19th century, Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Decorative Arts, Jewellery and Wine

Live Virtual Auction, 10 - 11 May 2020

Important announcement regarding the terms and conditions of this auction.

This auction is being conducted during a National State of Disaster in South Africa and in accordance with the various Regulations passed by the Government in South Africa in response. Presently, South Africa’s National State of Disaster is at Level 4, which limits certain commercial activity. Read More →

 Terms and Conditions for Online Auctions (517.08 KB)

 Privacy Policy for Online Auctions (198.46 KB)

Paintings Evening Sale

Sold for

ZAR 159 320
Lot 610
  • Christo Coetzee; Untitled
  • Christo Coetzee; Untitled
  • Christo Coetzee; Untitled
  • Christo Coetzee; Untitled
  • Christo Coetzee; Untitled


Lot Estimate
ZAR 90 000 - 120 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 159 320

About this Item

South African 1929-2000
Untitled
1956
oil and assemblage on hessian
91 by 91cm excluding frame; 96,5 by 96,5 by 7cm including frame

Notes

“It was during this time that Coetzee was fortunate to study in Japan on a British Council grant. He was introduced to the post-War Japanese avant-garde group, the Gutai Art Association, founded by Yoshihara Jiro in 1954. Yoshihara’s manifesto of 1956 maintains that ‘Gutai art does not change the material; it brings it to life. Gutai art does not falsify the material. In Gutai art the human spirit and the material reach out their hands to each other even though they are otherwise opposed to each other.’

This exposure proved to have a lasting influence on Coetzee’s art. He was in step with the Gutai’s notion of embodiment of the materiality of the medium, as well as their experiments in installation art and/or performance art, which is evident in the slashing of his work in 1975…

What is of particular interest in his work at this time is the manner in which he assembled his paintings, using manufactured as well as natural objects such as bicycle parts, ping pong balls, egg trays, coins, wire mesh and even twigs and butterfly wings, creating assemblages that reside in the intersection of painting and sculpture.”1

  1. Willhelm van Rensburg (2018) The Safest Place is the Knife's Edge, Johannesburg: Standard Bank, page 57.

Provenance

Stephan Welz & Co in Association with Sotheby's, Johannesburg, 12 May 2003, lot 509.

Die Kunskamer, Cape Town.

Private Collection.

Exhibited

Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg, The Safest Place is the Knife's Edge: Christo Coetzee (1929-2000), 5 October to 1 December 2018.

Literature

Willhelm van Rensburg (2018) The Safest Place is the Knife's Edge, Johannesburg: Standard Bank, illustrated in colour on page 72.

View all Christo Coetzee lots for sale in this auction