Perspectives on Africa

Live Virtual Auction, 17 February 2025

Perspectives on Africa
About the Session

Strauss & Co is pleased to present Perspectives on Africa, a sale that explores the complexity, beauty, and fluidity of perspectives through African art and works by artists with strong ties to the continent. The sale coalesces the rich and varied connections between Africa and its artistic expressions, presenting works that span figuration, landscape, and abstraction, inviting collectors to engage with powerful narratives emerging from Africa's evolving perspectives. The works reflect layered meanings, both as a method  of representing depth and dimension as a way of framing our understanding of the world. Work by Contemporary artists reflects on the historical foundations of Modernist artists, exploring themes such as identity, belonging, urbanisation, and re-encounters with tradition, while the sale transitions to Modernist interpretations of Africa, exploring the complexity of colonial encounters, post-independence aspirations, and indigenous practices. Building on Strauss & Co’s commitment to developing a strong local photography market, the sale includes an artist focus on the work of social documentarian Paul Alberts, whose images captured poignant narratives of everyday life, particularly in Cape Town. These works sit alongside David Goldblatt and Zanele Muholi, whose visceral images explore themes of identity, social justice and the multifaceted realities of African life.


Current Bid

-
Lot 107
  • William Kentridge; Nose
  • William Kentridge; Nose
  • William Kentridge; Nose


Lot Estimate
ZAR 20 000 - 30 000
Current Bid
Starting at ZAR 18 000
Location
Cape Town
Shipping
Condition Report
May include additional detailed images
Need more information?

About this Item

South African 1955-
Nose

signed, dated 2008, numbered IX, inscribed ‘for Storm’ in pencil and embossed with the David Krut Workshop chopmark in the margin

sugarlift aquatint and engraving on paper
image size: 19 by 15cm; sheet size: 39 by 34cm; 46 by 41 by 2,5cm including frame

Provenance

Gifted by the artist to the current owner.

Literature

Nadine Monem and Faye Robson (ed) (2012) A Universal Archive: William Kentridge as a Printmaker, exhibition catalogue, London: Hayward Publishing, Nose 14 illustrated in black and white on page 92.

Bronwyn Law-Viljoen (ed) (2010) William Kentridge: Nose – Thirty Etchings, Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, illustrated in black and white, unpaginated.

Notes

‘Based on a drawing by Picasso, the double breast seen under the armpit. When drawn onto the plate, the condensed milk and Indian ink mix is the same tone for all sections of the drawing. The difference between the body and the head is only a question of time. The first bite of the aquatint – which gives the light grey body – took approximately four minutes. The black head was 'bitten’ in the acid for about an hour. The white eye was protected from the acid by a permanent felt-tip marker. Initially I had thought The Nose would be contemplating Picasso’s Odalisque. But this was not sufficient.’1

1. Bronwyn Law-Viljoen (ed) (2010) William Kentridge: Nose – Thirty Etchings, Johannesburg: David Krut Publishing, unpaginated.

View all William Kentridge lots for sale in this auction