwood, East London.

T. 043 722 4044 annbryant@intekom.co.za www.annbryant.co.za Floradale Fine Art Gallery A newly opened gallery at the Floradale complex showcasing a wide variety of works by local artists including paintings, ceramics, sculpture, mixed-media, photography as well as jewellery & decorative arts.

Floradale Centre, Old Gonubie Rd, Beacon Bay. T. 043 740 2031 C. 078 294 7252 rwarren@wol.co.za Malcolm Dewey Fine Art Ongoing exhibition of oil paintings by Malcolm Dewey plus works by a selection of local artists.

60 Darlington Rd, Berea, East London. T. 043 7260421 art@dewey.co.za www.originalart.co.za

Klein Karoo Sheena Ridley Art Studio & Sculpture Garden Langkloof, Klein Karoo. C. 083 589 2881 sheena@ridley.co.za www.ridley.co.za

Port Elizabeth ART Gallery Until 23 Feb, “COLLECT!VE III”, a selected exhibition of contemporary fine art from professional artists of the Eastern Cape. 51B Cuyler Street, Central Hill, Port Elizabeth.

Contact: Anthony Harris. C. 072 379 5933 art.events@telkomsa.net www.artsjourney-nelsonmandelabay.co.za ArtEC Until 8 Feb, an exhibition by NMMU awarded students.

12 – 22 Feb, “Same Size, Same Price, No Signatures”, an open exhibition.

25 Feb – 8 March, “Thorny Issues”, a show by Sue Hoppe and Dorelle Sapere.

36 Bird Str, P.E. T. 041 585 3641 gallery@artecpe.co.za www.artecpe.co.za Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum Until 31 March, “100 Shades of Grey”, an exhibition exploring the use of monotones in a selection of work from the NMM Art Museums Permanent Collection.

Until 12 May, “Exploring the Art of the Eastern Cape 1900 – 2013”, a reflection on the trend-setters of the past and the innovators who are shaping the art of the future.

2 March – 26 May, “The Eastern Cape of the Explorers”, showcasing artworks of the landscape as seen through the eyes of the 19th century European explorers.

1 Park Drive, Port Elizabeth. T. 041 506 2000 artmuseum@mandelametro.gov.za www.artmuseum.co.za Ron Belling Art Gallery Until 22 Feb, a solo exhibition of works by printmaker Alan Basil Grobler. 30 Park Drive, P.E. T. 041 586 3973 ronbelling@mweb.co.za www.ronbelling.co.za

Northern Cape Kimberley William Humphreys Art Gallery 13 Feb – 7 March, “Enlightened Nature”, an exhibition by Jaco Powell. 1 Cullinan Crescent, Civic Centre, Kimberley.

T. 053 831 1724/5 whag@eject.co.za www.whag.co.za

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GALLERY GUIDE | Absa’s KKNK LINE UP

Visuele Kuns : Absa KKNK 2013 Gids Die Visuele Kuns is ‘n woordlose gespreksvoering wat die interne bestaanswaarhede van die kunstenaar bloot lê. Die maak van uitbeeldings is ‘n integrale faset van die mens se bestaan; die ontwikkeling van “kuns” is ‘n kentering in die evolusie van die mens. Ons begrip van lewe, dood, God en beeld het ons psige gelykwaardig betree: ‘n moment van “bestaans-ekstase”.

Die kunstenaar James McNeil Whisler beskryf die impuls om te skep soos volg: “All true artists, whether they know it or not, create from a place of no-mind, from inner stillness” Kuns konkel. Dit is ‘n obskure visuele skermutseling wat intuïtief, of selfs toevallig, ‘n waarheid ontbloot. Ons het nie die kunste nodig vir ons bestaan nie, tog meet en definieer ons, ons bestaan deur middel van die kunste. Dit impliseer dat alle kuns die gekose selfportret van die mensdom is.

Die Visuele Kunsprogram vir 2013 fokus op die rol van die kunstenaar as boodskapper vanaf die onderbewussyn of onderwêreld. Die substratum van die kunstenaar se skeppingshunkering is die omskrywing van lewe en dood – Die Altaar van Stoflikheid.

Die hooffeeskunstenaar vir die 2013 Absa KKNK is die merkwaardige en briljante Diane Victor. Alhoewel Victor ‘n ou bekende by die Absa KKNK is, sowel as ‘n 2011 Kanna-wenner, word sy vanjaar vereer as hooffeeskunstenaar. Victor is waarlik nie net een van Suid-Afrika se mees prominente kunstenaars nie, maar ook ‘n gerekende internasionale kunstenaar. Haar uitstalling, “No Country for Old Women”, beloof om ‘n hoogtepunt van die fees te wees.

Die Sielsang van bestaan word verder ondersoek deur verskeie ABSA Atelier finaliste in die ABSA Korporatiewe uitstalling “The Seven Deadly Virtues / Die Sewe Dodelike Hoofdeugde”, onder die kuratorskap van Dr. Paul Bayliss. Kunstenaars bied ‘n kontemporêre blik op die sewe Middeleeuse hoofdeugde: matigheid, nederigheid, gulhartigheid, kuisheid, geduld, vlytigheid en welwillendheid; teenoor die sewe dodelike sondes: vraatsug, ydelheid, hebsug, wellus, wraaksug, luiheid en afguns.

In 2013 is dit ook die Absa KKNK se voorreg om gasheer te wees van die 2011 Absa l’Atelier wenner, Ian Grose, se solo-uitstalling “Aantekeninge / Notes”.

Die groepsuitstalling “Velvet”, onder die kuratorskap van Kanna-wenner Christiaan Diedericks, sowel as die solo-uitstallings “Mans-Mens”, deur Chris Koch, en “When You Feeling Like a Lady”, deur Robert Hamblin, ondersoek die komplekse en kwesbare natuur van seksualiteit en identiteit. Die uitstallings vra diverse en persoonlike vrae met die fokus op interne bestaanswaarhede, eerder as eenvoudige antwoorde.

