2nd Jun, 2019 9:00
Modern & Contemporary Art
31
William Kentridge, Untitled (Woman and Café)
charcoal and pastel on paper|signed and dated bottom left|1992
charcoal and pastel on paper
Sold for R3,186,400
Estimated at R2,800,000 - R3,800,000
charcoal and pastel on paper
(1)
75 x 105 cm
Notes:
As William Kentridge’s brother, Matthew, attests in his absorbing recent monograph, ‘the Soho projects produced a scattering of drawings – extraordinary artworks in their own right – which do not make it into the final film’.[i] Untitled (Woman and Café) is one such extraordinary drawing. Produced in 1992, it follows directly after Kentridge’s first four films chronicling property developer and Randlord, Soho Eckstein’s exploits and exploitations. The fourth film, Sobriety, Obesity and Growing Old (1991), explores the competition between Soho and Felix Teitlebaum for the affections of Mrs Eckstein. While Felix indulges his obsession, Soho comes to realise that he has to forego his empire to win back the love of his life.In this delightful drawing of the object of both men’s desire, Kentridge depicts Mrs Eckstein dancing naked in the throes of sensual pleasure. Water, often used by the artist to express sexual desire and fulfilment, is indicated here in the startling blue and turquoise marks that streak along the beach.Colour, so rare in a Kentridge drawing, signals an important shift as Matthew Kentridge suggests. ‘The moments of transcendence occur when water begins to flow – the landscape stops being spiky and arid, and calcified beliefs and emotions soften and evolve into something which allows for ambiguity and doubt’.[ii] Given the year of its creation – 1992 with South Africa on the cusp of a bright new future – might we read into the refreshing blue water here something inspirational, perhaps a suggestion of hope?‘Drawing for me is about fluidity’ said Kentridge in an interview with Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev; ‘drawing is a testing of ideas; a slow-motion version of thought. …[T]he uncertain and imprecise way of constructing a drawing is sometimes a model of how to construct meaning’.The café to the right echoes the architectural lines of the Empire Theatre, designed by architect William Hood Grant and opened in 1941. Its elegant Art Deco façade is still visible today on the beachfront, a reminder of a bygone era in Muizenberg where the Kentridge family spent many a happy holiday.
Emma Bedford
Sources:
[i] Kentridge, M. (2015) The Soho Chronicles: 10 Films by William KentridgeLondon New York Calcutta: Seagull Books. p. 77.
[ii] Kentridge, M. (2015) The Soho Chronicles: 10 Films by William KentridgeLondon New York Calcutta: Seagull Books. p. 41.
[iii] Interview: Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev in conversation with William Kentridge in Cameron, D., Christov-Bakargiev, C. and Coetzee, J. M. (1999) William Kentridge. New York: Phaidon Press Inc. p. 8.
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: Modern & Contemporary Art, 2nd Jun, 2019
Aspire Art Auctions presented a focused and insightfully compiled selection of top-quality modern and contemporary art in their latest sale in Johannesburg.
The company’s commitment to innovation led to a bold and signature move in this sale, which featured a special section dedicated to photography. The medium has been traditionally strong among South African artists but has been without a proper focus in the local auction market. The ground-breaking segment featured a wide range of the most important South African photographers, including Pieter Hugo, David Goldblatt, Guy Tillim, and Zanele Muholi. In addition, the sale starred a number of the market’s big signatures – Alexis Preller J.H. Pierneef, Gerard Sekoto, and Maggie Laubser and top contemporary artists including, Diane Victor, and Wim Botha.
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.