Modern and Contemporary Art: Evening Sale

Live Virtual Auction, 1 April 2025

Modern and Contemporary Art: Evening Sale

Current Bid

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Lot 210
  • Robert Hodgins; Ishmael
  • Robert Hodgins; Ishmael
  • Robert Hodgins; Ishmael


Lot Estimate
ZAR 600 000 - 900 000
Current Bid
Starting at ZAR 500 000
Location
Cape Town
Shipping
Condition Report
May include additional detailed images
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About this Item

South African 1920-2010
Ishmael

signed, dated 1997/9, and inscribed with the artist's name, the title, medium and 'He will be a wild man, his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him...' on the reverse

oil and charcoal on canvas
122 by 91,5cm excluding frame; 127,5 by 97 by 4,5cm including frame

Notes

In the biblical narrative, Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, is a figure of exile and endurance, cast out yet divinely destined to become the ancestor of a great nation. The prophecy in Genesis 16:12"And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him."—suggests perpetual struggle, a theme Hodgins powerfully conveys in the present lot. The divided face, half black and half white, speaks to a fractured identity, evoking themes of otherness, exclusion, and survival. The stark black and red background intensifies this sense of unrest. Through bold colour and expressive form, Hodgins transforms Ishmael into a universal symbol of displacement and resilience, a figure forced to navigate a world that both rejects and defines him.

View all Robert Hodgins lots for sale in this auction