Strauss & co - 8 October 2009, Cape Town

98 Property of the Estate Late Leslie Milner 203 Sydney Carter S OUTH A FRICAN 1874-1945 Near Groot Constantia signed, a label attached to the reverse reads “This water colour sketch was given to me as a Christmas present in 1943 by the artist, Sydney Carter. It was painted where the Old Cape Farm Stall is today just across the road therefrom. *** Versfeld, 22/1/1987” watercolour 22 by 28,5cm R2 000 – 4 000 204 GeorgeWilliam Pilkington S OUTH A FRICAN 1878-1958 Sailing signed oil on canvas 29 by 39,5cm R8 000 – 12 000 205 Pranas Domsaitis S OUTH A FRICAN 1880-1965 Karoo Landscape signed oil on board 47 by 62cm R70 000 – 100 000 LITERATURE cf Elsa Verloren van Themaat, Pranas Domsaitis, Struik, Cape Town, 1976, p 57 where a similar landscape is illustrated. ‘His painting was symbolic, the subjective use of colour was emotive, and the forms provided the framework. A house, for example, loses its historical and architectural significance and becomes only the symbol of a dwelling – white rectangles with dark dashes of paint capture the essence of windows and doors. The form is simplified and the colours rich in the variety of tone. In Europe village scenes always interested him, as did now the dwellings of the Blacks. His landscapes were inherently South African, but had a universal quality of time and place. Those of the Karoo were the essence of all its villages and hills, but they are also reminiscent of the Baltic lowlands. There is a sense of eternity in the rhythmic flow of planes; in the low and wide horizons which had the effect of placing the beholder in the landscape, making him conscious of his insignificance; the huge skies, and in the sense of melancholy and heaviness.’ p 16 205