Die kurator, Clare Menck, se groepsuitstalling “Vanitas 2013”, bring van ons land se mees gerespekteerde skilders na die fees. Vanitas skilderye beklemtoon dat “die lewe ‘n gejaag na wind is”, en dat alles verganklik en kortstondig is. Menslike ydelheid kom tot ‘n val.

Ander solo-uitstallings wat die dilemma van verantwoordelikheid besin is “Vergete Verledes” deur Cobus van Bosch, en “Die Laaste van Ons / The Last of Us” deur Pauline Gutter. Hierdie uitstallings deur twee uitstaande skilders sentreer rondom ons gebondenheid met die landskap. Van Bosch fokus op vergete historiese gebeure, terwyl Gutter se werk ons interne gebondenheid tot die land bloot lê.

Twee van Suid-Afrika se mees gerespekteerde kontemporêre galerye stal vanjaar uit. “Me.Ek”, is ‘n groepsuitstalling van vooraanstaande kunstenaars onder kuratorskap van Prof. Elfriede Dreyer van Fried Contemporary, en “Tom Cullberg” is ‘n gekureerde solo-uitstalling onder die kuratorskap van Elana Brundyn van Brundyn + Gonsalves. “Me.Ek” ondersoek die belangrikheid van sosiale media in ons lewens en hoe dit die “ek” definieer. Brundyn + Gonsalves se uitstalling “Tom Cullberg” bring van hierdie befaamde skilder se werke na die fees.

Die populêre beeld van die legende en die berugde word ondersoek in die groepsuitstalling “The Tom Waits for No Man”, gekureer deur Gordon Froud, en die solo-uitstalling “Amper Almal – Die Stamboom van die Suid-Afrikaanse Populêre Kultuur” deur Alex Hamilton. Froud se uitstalling fokus op die lewe en die lirieke van die kultusfiguur en musikant Tom Waits. Hamilton se uitstalling “Amper Almal” is ‘n visuele feesviering van roem. ‘n Groot klomp Suid-Afrikaanse ikone en 34

persoonlikhede word vereer in die uitstalling. Die werke herroep ons kollektiewe geheue van amper almal, Karel Kraai tot Steve Hofmeyer.

Die verband tussen die geskrewe woord of boek en die visuele beeld word ondersoek deur die volgende uitstallings: “ATKV: Skilder met Woorde III: 1 2 3 Blok Myself” (groepsuitstalling), “Moleskin SA Art + Design Project” (groepsuitstalling) deur Johann du Plessis en “Streeksbiblioteek” (solo-uitstalling) deur Olaf Bisschoff.

Die visuele kunsprogram sluit verder in: “Spoor” ‘n solo-uitstalling deur die voormalige kurator van die Absa KKNK Theo Kleynhans, “Quintessence: 12 People I Know and Objects of Enlightenment” deur Vanessa Berlein en Michele Davidson, en “Silence is Golden: Political Language, Euphemism and Bullsh#t!” ‘n solo-uitstalling deur Stephen Rosin. Rosin is ‘n voormalige ABSA Atelier wenner. Sowel as die solo-uitstalling “Befoxycated Etc” deur Annelie van der Vyver.

Die 2013 Visuele Kunsprogram is werklik... GROOT. En soos ‘n gewigtige Russiese-roman behels dit alles: geboorte, geweld, seks, verraad, liefde, die dood en natuurlik skoonheid. Ek eindig met die woorde van die kunstenaar Joan Miro: “To be an artist is to believe in life” Rondleidings en besprekings Woon gerus die daaglikse kunsrondleidings en besprekings deur Sandra Hanekom, die Visuele Kunskurator, by vir ‘n meer deurdagte en holistiese ervaring van die uitstallings. Rondleidings sluit ‘n besoek aan die feeskunstenaar se uitstalling in.Rondleidings en besprekings met die Absa KKNK Kunskurator Sandra Hanekom Daagliks vanaf 10:00 tot 11:30 Koste: R50 per persoon Vrydag 29 Maart 2013:

Geen – Opening van uitstallings

Saterdag 30 Maart 2013: “Die werk van Diane Victor” met Sandra Hanekom, Diane Victor, Dr. Paul Bayliss, Gordon Froud en Cobus van Bosch Sondag 31 Maart 2013: “Die Rol van ‘n Kurator” met Sandra Hanekom, Dr Paul Bayliss, Prof. Elfriede Dreyer, Johann du Plessis, Elana Brundyn, Clare Menck, Christiaan Diedericks, Gordon Froud en Nita Cronje.

Maandag 1 April 2013: “Die Politiek van Kuns” met Sandra Hanekom, Christiaan Diedericks, Nita Cronje, Stephen Rosin, Chris Koch, Alex Hamilton, Robert Hamblin, Pauline Gutter en Cobus van Bosch Dinsdag 2 April 2013: “Merkmaak – Die Skilders” met Sandra Hanekom, Clare Menck, Pauline Gutter, Vanessa Berlein, Michele Davidson, Cobus van Bosch, Annelie van der Vyver en Olaf Bisschoff Woensdag 3 April 2013: “Die Fyn Lyn – Ikone, Populariteit en Kommersialiteit” met Sandra Hanekom, Alex Hamilton, Gordon Froud, Dr. Paul Bayliss, Prof. Elfriede Dreyer en Johann du Plessis Donderdag 4 April 2013: “Versamelkuns” met Sandra Hanekom, Prof. Elfriede Dreyer, Dr. Paul Bayliss, Elana Brundyn, Gordon Froud, Cobus van Bosch en Johann du Plessis Vrydag 5 April 2013: “Die Toekoms van die Visuele Kunste in SA” met Sandra Hanekom, Dr. Paul Bayliss, Prof. Elfriede Dreyer, Cobus van Bosch, Pauline Gutter, Gordon Froud, Chris Koch, Olaf Bisschoff, Johann du Plessis en Nita Cronje

