Notes

These rare, early, intimate etchings and aquatints form part of William Kentridge's important Domestic Scenes series from 1980.

Presenting a range of human interactions in domestic environments, produced when Kentridge was only 25, these works were pivotal in shaping his artistic identity, his thinking, studio practice and conceptual approach throughout his fruitful career.¹

"Beyond the 54 individual etchings that were made for the Domestic Scenes portfolio there are a further 13 combinations of these plates printed on a single sheet of paper. Thus far we know of 4 different four plate variations; 3 six plate variations ([the present lot] being a fourth variant); 2 nine plate variations; 1 twelve plate variation and 2 sixteen plate variations. With regards to the 16 plate this was the work [purchased] from Strauss & Co (14 February 2019, Cape Town, lot 80), the other unique combination of 16 plates belongs to the artist. My research indicates that although some of these works are marked with an edition number, they are mostly unique impressions. From these 13 unique combinations, I only have record of 2 instances where a second impression was printed. This was due to public demand at a graphic art competition held in Bellville in 1980. The exhibition was titled Grafik 80, where William won a joint first prize of R 100. As [the present lot] is marked A/P it would be safe to say that the impression is unique."²

1. https://steidl.de/Books/Domestic-Scenes-0513143949.html, accessed 18 February 2022.

2. Warren Siebrits, email correspondence with Kirsty Colledge, 22 February 2022.

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the current owner.

Exhibited

Zeitz MOCAA, Cape Town, Willliam Kentridge: Why Should I Hesitate: Putting Drawings to Work, 25 August 2019 to 23 March 2020, where a similar example is exhibited, entitled 16 Domestic Scenes.

Literature

Susan Stewart and Bronwyn Law Viljoen (ed) (2006) William Kentridge Prints, Johannesburg: David Krut, plates from the same edition part illustrated on page 29.