Something for every collector: Stephan Welz & Co. presents a Cape Town auction of important South African and continental paintings, as well as furniture, silver, jewellery, sculpture, decorative arts, and collectors’ items.
For the determined buyer looking to add a significant piece to an existing collection of specific works; the collector who is passionate about a particular artistic genre, period or style; and the seeker of auction treasures of quality to be had at reasonable prices, Stephan Welz & Co.’s upcoming Cape Town auction is likely to dominate June’s calendar.
It takes place at the Old Mutual Conference Centre, Kirstenbosch Gardens, Rhodes Drive, Newlands, on 5 and 6 June 2018, with viewing from 1 to 3 June.
Headline pieces include two works by Peter Clarke, sought after by Clarke enthusiasts and SA art collectors. Stephan Welz & Co. is also proud to offer two Irma Stern paintings, ZANZIBAR WEDDING DANCERS and FISHING BOATS – KALK BAY HARBOUR; Gladys Mgudlandu’s PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MFENGU WOMAN; John Mohl’s BACK FROM WORK IN SNOW; Henry Moore’s SHELTER DRAWING; and a Gerard de Leeuw sculpture, alongside an array of prints; sculpture; decorative arts; traditional African art; carpets, silver, and jewellery; and contemporary and English furniture.
Fine art
Peter Clarke
Clarke’s THE WIDOW, painted in 1960, is an oil painting of a woman traversing barren ground, neither away from nor towards the viewer. Possibly a reference to Cape Town’s forced removals under the Group Areas Act of 1950, explains Kayleen Wrigley, “this work comments on the artist’s experience of perpetual travel and homelessness. The widow is ever-adjacent; ever-itinerant, and the desert landscape and curling, horn-like pieces of wood suggest pain and suffering.”
RING-A-RING-OF-ROSES, a mixed media artwork inscribed ‘Oslo’ and dated 1978, was acquired directly from the artist. In it, Clarke depicts the finding of a silver lining when circumstances are dire. Suzanne Duncan explains that, “While based at the Atelier Nord in Norway, Clarke created this painting to reflect the warmth of South Africa’s people, despite the political turmoil and socio-economic hardships faced by the artist’s own community at that time in history.”
Irma Stern
Of all South African artists, Irma Stern has consistently achieved the highest prices at auction. Her works are universally valued, yet her expressionist interpretations remain uniquely African. Carol Kaufmann says that this gouache, ZANZIBAR WEDDING DANCERS, “is among the artist’s highly prized series featuring island life in the 1940s (and her iconic ‘Golden Period’)” and shows Swahili dancers performing the Lelemela wedding dance accompanied by the Persian ney flute.
Gladys Mgudlandlu
PORTRAIT OF A YOUNG MFENGU WOMAN is a departure from the artist’s usual genre of birds, animals and landscapes. It also presents a single subject in oil on board, although her signature medium was gouache on paper. Clothed in the dress of an intombi (unmarried woman), the subject wears a white skirt embellished with black braid and blue beads, as well as a white bead necklace and an embellished purse. Here Mgudlandlu recalls the sacred protective power of the colour white, from her childhood in the Eastern Cape town of Peddie.
John Koenakeefe Mohl
Signed and inscribed ‘September 1981’ and ‘in the 20th century’, BACK FROM WORK IN SNOW depicts Johannesburg’s greatest snowfall on record. The artist, John Koenakeefe Mohl, is known for depicting people at work, or en route to and from work. His workers are often faceless to express their dehumanisation. Because Soweto is an unusual place to experience snow, for which the people in the community are ill-equipped, the painting suggests the hardship of an extra-cold winter. There is, however, a ray of hope in the unforgiving landscape, where shades of a bright blue break through an otherwise grey sky.
Henry Moore
A work worth mentioning is Henry Moore’s SHELTER DRAWING, created during WW2 and dated 1940. Known to have visited the bomb shelters during the Blitz, Moore drew a number of people huddled underground, and this drawing forms part of that body of work.
Gerard de Leeuw
A notable sculpture is the 1978 Gerard de Leeuw work PALM SUNDAY, one of only three known castings of this procession of seven figures holding up stylised palm tree branches. The mould broke prematurely and no more sculptures could be cast, making this an extremely rare piece from an artist known for his modest output and consummate perfectionism.
Other highlights
Mid-century modern furniture design features in the sale, headlined by an ARNE JACOBSEN EGG CHAIR and OTTOMAN designed in 1958 for Fritz Hansen and the BOCCA LIPS SOFA by Gufram. The latter, designed in 1970 by Italian designers Studio 65 as homage to Mae West, has enormous collectable value and forms part of international museum collections.
As a counterpoint to the contemporary items, two pieces of 19th century furniture feature: an ARCHITECT’S DESK by Gillows of Lancaster and an IRISH ROSEWOOD WILLIAM IV LIBRARY TABLE by Williams and Gibton, ‘Upholsterers and Cabinet Makers to his Majesty’. It is unusual to be able to offer, on the same sale, two pieces of the finest quality furniture from well-known 19th century makers.
On the African art front, SEATED FEMALE FIGURE was acquired in Abidjan in the 1990s. Suggestive of feminine power and fertility, and from a genre described in literature as “exquisite, even extraordinary”, this piece is likely to have originated in the Kulunga Lake Region of West Africa in the mid-20th century, according to Rayda Becker.
Hylton Nel’s A PAINTED EARTHENWARE CAT, purchased from the artist in 1995, is an unusual piece. Featuring a haughty cat, seated, painted with expressive features and blocks of colour in shades of green, blue, puce and yellow, it is indicative of the artist’s ability to marry satire with art.
The Royal Doulton Burslem SPRING FIGURE by Richard Garbe (a distinguished Professor at the Royal College of Art) is a limited edition work, numbered 14 of 100. It is based on ivory and bronze sculptures exhibited at the Royal Academy in London.
Two solitaire DIAMOND RINGS and a two-stone DIAMOND PENDANT are among the highlights from Stephan Welz & Co.’s jewellery department. The rings feature classical hand-set stones of 3.05ct and 6.03ct each, while the pendant holds investment stones.
Says Anton Welz, Division Head & Auctioneer at Stephan Welz & Co., “We have recently been chosen as one of the top 250 auction houses in the world by Blouin Art, but we’ve also had 50 years to hone our skills. I see this array of very different, very special and, in some cases, exceptionally rare pieces as symptomatic of yet another positive step in our growth.”
Prospective bidders and interested parties are invited to a walkabout with Anton Welz at 10.30am on Saturday 2 June, followed by a Morgenster wine tasting from 11am to 2pm. There is also a talk by acclaimed social historian and heritage consultant Joline Young, who interviewed Peter Clarke at his home during 2009 and 2010. This talk, titled ‘Towards Simon’s Town: Reflections on an interview with Peter Clarke’ takes place at 11am on Sunday 3 June.
What: Stephan Welz & Co. presents a Cape Town auction
When: 5, 6 June 2018, viewing from 1 to 3 June 2018
Where: Old Mutual Conference Centre, Kirstenbosch Gardens, Rhodes Drive, Newlands
For information: On the auction, how to bid, or to attend the viewing, call 021 794 6461, or e-mail ct@stephanwelzandco.co.za
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