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

EASTERN CAPE | KZ- NATAL | GALLERY GUIDE

The Arts come Together

29 March - 6 April 2013 | Oudtshoorn Programme and accommodation available online Tickets available from Computicket or Shoprite / Checkers 044 203 8600 | info@kknk.co.za | www.absakknk.co.za www.facebook.com/AbsaKKNK www.twitter.com/AbsaKKNK

Absa KKNK 2013 SA Art Times Feb. edition.indd 1

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

2013/01/21 02:47:27 PM

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ARTLife | GALLERY BUZZ CAPE GALLERY: Mandy McKay, Veronica Reid and Helen van Stolk Exhibition, Cape Town

Grant Jurius and Quinton Sinclair / Janine van Stolk and Shane Heerden look at ‘Patience in Paris’ by Helen van Stolk / Sarah Wormald chats to Mandy / Frederike Stokhuyzen and John White / 2 X Cape Gallery /Jane Hutchings, Janine van Stolk, Yvonne van Stolk and Eric van Stolk IRMA STERN MUSEUM: Clementina van der Walt exhibition Irma Stern Museum

Binky Newman with plates of ‘Myths and Fables’ / Stuart Horn and Deborah Bidoli / on Irma’s patio / UCT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Crain Soudien in red / Jane van der Spuy and Penny Dobbie / Albie Bailey / Glazes reflecting the mists and heat of the Groenfontein Valley.

GALLERY BUZZ | ARTLife CASA LABIA: Walkabout with Joao Ferreira at Casa Labia Cultural Centre and Cafe

Omar Hendriks chats with one of his sons / Joao Ferreira talks about Conrad Hicks’ scultpture / Claire Ross, Hildegarde van Zyl and Irene Oxley / Gabrielle and Winnie / Colleen Ross and Mariana Swart / Judy Woodborne, Jo Jardine and Eris Silke / Beezy Bailey / Cate Wood Hunter The inspirational exhibition of Elad Kirshenbaum’s art collection At The Lovell Gallery.

Patrice Boussekey and Alister Dream Wilder/ Anton Maritz checks the odds in the Art Times with friend Gregory Hendricks / At The Lovell Gallery / Rus Nerwich and Amanda Bayda look at work by Asha Zero and Jordan Metcalf — with Gregor Rohrig / Tamzin Lovell Miller opens the exhibition / Maresia Haasbroek, Clayton Peterson and Alice Edy / Beverley Schafer and Jaclyn Goodman chat with their friend

ARTLife | GALLERY BUZZ The Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Durbanville hosts the lively and powerful work of artists with disabilities from Orion

Mary-Ann Cedras with ‘Comet’ by Althea Arendse / Linda Pauwels reading about Orion / The first buyer Ann Marais with her purchase ‘Splashes of Night’ by Christopher Edwards / Hannl Cronje, Priscilla Cloete, Monica Ross with Randall Martin with some of his work / a perfect evening for enjoying a Rust en Vrede dinner after perusing art South African Society of Artists (SASA) Merit Award Winners: at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

Peter Clarke, Penny Dobbie, Margie Johnson / Mandy Mckay and Di Johnson-Ackerman / Lionel Davis / Bill Brown with his artwork ‘a maze of masts, Simonstown’ / Cornelia Schilling, Hsiao-Lin Huang and Paula Zolezzi have an in depth discussion about creativity and the beauty of youth / Wyn Rossouw with her oil ‘China Roses’ / Robert and Lee O’Brien / Fula Paxinos and Alice Goldin.

GALLERY BUZZ | ARTLife BARNARD GALLERY Big Art Supper with art talk by David Krut

Toast at Table / Tanja MacKay-Davidson, Simone Kovensky, Daniela Barnard, / Christiaan Barnard, Paul Kovensky, Stuart MacKay-Davidson / Michael & Astrid Siminow / Michael & Nina Kovensky /Sonja Holtzhausen, Grethe Fox, David Krut

Find all the beautiful daily action and drama on our Facebook Profile at www.facebook.com/ arttimes

“one of the most accomplished and subtle landscapists in the book of South African art”

Alice Elahi Swirling Mist, Ambrose Bay 1981

www.aliceelahi.co.za

Ashbey’s Galleries cc Antique & Fine Art Auctioneers Valuers & Appraisers

Decorative & Fine Art Auction 28 February 2013 at 10:00 Viewing: Wednesday 20th Feb to Wednesday 27th Feb till 14:00 Includes: Silver, Ceramics, Bronzes, Jewellery, Carpets, Antique & Contemporary Furniture, Objects d’Art, South African & International works of art

Tel: 021 423-8060 Fax: 021 423-3047 43 Church Street, CAPE TOWN

Ashbey’s Galleries has been involved in the World of Art and Antiques for over 100 years. The company’s expertise and experience in the fields of South African art, as well as the general antique market is part of our proud history.

email: info@ashbeys.co.za www.ashbeysgalleries.co.za www.the_saleroom.com

GORDON FROUD’S PLETT RES | ARTLife

Gordon Froud makes moving public sculpture in Plett Chris Reinders Johannesburg-based sculptor Gordon Froud, the senior lecturer in sculpture at the Visual Art Department at the University of Johannesburg, is the first artist- in-residence at the Site Specific Residency held at Ebenezer Estate in Plettenberg Bay. He has worked hard and furiously this December at creating three large sculptures which are making guerrilla appearances in and around the beautiful Indian Ocean holiday town. Froud was ably assisted by his studio assistant Honest Ngwenya.

