12th Nov, 2017 17:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
13
Walter Whall Battiss (South Africa 1906-1982)
Boy with a dog
oil on panel in the artist’s frame
Artwork date: circa 1950
Signature details: signed; inscribed with the title on the reverse
Sold for R409,248
Estimated at R380,000 - R450,000
oil on panel in the artist’s frame
Artwork date: circa 1950
Signature details: signed; inscribed with the title on the reverse
(1)
60 x 69 cm including frame
Notes:
The subject of nude seated or reclining figures in a fantastical landscape is one that Walter Battiss depicted many times throughout his career. This charming painting falls into this category but displays several distinct aspects of its own. The preponderance of dots and dashed lines in the work alludes to the same motif commonly found in San rock art, which was of considerable influence upon and the subject of much research by the artist at the time of this painting. (The painted frame shows geometric abstraction, such as ‘sunburst’ flares and lozenges with wavy lines, which may also have been taken from the same source.) The face of the main figure of the boy also seems to owesomething to Picasso. Though compositionally very different, this work shows a similar interaction between a boy and animal, as can be seen in Boy with bird (1950) (ill. Schoonraad 1976: 18). The modelling of the human figures, though reminiscent of the sculpture of Henry Moore, owes far more to Battiss’s observations of human forms in South African rock art and is of a type that occurs in much of his work, especially from the late 1930s through the 1950s, for example The early men (1938) (ill. Skawran & Macnamara 1985: 153), Group of nudes (1949) (ill. Siebrits 2016: 41 [1949.15 S1] and Spring winds (1949) (ill. Siebrits 2016: 41 [1949.16 S1]).The last two works mentioned also show compositional aspects that are similar to Boy with a dog. This painting wonderfully displays Battiss’s twin influences of European modernism and southern African rock art married together in a delightful and playful setting. Later works by Battiss would return to these themes and show these influences, but perhaps they are at their most visceral and direct in his work of the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Andrew Lamprecht
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Auction: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 12th Nov, 2017
Aspire’s final auction for 2017 ended the year on a high note with a collection of top historical, modern and contemporary artworks.
A number of superb historic paintings came to auction, dating back to the late nineteenth century. Among them were works by Hugo Naudé, Anton Van Wouw, and Dorothy Kay. A fine collection of mid-twentieth century modern work by South Africa’s best-known artists at auction including Edoardo Villa, Maggie Laubser, Sydney Kumalo and Irma Stern were also on offer. The top lot by value was, however, a contemporary work. A superb drawing by world-renowned South African artist William Kentridge. Drawing from Mine (Soho with coffee plunger and cup) (1991), sold for R5 456 640, a record for a drawing by Kentridge in South Africa.
Viewing
Thursday 9 November 2017 | 10 am – 5 pm
Friday 10 November 2017 | 10 am – 5 pm
Saturday 11 November 2017 | 10 am – 5 pm
Sunday 12 November 2017 | 10 am – 3 pm
HIGHLIGHTS
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