Revisiting the Figure

The human form/body is not a new subject in art, in fact, it seems to have been present since the first signs of drawings and sculptures dating back about 40 000 years. Throughout time, creatives have continued to paint and draw and sculpt nude figures, abstract figures, hyper-realistic and neo-expressionist figures. One then wonders what would keep artists focused on this form of artmaking so many years later. Some answers as to how artists keep relooking and rethinking this common subject may lie in the diverse figurative art found in Aspire Art’s Autumn ’25 Collection: Beyond Boundaries online auction.

Although the examples given below may differ in their approach and subject matter, there are exciting and unexpected similarities in the artist’s playful perspectives of the familiar human form.

1. Hybrid figures

Left: Lot 2 | Jane Alexander, Harbinger in Correctional Uniform, Lost Marsh | Estimate: R 30 000 - 50 000
Right: Lot 122 | Frank Van Reenen, Dog boy | Estimate: R 10 000- 15 000

Both Jane Alexander and Frank van Reenen incorporate the use of hybrid forms – in this case an amalgamation of animal and human – to communicate certain truths within their work.

Lot 2 portrays a mountainous landscape at dusk, with two animal-human characters standing amongst the marsh. Alexander creates idiosyncratic hybrid forms to refer to the acts of dehumanisation inflicted under apartheid, as well as socio-political concerns that persist post-apartheid.

Lot 122 in turn portrays a small dog-boy hybrid standing in an empty landscape, barring one tree blowing in the background beneath a rainy cloud. Van Reenen uses nostalgic imagery influenced by his childhood experiences and toys to question the dichotomy of being young. In this case the whimsical character seems stranded and alone, bringing both innocence and darkness into one image.

      2. Expressive Figures

Left: Lot 37 | Dumile Feni, Maiden Dance (Bible & Stick) | Estimate: R 3 000 - 6 000
Right: Lot 8 | Lisa Brice, Untitled, 2008 | Estimate: R 12 000 - 18 000

Dumile Feni and Lisa Brice have both mastered, in their own way, the ability to use their mark-making to convey intense emotions.

Feni sensitively depicted the resistance, suffering and turmoil of his communities during Apartheid and was even compared to the Spanish romantic painter, Francisco Goya, known for very emotive artworks. In lot 37 the artist is able to convey movement and perhaps a sense of reckless abandonment of the dancing figures.

Although Brice is more well known for her paintings, this hand-printed lithograph, lot 8, still captures the unique movement of her brush strokes, allowing for a scene between two figures to be both murky and revealing, with hidden meanings and emotions perhaps bubbling in the background.

      3. Mythical Figures

Left: Lot 101 | Madikotsi Mummy Khumalo, Daughter Nfula, 2024 | Estimate: R 20 000 - 30 000
Right: Lot 69 | Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, Figures with birds, 1977 | Estimate: R 3 000 - 6 000

Madikotsi Mummy Khumalo and Bettie Cilliers-Barnard each work with aspects of symbolism, storytelling and mythology to speak to both human and spiritual matters in their art.

Khumalo questions spirituality and complex human conditions through the use of vivid imagery, bright colours, and the recurring theme of the divine feminine energy, often manifested as a powerful Goddess figure. Lot 101 portrays a bright and fantastic composition of female figures. This work formed part of a series of three works that were recently exhibited at 99 Loop Gallery, Cape Town. The series portrays three separate women: daughter, mother and grandmother. This trio of subjects speaks to time, inheritance and the cyclical nature of womanhood.

While Cilliers-Barnard veered towards abstraction in the 1950s, it was on her return from studying in Paris in the early 1970s that she began to include figures and tangible objects into her compositions. At this time, birds also began to regularly appear in the artist’s work. Birds in flight become a well-known image in the artist’s oeuvre and in lot 69 she uses the bird to wonderful effect as large flocks fly through the minds of various figures.

There is so much more to discover in our exciting Autumn ’25 Collection: Beyond Boundaries, by figurative artists including Durant Sihlali, George Diederick During, Claudette Schreuders, Conrad Botes and many more!

Auction

AUTUMN ' 25: BEYOND BOUNDARIES

17  to 30 April 2025

Discover more from AUTUMN '25: Beyond Boundaries

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