His first work is a tribute to an iconic local “Art Car” created by Angus Greig from a 1980s Toyota Corolla painted up by various artists. Froud, in turn, has created a life-sized, accurately detailed sculpture of the car using 3500 multi-coloured plastic hangers held together by more than 5000 cable-ties.

This was an intensive 10 day undertaking involving long days and nights and very little sleep. The public response has been phenomenal with adults, children and even car guards oohing and ahhing, posing for photographs with the art car, and expressing great enthusiasm when it arrives at a spot and disappointment when it moves on to another. It has been shown at the Melville Shopping centre in the town, at the Lookout viewpoint and at Central beach and will be shown in various other parking bays around the area, thus creating a mobile Site Specific artwork.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

The second work is a 1,8m high HI Virus based on geodesic structural principles. It is made of pine and jacaranda wood held together entirely by wooden connectors and pins without any use of glue or fasteners. The large sphere has also attracted a lot of attention, particularly when constructed on site with observers becoming willing participants in its construction, as was witnessed at the opening of the Red Barn Art Exhibition on the outskirts of Plett last weekend.

The artist has just completed a third work, a geometric ball, based on Leonardo da Vinci’s original design, made from wattle branches (a comment on the invasion and eradication of alien plants in the region), and turned wooden connectors, and stands at 2,8m tall. The huge sphere, made of hexagonal and pentagonal shapes, resembles a giant soccer ball and is sure to draw many admirers as it makes it way around Plett. The rustic wooden frames glowing golden in the sunlight and the playfully large scale are bound be a hit throughout the summer.

The residency is part of the Site Specific Land Art project which successfully ran a major workshop and exhibition in and around Plett in May 2011 and will host another in August 2013. It is hoped that, with sufficient local and municipal support, it will become an annual or biannual event, marking Plettenberg Bay as a unique South African destination for Land Art and Site Specific Art work.

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BUSINESS ART | STRAUSS & CO’S CAPE TOWN AUCTION SALE

(Left) Lot 490: Irma Stern Malay Girl: oil on canvas 56 by 57,5cm. R10 000 000 - 15 000 000 (Above) Lot: 494: Maggie (Maria Magdalena) Laubser. Portrait of a Girl with Geese. oil on cardboard. 37 by 46cm R1 500 000 - 2 000 000 (Top) Lot 480: Anton van Wouw Miner with Hand Drill, bronze height: 60cm, R1 600 000 - 2 200 000

Millions for minors, miners and minions on Strauss’s Summer Auction One of Irma Stern’s most compelling portraits ever to come to the market will be offered at Strauss & Co’s upcoming auction to be held on 4 February at the Vineyard Hotel in Newlands. Malay Girl, painted in 1938 and estimated to fetch between R10 000 000 – 15 000 000, provides extraordinary insights into the curious life of a child. The girl looks directly at the viewer, engaging us in a way that is neither challenging nor retiring. She meets the viewer’s gaze on equal terms. Rather than infantilising the child, the artist has provided a portrait of a thoughtful individual.

Stern makes imaginative use of warm, seductive colours like tangerine, cyclamen, yellow and maroon.

The bold colour blocking and the pink hair ribbon are apparently simple yet highly sophisticated compositional devices that focus attention on the emotional heart of the painting – her large, captivating eyes.

These formal elements remind us why Stern’s paintings are unique and highly sought-after and why she remains unparalleled as an artist. The South African auction world has seen no comparable portrait since Strauss & Co sold Stern’s Arab in June 2012 for R17 267 000.

Anton van Wouw’s Miner with Hammer Drill, dated 1911 and estimated at R1 600 000 – 2 200 000, is a rare and remarkable example of the sculptor at his best. Few castings exist of this large bronze measuring 60 centimetres in height, as even in Van Wouw’s lifetime its price was exceptionally high according to Professor Dr Alexander Duffey. This bronze was cast at the G. Massa Foundry in Rome under the sculptor’s close supervision. The Pretoria Art Museum owns an example of similar quality cast t the Nisini Foundry in Rome.

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Connoisseurs recognise the dramatic differences between these bronzes cast by the best Italian craftsmen and those local and posthumous casts of inferior quality. Van Wouw’s sculptural skill is apparent here in the accurate anatomical detail of the figure which was originally modelled in the nude.

Its exquisite light brown patina and highly polished surface contrast with the roughly hewn rock face that surrounds it. Working with hand-held implements in the flickering light of a candle, Miner with Hammer Drill provides a strong social statement on mining and labour in South Africa at the turn of the century.

Figures in a Landscape by Walter Battiss (estimated at R1 600 000 – 2 200 000) is exciting much interest as paintings on this scale and of comparable quality are seldom seen at auction. Battiss’s Bathers, sold by Strauss & Co in March 2010 for R1 336 800, is similar in size and treatment. Both display the technical skill and sensual subject matter that have made him one of the most popular artists at auction today. Across a painterly surface of warm tones flecked with white are gathered serried rows of African people busy with their daily activities of carrying, collecting, cooking and chatting. The even distribution of figures across the picture plane owes much to Battiss’s pioneering research into San rock art paintings. Battiss’s African Figures broke all auction records for this artist when it sold for R2 562 200 at Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg sale in November 2012.

The discovery of two exceptional paintings by Maggie Laubser, one of which was acquired more than 80 years ago and has been cherished by generations of the same family, is creating great interest amongst art lovers and collectors. Laubser’s Portrait

of a Girl with Geese (estimated to fetch between R1 500 000 – 2 000 000) and Still Life with Poppies (R350 000 – 500 000) are both examples of her early and most sought-after works.

Also included in the February auction are rare paintings by Hugo Naudé and Pieter Wenning, a bold Wolf Kibel oil for the connoisseur, unusual paintings

by Stanley Pinker, early works by Penny Siopis including one from the History Paintings Series most of which are now in museums, a William Kentridge drawing and paintings by younger artists who are making waves on the local and international art scene such as Matt Hindley and Kudzanai Chiurai.

