17th Jul, 2017 17:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
123
Walter Whall Battiss 9South Africa 1906-1982)
Untitled
oil on canvas
Artwork date: circa 1979
Literature: Acquired from the artist.
Sold for R454,720
Estimated at R400,000 - R600,000
oil on canvas
Artwork date: circa 1979
Literature: Acquired from the artist.
(1)
91 x 120.5 cm
Acquired from the artist.
Notes:
By the mid 1970s Walter Battiss had become South Africa’s most advanced painter. The reasons for coming to this bold conclusion are simple. He had spent most of his life travelling abroad and made a conscious effort, more than any other South African artist, to keep himself abreast of all the latest developments in international contemporary art circles.Although he admired England and Europe a great deal, the country that ultimately made the biggest impression on him was America. He first visited in May 1974, spending ten days in New York and staying at the famous Chelsea Hotel. In a letter written to his beloved sister Doreen, he writes:“This is a real tonic being here on the island of Manhattan & will richly benefit me. I’m glad I left it till now when I’m that mature to take it in properly.”(Siebrits 2016:129)In the eight years of his life that remained Battiss returned to America more than six times. It was spending time in America that taught Battiss the importance of thinking bigger and as a result he started to paint on a much larger scale. As he was retired and his wife had passed away in 1975, Battiss began to spend more time in the USA – during 1976 and 1978, often based in Boston, where he rented an apartment and had a studio. There is a good chance that “Untitled” was painted there and brought back to South Africa.
Warren Siebrits
Sources:
Siebrits, W. (2016). Walter Battiss: “I Invented Myself” The Jack Ginsberg Collection. Johannesburg: Wits Art Museum.
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Auction: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 17th Jul, 2017
Aspire Art Auctions’ second Johannesburg sale offered a selection of some of the best works produced by local and international artists available on the local market. Offerings included Cameroonian-born, Belgium-based, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Chilean, Eugenio Dittborn, and South Africans, William Kentridge, Kendell Geers, Louis Maqhubela, Cecil Skotnes, Maggie Laubser, Irma Stern, and Mohau Modisakeng, amongst others.
The sale was led by an international auction record of R1 200 320 achieved for a drawing, Children under Apartheid, by exiled South African artist Dumile Feni, as well as the successful sale of top international lot Golden Mask by renowned performance artist Marina Abramović.
Viewing
Friday 14 July 2017 | 10 am – 7 pm
Saturday 15 July 2017 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 16 July 2017 | 10 am – 4 pm
HIGHLIGHTS
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