Impression/Expression: From Hugo Naudé to Georgina Gratrix
Strauss & Co’s upcoming virtual live auction, Impression/Expression: From Hugo Naudé to Georgina Gratrix, will feature a selection of 90 works, all by South African artists, that fall under the admittedly broad banners of impressionism and expressionism.
The works on sale help make sense of some of the many stylistic and conceptual shifts that have taken place in this country over the past century. While art historical definitions remain imperfect, these two movements provide an international aesthetic context for so many of our finest artists.
Even if impressionism is no longer explained only in terms of method, technique or period, and despite the fact that the majority of 20th-century modernisms rely on some form of expressionism, the two terms remain influential and valid to artist and art historian alike.
About the wine:
As a complement to this historically minded sale of art, Strauss & Co’s wine department has arranged a unique selection of five iconic South African wines of considerable age. Unlike the deep wine heritage of Europe, few bottles of very old South African wine remain today. The marquee lot, and arguably the rarest South African wine, is the 1821 Grand Constance (estimate R300 000 – 500 000), of which only a dozen bottles still exist.
The wine offering also includes the GS 1966 Cabernet (estimate R30 000 – 40 000), an experimental Durbanville Cabernet Sauvignon made by George Spies of Monis in 1966 and 1968, and the 1957 Chateau Libertas Red (estimate R17 000 – 25 000). Both wines have received perfect scores from international wine experts. The offering also includes an 1800 Muscat d’Alexandrie, an incredibly unique solera-style sweet wine (estimate R50 000 – 70 000). Closing out the selection is a rare 1987 vintage of Klein Constantia’s Vin de Constance (estimate R25 000 – 35 000).
Since these wines have been stored over multiple generations, provenance is of supreme importance and each bottle carries a story of winemaking and ownership. The 1821 Grand Constance, for instance, was purchased on auction in London as part of a large collection in 1983 by the Malan family of Simonsig Estate, while the bottle of 1800 Muscat d’Alexandrie was drawn from a barrel of 1800 Muscat that has been under the Jaubert family’s custodianship ever since. Importantly, recent tastings have confirmed the vinosity and sheer brilliance of the wines being offered.
Of course, many of the works in Impression/Expression, whether painted or sculpted, mid-century or contemporary, can sit comfortably in both categories. Works from each school, however, can still be tied together by theme, tone, impulse or style. Impressionist pictures, for instance, can capture the transience of light, can be stirred by modernity, and be in pursuit of atmospheric sensation.
Many expressionist works, moreover, are made with instinct, are defined by intimacy, and are drawn to visual anarchy. The works in Impression/Expression are presented with these often overlapping attributes in mind.
The stunning array of 90 iconic works on Strauss & Co’s auction ranges from sweeping mountain landscapes to picturesque Cape street scenes, still lifes, figural studies, conceptual compositions and cast bronzes.
So-called “first generation” South African impressionist Hugo Naudé is represented by a characteristic sun-drenched sweep of colour in “Namaqualand Flowers and Quiver Tree”, and pioneering modernist Irma Stern, who trained and exhibited with the German expressionists in Europe early in her career, with the lyrical “Bathers” executed in vivid blues and aquas juxtaposed with peachy flesh tones offset by crisp white highlights.
Thoughtful, gestural abstracts by cutting edge-contemporary artists Io Makandal and Lucy Jane Turpin will delight potential buyers, as will the exuberant painterliness of Georgina Gratirix’s colourful flower study “All that Glitters”, and the lively snapshots of urban life by venerable Johannesburg master David Koloane. Zoltan Borbereki’s bronze “Market” depicts a row of Rodin-like draped figures, in contrast to Italian South African Edoardo Villa’s naked small-scale geometric “Torso”.
The live virtual sale takes place on Tuesday September 14 from 18:00 and will be live-streamed in real time through the auction house’s website at www.straussart.co.za. An interactive e-catalogue will be available to view ahead of the sale and the works will be on exhibition in the company’s Houghton showrooms located at 89 Central Street, Houghton, Johannesburg.
For more information, contact Strauss & Co’s Johannesburg office on 011 728 8246 or jhb@straussart.co.za.