For purposes of quoting, the text on the works of art was written by Emma Bedford, Senior Art Specialist, Strauss & Co. AUCTION IN CAPE TOWN Monday 4 February 2013 The Vineyard Hotel, Conference Centre, Newlands PREVIEW: From Friday 1 to Sunday 3 February from 10am to 5pm WALKABOUTS: Conducted by Stephan Welz and Emma Bedford, Sunday 3 February at 11am ENQUIRIES: +27 (0) 21 683 6560 CONTACT NUMBERS DURING VIEWING AND AUCTION: Mobile +27 (0) 78 044 8185 Fax +27 (0) 21 683 6560 Catalogues are available and can be purchased at R120 or from our offices. www.straussart.co.za

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

BONHAMS LONDON SOUTH AFRICAN SALE | BUSINESS ART

Bonhams SA Sale Coming up in Bonhams’ 20 March 2013 sale: Tretchikoff’s original Chinese Girl and a special focus on William Kentridge In the Antiques Trade Gazette of December 2012, editor Ivan Macquisten astutely summarised the state of the South African art market: “Only the best will do... but it will do very nicely”. Indeed, recent sales of South African art suggest buyers are becoming more selective, yet strong showings at Bonhams by J.H. Pierneef (including a new world record for a rare pair of caseins), Irma Stern, Alexis Preller, and Gerard Sekoto continue to reinforce these artists’ pre-eminence in the market for South African art market.

However, new records – coupled with consistently growing values for slightly less prominent artists such as Anton Van Wouw (whose sculpture has increased in value tenfold in the past ten years) – reveal that the market remains dynamic.

Bonhams’ October 2012 auc tion broke several world records, bringing to the fore the abstract compositions of Stanley Pinker (R4.7 million), the sumptuous surfaces of Vladimir Tretchikoff (R4.7 million), and the unique expressionism of selftaught artist Gladys Mgudlandlu (R384,000).

Coming up in Bonhams’ 20 March 2013 sale: Tretchikoff’s original Chinese Girl and a special focus on William Kentridge Featuring an exciting array of works by Irma Stern, Gerard Sekoto, Stanley Pinker, J.H. Pierneef, Alexis Preller and many other important artists, Bonhams’ March sale will include the iconic Chinese Girl by Vladimir Tretchikoff. The original painting which inspired the popular lithographic reproductions that, by the late 1950s, had found their way to all corners of the globe, it is sure to draw immense interest, alongside several other Tretchikoff masterworks.

The March sale will also include a special focus on William Kentridge. South Africa’s foremost contemporary artist, Kentridge is renowned for his SA ART TIMES. February 2013

animated films, prints, drawings, installations and opera projects. His compelling combination of the political and the poetic spans over three decades, and his art is a prized possession in private and public collections around the world. Widespread acclaim for the recent travelling exhibition (201011) of Kentridge’s work, ‘Five Themes’, which premiered at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) before travelling on to New York, Paris, Vienna, Jerusalem, Moscow and Melbourne, bespeaks the artist’s international appeal.

And in the UK, the current exhibition ‘A Universal Archive: William Kentridge as Printmaker’ at the Bluecoat Gallery is complemented by the projection of several of the artist’s film works at the nearby Tate Liverpool in ‘Tracing the Century: Drawing as a Catalyst for Change’.

Bonhams holds the top auction record for a picture by the artist, after the charcoal and oil on canvas Anti-Waste sold for R3.5 million in March 2012. The March sale will feature some of the finest examples of his oeuvre. The selection of work available includes original charcoal drawings, prints, paintings, and mixed-media sculptures.

While many are related to his masterful 9 Drawings for Projection series, others spring from his most recent projects, offering an incomparable range of available work and reflecting the breadth of Kentridge’s career. Moreover, the recent acquisition and display of I am not me, the horse is not mine (2008) in the newly-built Tanks at the Tate Modern makes London the perfect place to secure a Kentridge piece of your own.

(Right Top)) Casspirs full of love encaustic £140,000-180,000. (Middle) Head (Green), drypoint with hand colouring £60,000-80,000 Construction for Return (tenor) Mixed media £100,000-150,000 43

BUSINESS ART | ANC’S ART INVESTMENT GAME

The Artful Dodger: The ANC’s art investment game

First published in The Daily Maverick J Brooks Spector Art experts are utterly baffled, if not horrified, by the R3.7 million raised at an ANC fundraising auction for a painting of Nelson Mandela by an unknown artist. J BROOKS SPECTOR follows the valuation – and comes up with a notso-surprising conclusion.

A few days ago, the media carried some incredulous reports about an auction held by the African National Congress that had raised some extraordinary amounts of money for the party – at a party. The idea, it seems, was that guests would buy ANC-themed artworks to help fill the party’s coffers – after the guests had paid thousands for the privilege of attending the Friday night dinner in Durban with party leaders. According to published reports, the haul from the auction came in at over R21 million. The apparent highlight of the evening was a winning R3.7 million bid by Mineral Resources Minister Susan Shabangu – apparently on behalf of an anonymous “mining magnate” – to snag a painting of Nelson Mandela’s head and shoulders, posed in front of some rondavels and an aloe.

Media reports have been silent on whether the work’s artist, Sifiso Ngcobo, actually received any money for his work – or whether he simply donated it for the greater good – and presumably to position himself for future commissions and tenders for artworks for public buildings, cultural exchanges overseas or other sponsorships. Ngcobo says he spent less than three weeks creating the work auctioned for the price of a nice home in Johannesburg’s leafy northern suburbs.

Ngcobo is not one of South Africa’s major artists, at least not yet, anyway.

