Notes

With thanks to Gavin Watkins for assistance with cataloguing this lot.

The discovery of a documented artwork whose whereabouts has been unknown for some decades is always thrilling, so when Sydney Kumalo’s Proud Man came to light in the lead-up to this sale, there was great excitement. ‘We knew a work by that name was exhibited as catalogue number 22 and edition 1/5 at a South African Association of Arts exhibition in Pretoria in 1976. Unfortunately, the work was not illustrated in the exhibition catalogue or in any of the many press articles that reported on the exhibition,’ says Gavin Watkins, authority on the artist and author of the forthcoming catalogue raisonné on Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae. A very similar, related version of this work, Proud Woman (which Goodman Gallery titled Standing Female Figure I), was exhibited at the same 1976 exhibition. Both bronzes were bought by the same collector but only the female version was sold in the interim. Proud Man stands firmly anchored to the ground, his arms held behind his back, inclining his strong shoulders and triangular torso frontwards. A powerful neck holds the man’s head high, yet his eyes are cast downwards. With great pathos and empathy Kumalo masterfully captures a dignified and humble man standing proud.

Exhibited

South African Association of Arts Gallery, Pretoria, Sydney Kumalo, solo exhibition, 1 to 20 November 1976, another cast from the edition illustrated.

Literature

HE Winder (1973) 'Departure for Sydney Kumalo', Rand Daily Mail, Art View, 1 August.

Elza Miles (1973) 'Hierdie Nuwe Werke is Kumalo nie Waardig', Rapport, 5 August.

Natalie Knight (1974) 'Dialogue with Sydney Kumalo and Ezrom Legae', Art Scene, Communicat, illustrated in Kumalo residence.

E Mesman (1974) 'Bantoe-kuns in Kaapstad', Die Burger, 23 October.

Richard Cheales (1975) 'Going Back to the Primitive, Gassner–Kumalo at Goodman Gallery, The Star, 30 August.