27th Mar, 2017 15:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
114
Alexis Preller (South Africa 1911-1975)
The Red and the Black
oil on canvas laid down on board
Artwork date: 1958
Signature details: signed and dated
Condition Report
Cleaned and revarnished, good.
Please note, we are not qualified conservators and these reports give our opinion as to the general condition of the works. We advise that bidders view the lots in person to satisfy themselves with the condition of prospective purchases.
oil on canvas laid down on board
Artwork date: 1958
Signature details: signed and dated
(1)
50.5 x 61 cm
Notes:
This unusual work painted in 1958 was most probably entitled The Red and the Black and was exhibited on Preller’s Lidchi Gallery exhibition of the same year. It hung alongside other works entitled Night City and Night Piazza, bracketing it amongst a group of darker tonal works, more somber but with striking color accents. What is distinctive about the work is the layered thin painterly washes that are characteristic of a small group of works at this time. In the previous year we see the emergence of distinct influences of Georges Braque’s painterliness in a number of Preller works as well as the introduction of the fractured characteristics of Cubism, with its inclination for strong tonal contrast and underlying complex pictorial structure.In the previous year, 1957, Preller had painted one of his earliest versions of Eggs on a Plate, its elliptical central form and ovoid eggs, precisely defined and painted, alluding to celestial themes that in time would gain impetus. In contrast, the transparent painterliness of The Red and the Black provokes an ambivalent reading of the circular motif with its dark oval arranged objects, possibly that of an arrangement of dark fruit on a blue platter placed on a circular table, or the sheer ambiguity leading to a second reading – one where the seemingly shiny blue surface on the left becomes a metal visor with skull-like sockets while the ‘blue platter’ seems distinctly like a skull.This complex indeterminacy is a distinctive Preller trait where he collapses many themes into a single work. In this conflation, he consistently uses his still lifes as a means to search for a deeper meaning, using them, as in this work, to engage enigmatic metaphorical qualities, opening meaning beyond the traditional poetic rendering of a mere group of still life objects.
Karel Nel
Sources:
Photo, Eggs on a Plate, 1957, oil on wood, South African National Gallery, Page 107, Alexis Preller Collected Images by Esme Berman and Karel Nel
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Auction: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 27th Mar, 2017
The Inaugural Cape Auction offed a diverse range of top-quality historic, modern and contemporary works. With a focus on critically engaged art and a curated approach, seasoned and new collectors competed to acquire significant works.
Aspire’s commitment to the growth of the art market saw international records broken in recognition of exiled South African artists. Louis Maqhubela’s Exiled King, a definitive, politically motivated work, sold for R341,040 - three times his previous record, and Albert Adams’ Untitled (Four Figures with Pitchforks), his first appearance at auction, sold for R136,416. Top prices were also achieved for established artists including J.H Pierneef, William Kentridge, and Edoardo Villa, and contemporary artwork fared exceptionally with record prices for David Brown, Steven Cohen, Mohau Modisakeng, Moshekwa Langa, and Mikhael Subotzky.
Viewing
Friday 24 March 2017 | 10 am – 7 pm
Saturday 25 March 2017 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 26 March 2017 | 10 am – 4 pm
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