His name is not listed in standard reference works on South African art, and leading art critics didn’t seem to recognise his name either. Based on what is admittedly a very slender web presence, Ngcobo does appear to have had exhibitions in Durban and he also participated in an artistic exchange programme set up between Durban and Leeds in the United Kingdom several years ago.

Ngcobo describes much of his artistic oeuvre as a kind of bas-relief – or as he calls it, 3-D art. Essentially, his technique is to build up layers of papiermâché on a board in the shape dictated by his intended image, and then he paints over it to give depth to the images. Based on this web information, Ngcobo’s output “includes 3D paintings, abstract, African ethnic, etc, picture framing, glass decor and sand blasting, glass doors, coffee tables, trophies, headboards, pedestals, etc.” In other words, he’s an artistic jack-of-all-trades entrepreneur.

One has to have respect for this man. He is making a living in the creative sector; he’s obviously lined up some potent, powerful, well-connected friends; and now, he’s managed to get more free publicity for his work recently than any other South African artist has managed to achieve – except, of course, Brett Murray. Over time, into the future, this has to help his sales – whether it is for one of his bas-reliefs of national political heroes, for a coffee table or a headboard – or even a whole house-full of his furniture and artefacts. But, as the caption in the Sunday Times report on the auction asked, is this item that 44

was bought and paid for actually art? And what is it really worth?

As far as its actual worth goes – veteran arts commentator Michael Coulson reminded that asking the intrinsic value of a particular piece of art is a lot like asking how long is a piece of string? The answer, of course, is that it depends.

Mostly, it depends on what someone will want to pay for it, rather than the cost of the raw materials that go into it. This is rather different than the pricing mechanisms for commodities such as a loaf of bread or a ton of steel. The longer a piece of art hangs around, assuming critics, collectors and speculators embrace it, the more likely its price will increase, if for no other reason than there has been a longer period of time in which those people can contemplate its worth and talk up its value.

The skill of the creator obviously matters, but scarcity helps too. For example, there are only 34 extant works that are generally accepted to have been painted by the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. If someone miraculously discovered one or two more hidden in the garret of an old Delft house, the prices of the others probably wouldn’t be affected appreciably simply because there has already been four centuries worth of critical and popular acclaim for the very small number of his works that have survived. Effectively the demand (and the price) for two more Vermeer works would, in economic terms, be called completely elastic.

While Rembrandt’s etchings are beloved, there are lots of them around. But, if a cache of hundreds more were suddenly uncovered in the basement of the Louvre, the market for Rembrandt etchings might register a brief, modest decline in prices in auctions that would immediately follow such a discovery. But, so many people would still be delighted to own a genuine work by the master now that if there were more to go around, they probably would all be snapped up at good prices.

By contrast, no such processes have established anything remotely approaching a generally agreed valuation for Sifiso Ngcobo’s works.

Meanwhile, price ranges for works by well-known, highly regarded South African artists are generally much, much lower than Ngcobo’s R3.7 million portrait of Madiba. For example, small graphic works by the internationally respected, South African-born artist, Marlene Dumas, have recently been selling for around R30,000, although her oil paintings go for much more than that. Prices for Cecil Skotnes’s iconic painted and carved wood panels have been hitting the R150,000 mark, and some of Irma Stern’s paintings have been reaching R5 million and more. JF Pierneef works can fetch as much as R5 million, and paintings by Alexis Preller and Robert Hodgkins have now broken the million rand frontier as well. In fact, one Preller work recently went at auction for a remarkable R4.7 million.

And recent prices for some large-scale works by William Kentridge – a hardworking internationally-renowned artist who has had major exhibitions in the US, UK and elsewhere – have topped R500,000, while smaller sketches in local collections are getting valuations of around R150,000 or so, were they to go on auction or sale by a reputable dealer. Sculptures by two deceased South African sculptors, Sydney Khumalo and the late Ezrom Kgobokanyo Sebata Legae, can reach around R300,000 and R100,000 respectively; collages from the eagerly collected artist Jabulane Sam Nhlengethwa can easily reach R25,000, while his paintings and his large-scale, limited edition prints sell for more than that. But the key point is that all of these are (or were) creators with successful, lifelong track records – and, in many cases, significant international recognition.

As for Ngcobo’s work, one highly experienced art academic who specialises in contemporary South African work was, frankly, horrified after reading about that R3.7 million picture and its price tag, saying, “I think the portrait is more than just pedestrian and weak: it is utterly corny and completely hideous.” No beating around the bush there. Moreover, while the same expert was reluctant to simply call it “airport art” – partly because even airport art sometimes ends up even having some artistic merit, this particular painting, “does remind me of the worst kind of thing you would find in a curio shop. It astonishes me that anybody would pay R3.7 million for it, and I can only assume that those bidding did so without advice from anybody with experience and knowledge of the visual arts.”

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | BUSINESS ART

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

But that just leads to the question of why the same party that hosted this auction would have egged on the suppression of Brett Murray’s Zuma portrait – even given its layers of meaning and its highly problematic content – on the one hand, while then placing a value on a work no reputable gallery would contemplate hanging, well beyond levels reached by all but the most exceptional of South African paintings. One art expert posed the question of whether the attendees and the sponsors of the party were somehow confusing the stature of the person portrayed in this painting with the worth of an artwork purporting to represent him.

Given all of this, what might Ngcobo’s portrait actually be worth? Based on the works cited above, for the sake of argument, let us assign a generous value of around R100,000 for the painting, making it equivalent to a large-scale Nhlengethwa work, and about the same amount for the costs of framing, shipping, packing and handling this work onward to its destination. That’s R200,000 worth of conceivable value; but that leaves a cool R3.5million still to be accounted for.

