3rd Mar, 2019 12:00
Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art
22
Christo Coetzee (South Africa 1929-2000)
Kleidoscope 1 (sic)
oil, ink and sand on canvas
Artwork date: 1971
Signature details: signed and dated; signed, dated, inscribed with the title and dimensions on the reverse
Sold for R341,400
Estimated at R300,000 - R500,000
oil, ink and sand on canvas
Artwork date: 1971
Signature details: signed and dated; signed, dated, inscribed with the title and dimensions on the reverse
(1)
150.5 x 150.5 cm
Notes:
The symbol of the circle or the orb-like form entered Christo Coetzee’s paintings in the late 1950s in the shape of found objects such as ping-pong balls, bicycle wheels and coins, and remained with Coetzee throughout his career. When these objets trouvés disappeared toward the end of the late 1960s, the circle as form remained and Coetzee used this shape to synthesise his work: to control it, to give it a form and a basis, as he explained in an interview with Linda Goodman in 1969.1 Coetzee’s exhibition that opened on Sunday, 28 March 1971 at the Goodman Gallery in Hyde Square, Johannesburg, was dominated by circles, by ‘circle shapes floating and orbiting in space’, as Die Vaderland2 reported in a review. Perhaps it was what Ballot labelled Coetzee’s fascination with ‘the multitude of mysteries and ideas distinctively associated with the circle as a perfect and closed unity and symbolic source of energy’3 that informed so many of the paintings in this exhibition, dealing with the cosmos, constellations and nature in both macroscopic and microscopic structures.
The titles of the individual works echo these manifestations: Venus, Sun 70/89, Snow Structure and the triptych Snowflake, of which Kleidoscope 1 is the first of three panels. On white canvas within the ubiquitous circle Coetzee created a hexagonal structure, reminiscent of a snow crystal, surrounded by irregular petal-like forms (the half of the infinity symbol that characterised his earlier work), textured by means of parallel hatching. At the time this painting was made Coetzee was living in Spain: aged 42 and at the zenith of his career in Europe; an established master of assemblage; a torchbearer of the avantgarde. The next year, in 1972, he returned to South Africa to settle in Tulbagh.
Johan Myburgh
Sources:
1 Ballot, M. (1999). Christo Coetzee. Cape Town: Human & Rousseau. P.108.
2 Van Rensburg, N. (1971). ‘Coetzee se sirkelskilderye is treffend’ in DieVaderland, 8 April 1971.
3 Ibid. P.35.
You can place an absentee bid through our website - please sign in to your account on our website to proceed.
In the My Account tab you can also enter telephone bids, or email bids@aspireart.net to log telephone/absentee bids.
Join us on the day of the auction to follow and bid in real-time.
The auction will be live-streamed with an audio-visual feed.
Auction: Historic, Modern & Contemporary Art, 3rd Mar, 2019
Aspire Art Auctions set a new bar for the market in its Autumn 19 Auction in Cape Town, with a South African auction record for its cover lot.
An early work, by international star Marlene Dumas, Love Lost (1973/4) achieved R7 283 200, more than doubling its pre-sale estimate of R3 000 000. Further successful sales included a range of paintings by Alexis Preller from across his career, and new world records for work by Jane Alexander, Simphiwe Ndzube, and Moshekwa Langa. These results further establish Aspire’s growing reputation as the discerning auction house for handling contemporary South African art.
HIGHLIGHTS
Currency conversions are based on the exchange rate at the auction's start time and date. Bidders should verify the current exchange rate on the day of the sale. All invoices and payments must be made in South African Rands.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Logistics
While we endeavour to assist our Clients as much as possible, we require artwork(s) to be delivered and/or collected from our premises by the Client. In instances where a Client is unable to deliver or collect artwork(s), Aspire staff is available to assist in this process by outsourcing the services to one of our preferred Service Providers. The cost for this will be for the Client’s account, with an additional Handling Fee of 15% charged on top of the Service Provider’s invoice.
Aspire Art provides inter-company transfer services for its Clients between Johannesburg and Cape Town branches. These are based on the size of the artwork(s), and charged as follows:
Small (≤60x90x10 cm): R480
Medium (≤90x120x15 cm): R960
Large (≤120x150x20 cm): R1,440
Over-size: Special quote
Should artwork(s) be collected or delivered to/from Clients by Aspire Art directly, the following charges will apply:
Collection/delivery ≤20km: R400
Collection/delivery 20km>R800≤50km
Collection/delivery >50km: Special quote
Packaging
A flat fee of R100 will be added to the invoice for packaging of unframed works on paper.
International Collectors Shipping Package
For collectors based outside South Africa who purchase regularly from Aspire Art’s auctions in South Africa, it does not make sense to ship artworks individually or per auction and pay shipping every time you buy another work. Consequently, we have developed a special collectors’ shipping package to assist in reducing shipping costs and the constant demands of logistics arrangements.
For buyers from outside South Africa, we will keep the artworks you have purchased in storage during the year and then ship all the works you have acquired during the year together, so the shipping costs are reduced. At the end of the annual period, we will source various quotes to get you the best price, and ship all your artworks to your desired address at once.
Aspire Art will arrange suitable storage during, and cost-effective shipping at the end, of the annual period.
Collections
Collections are by appointment, with 24-hours’ notice
Clients are requested to contact the relevant office and inform Aspire Art of which artwork(s) they would like to collect, and allow a 24-hour window for Aspire Art’s logistics department to retrieve the artwork(s) and prepare them for collection.
Handling Fee
Aspire Art charges a 15% Handling Fee on all Logistics, Framing, Restoration and Conservation arranged by Aspire.