Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present
Live Virtual Auction, 19 February 2024
Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present
About the SessionFrom Thomas Baines to Jake Aikman, Curatorial Voices: African Landscapes, Past and Present will showcase art by pioneering modernist and trailblazing contemporary artists, spanning 175 years of visual landscape painting on the African continent. This comprehensive auction reveals a nuanced understanding of the diverse cultural, historical, and environmental contexts that have shaped artistic representations of the landscape. Through an examination of various themes, the auction seeks to engage viewers in a dialogue that transcends time and space, connecting past representations to contemporary perspectives. The auction attempts to engage with the diversity of artists that have shaped and continue to shape the depiction of Africa through time.
The auction invites viewers on a captivating journey through the artistic expressions that mirror the multifaceted nature of African terrain. Through meticulous curation and insightful analysis, the catalogue aspires to be a valuable resource for scholars, art enthusiasts and anyone eager to embark on a thought-provoking exploration of Africa’s rich and complex artistic heritage.
Curatorial Voices
Recognising the dynamic discourse surrounding African Landscape, both past and present, the auction features texts by invited contemporary curators responding to the auction selection and themes. As external voices, they provide critical insights into the complexities of the landscape theme. By amplifying these contemporary perspectives, the exhibition seeks to bridge the gap between traditional representations and the ever-evolving discourse on the role of African art within the global art market.
Azza Satti, Independent Curator, Kenya
Azu Nwagbogu, Founder and Director of the African Artists’ Foundation (AAF), Nigeria
Camilla van Hoogstraten, Head of Sales, Latitudes Online
Ugoma Ebilah, Curator, Gallerist & Founder of Bloom Art
Nkgopoleng Moloi, Independent Curator, South Africa
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About this Item
signed and dated 1938
Notes
'The art of Adolph Jentsch, long regarded as the doyen of South West African (modern-day Namibia) art, is an essay in empathy between a particular human spirit and a specific natural environment. Few modern interpreters of the regional desert landscape have remained unaffected by the influence of his style. Yet, nurtured though he was amidst the most violent surging of the Modern Movement, his outlook, as reflected in his painting is in stark contrast with contemporary expressionistic tendencies. Anton Hendricks, in a 1958 booklet on the painter, comments: 'Jentsch is not a modern artist. His large and simple landscapes have the qualities of the classics. They are subtle, they do not shout, they are unobtrusive, they do not intrude, they are quiet, and therefore, they do not readily reveal themselves to those who are attuned to modern noise.'
Esmé Berman (1983) Art & Artists of South Africa: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary and Historical Survey of Painters, Sculptors & Graphic Artists Since 1875, Cape Town: Southern Book Publishers, page 225.