President Jacob Zuma told the crowd the night of the auction, “We’re not forcing people ... you can support and be a supporter, but if you go beyond that and become a member, [and] if you’re a businessman, your business will multiply. Everything you touch will multiply. I’ve always said that a wise businessperson will support the ANC... because supporting the ANC means you’re investing very well in your business.” As a result, the purchaser was investing R3 million+ in his business that night. Together with the fact the bid came on behalf of an unnamed mining tycoon, it can be inferred someone calculated there was access worth at least R3 million to be garnered on the back of a painting.

The party also seems to have been prepared to arrange for a second copy of the work that could then go to the next-highest bidder, National Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Joe Hlongwane. As newly elected ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize told the gathering, Hlongwane’s bid was simply “too good A BID to allow to go to waste.” (Capitals by the editor.)

This only underscores the commoditisation of Ngcobo’s work as a way to ease the pathways of communication. Or, as Michael Coulson points out, “overpaying for baubles is not uncommon at charity auctions. It never bears any relation to any underlying real market.” The question is, what benefits the giver thinks he is getting in exchange for his largesse.

But instead of simply filling the party’s treasury, imagine if the auction had also folded in a larger “giving back” social element into the proceedings. Say, for example, paralleling the kinds of things that often happen with similar events held around the world, a portion of monies raised were dedicated to helping a nationally regarded community arts education programme such as the Artists’ Proof Studios in downtown Johannesburg, the Bag Factory studios in Fordsburg, or the Tshwane-based Ifa Lethu cultural preservation and arts education programme.

Rather than that rather over-the-top event with all those fat cats and top politicians in attendance, imagine the tangible impact of dedicating a half a million rand or so from the final takings for one of those organisations’ activities – and the living legacy such a spirit of giving back to the community in the name of the party could achieve – especially in these financially straitened times. Maybe not this time around, perhaps, but how about doing this the next time the hat is passed at one of these celebrity auctions. Share the wealth, comrades. DM

see www.arttimes.co.za For daily updates of local & international art news

IS THE SOUTH AFRICAN ART MARKET RELEVANT ? or we just playing a game of Monopoly with pretty pictures?

One chart, the SA Bucket List in the Art Price Index Portfolio recently released

by Citadel Fiduciary Limited is very interesting. It shows the breakdown by price category of sales of the top 100 SA artists by volume at the seven leading auction houses during the time that results have been tabulated It shows that the total number of transactions during this time was 26 519 and amounted to R1 624.7 million Rands Of this total there were 216 (0.8% of total) transactions in the category over R1 million amounting to R699.5 million or 43.1% of total sales At the other end of the scale in the category under R10 000 there were 15184 transactions (57.3%) amounting to only R56 Million (3.4%) In other words less than 1% of transactions accounted for over 47% of the value, while 57.3% of transactions accounted for only 3.4% of value Forget the 80/20 rule, this is the now fashionable 1% theory.

It illustrates clearly that from an investment perspective there is little to be derived from the overcrowded under R10 000 market as even if the 15184 investments doubled their value they would only be left with R56 million profit to share amongst themselves or R3700 each. At the other end if the 216 investments in the > R1 million category achieved a gain of only 10% or R70 million to share they would each earn R324 000 per investment. It is not surprising that the rich get richer at the expense of the masses.

This leads one to an even more interesting analysis.

The Saturday Argus on 12 January reported that Eric Clapton had sold a Gerhard Richter painting for USD 34.2 million. He had purchased this painting along with two others for USD 3.4 million in 2001.

At the current exchange rate of R8.50 to the USD it converts to R289 Million.

This painting had in fact been sold at Sotheby’s in October 2012.

The relevance of this is that the total value of art sold in South Africa by the two leading auction houses Strauss and Stephan Welz and Co amounted to only R153 Million and R45 million respectively with Bonhams South African Sales amounting to R 86 million This in effect means that Eric Clapton’s one reported painting sale almost equalled, give or take a few million Rand either way the entire value of all South African art sales by the top 3 auction houses in 2012. The amount was almost double that achieved by SA market leader Strauss and Co Consider the tremendous effort that Strauss and Co puts into achieving the R153 million, covering 5 Auctions in Cape Town and Johannesburg along with exquisite full colour catalogues, annual reviews and opening preview functions supported by a team of 10 experts to ultimately achieve only half of what Eric Clapton achieved by putting one painting on auction at Sothebys. At the same time Stephan Welz and Co and Bonhams made similar marketing efforts to achieve even lower returns. In addition, all this was supported by Michael Coulson’s and the Citadel Art Index detailed financial analysis.

The question being: -- precisely who is the better art expert Stephan Welz with his vast knowledge of antiques and the arts or guitarist Eric Clapton who probably picked up the Richter painting on his way home from a gig. and has another two in the kitty from the same deal that may in addition eventually, earn him well over another USD 30 million or R300 million Rands if he feels he needs some spare cash.

It needs to be noted this painting was not a Rothko, Munch or a Matisse or Andy Warhol or any other of the many international artists regularly achieving sales of in excess of tens of millions of dollars every year. It was a Gerhard Richter, an artist who is still alive and well. It was also one of many paintings by other artists sold for similar amounts at that same Sothebys auction This leads me to raise the question once again in conclusion “Is the South African Art Market relevant or does it just amount to a few small fish swimming around a glass bowl?

To be serious about investing in art the astute investor needs to studiously consider the international markets if he wants to achieve a worthwhile return. At the same time the key players in the South African art market need to develop and implement innovative and creative strategies if this market is to achieve any international relevance at all.

Anthony Silberberg

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

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London Letter

By Nushin Elahi Photography continues to dominate the London art scene, as galleries slowly grind into gear for the coming year.

A name that brings to mind the grand landscapes of America is photographic pioneer Ansel Adams, who grew up with a Kodak in his hands. As an awkward boy, barely into his teens, he was capturing the great wilderness areas of his country, and continued throughout his long life to capture the magnificence of nature, untarnished by humans. The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich presents a show that spans his entire life, from a shot he took at the age of 13, until the late Sixties. Ansel Adams: Photography from the Mountains to the Sea (until 28 April) focuses on his fascination with all types of water: crashing waves, ice storms, mountain pools.

Adams talked of his photography in musical terms, describing the negative as the score and the print as the performance and considered his artistry not only in setting up the camera for a shot, but also how he manipulated it in the printing.

When you see some of the tiny early prints, it is quite remarkable to think that they can stand being blown up to the size of the posters that cover the museum.

The sheer scale and grandeur of these landscapes makes this an unforgettable exhibition, but it has also been sensitively curated to reveal the man’s pioneering approach to what was then a new art form. Embracing change as he did, one wonders what he would think of the prospect of everyone being able to snap a shot as we all now so casually do.

Soviet oligarchs may take up riotous living once they settle in the West, but the Soviet Union isn’t a place one really associates with levity. The full irony of the title Gaiety is The Outstanding Feature of the Soviet Union: New Art from Russia, however, doesn’t actually hit one until you have seen the extended scope of the Russian artwork on show at the Saatchi Gallery (until 5 May). The unrelenting misery of life in a land of snow and ice becomes apparent particularly in the photographic documentation of ordinary lives. The images will haunt you: sleeping rough in the cold, revealing the naked scars of poverty in an icy wasteland, bodies tattooed with peculiarly Russian symbols, individuals relaxing on windowsills high up in tower blocks, all blown up in colourful detail on the huge walls of the gallery. Besides the photographs, there are other works, mainly installations, which seem to be a rather random choice of artists. There are pastels of alien figures in outrageous scenes, delicate wooden cut-outs, and my particular favourite, sensitive impressions of great buildings like the Paris Opera, juxtaposed with the ephemeral cardboard on which they are drawn.

Probably even more important is the short retrospective of Soviet art, Breaking the Ice: Moscow Art 1960 – 80s (until 24 Feb) upstairs in the Saatchi Gallery which offers more familiar imagery from the USSR, even without the top names.

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Taking the viewer through periods such as constructivism and abstraction it ends with a marvellously satirical take on Russian propaganda art – the point where Lenin meets Coca-Cola.

The idea of A Bigger Splash – Painting after Performance at Tate Modern (until 1 April) is brilliant. What happened to painting after performance had shattered all the boundaries of what constituted art? It’s a question which is just as current today as it was when a young David Hockney created his Californian blue Splash paintings, or when Jackson Pollock dripped paint onto a canvas. As a historical synopsis of how painting changed, the exhibition succeeds admirably, but sadly the second half, which showcases modern installations, has none of the energy and excitement of its early stages.

From the violence and destructive gestures of post-war art, with Niki de Saint Phalle’s shooting paintings, Yves Klein’s public events where women covered in paint became ‘live brushes’, the provocative ritualism of Viennese Actionism, the flower orgies of Yayoi Kusama, the debate around gender and beauty, the exhibition moves from a wild splash to a very timid dribble. It leaves one wondering whether the best current examples are simply stage sets, or whether in fact the party has moved on elsewhere. Personally, I believe that there are any number of wildly exciting installations the Tate could have illustrated, and this rather random, albeit international, choice, is indicative of weak curating. It is the same uninspired approach that has made the Tate Tanks such a disappointment.

Some of the big exhibitions that are coming up in the next few months in London include the ever-popular Impressionists, with Manet’s portraits in the Royal Academy’s Manet: Portraying Life (Jan 26 to April 14) and Surrealist artist Man Ray’s photographic portraits at the National Portrait Gallery (7 Feb to 27 May). The British Museum hosts a blockbuster in Life and Death - Pompeii and Herculaneum (28 March to 29 September) which includes loans from Naples and Pompeii which have never before travelled abroad, as well as Ice Age Art: Arrival of the Modern Mind (7 Feb to 26 May) which shows the world’s oldest known sculptures, drawings and portraits – ancient work alongside the modern artists they influenced: Picasso, Mondrian, Matisse and Henry Moore. The Tate Modern (21 Feb to 27 May) presents a retrospective of pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, bringing together 125 iconic works, many on loan from major American galleries. Later in the year (15 Oct to 9 March 2014) it offers the first major UK show of Paul Klee.

Tate Britain has a retrospective of L.S. Lowry (26 June to 20 October), whose distinctive images of life in the industrial North with their stick-like figures have made him much-loved, despite never really being critically regarded. Dulwich Picture Gallery presents a major retrospective of Whistler in the autumn, when the National Gallery looks at The Portrait in Vienna 1900, with Klimt, Kokoschka and Egon Schiele.

SA ART TIMES. February 2013

Saatchi Gallery: Installation shots from Moscow Art 1960 - 1980s. Installation view of Boris Mikhailov’s 1997 - 1998 Case History photographs Saatchi - Soviet Man in window, Soviet Tattooed man - from Sergei Vasiliev’s Russian Criminal Tattoo Encyclopaedia Prints 2010. (Right below) Vikenti Nilin From the Neighbours Series 1993 - present. Krasinkski’s Thin blue line - Installation view of Edward Krasinski’s installation Unitled 2001 The Tetons and the Snake River, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, 1942, photograph by Ansel Adam. Clearing Winter Storm, Yosemite National Park, California, about 1937 Photograph by Ansel Adams. The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust.

A Bigger Splash: Painting after Performance (14 November 2012 – 1 April 2013) Klein & action painting: Installation view - Yves Klein and Niki de Saint

Call for submissions:

South African Print Gallery

Botanical Art Print Show The South African Print Gallery is calling for entries for a South African Botanical Print Show for April.

Prints can be handmade, or digital, limited editions.

For more information call Kevin 021 4626851 or email kevin@printgallery.co.za Image: Protea : Daleen Roodt