Strauss & co - 15 March 2010, Cape Town

39 Edith Dodo 1923 – 2009 Edith Dodo, née Azgour, was born in Cairo where her father was a perfumier. They relocated to Paris where Edith went to school and was introduced to a world of art, design and fashion that was to leave a lasting impression on her. When Edith was fifteen the family immigrated to South Africa and settled in Johannesburg where she completed her schooling before going on to the Johannesburg Art School. Edith met Maud Sumner and soon began enjoying painting lessons with her. The many superb Sumners in the collection confirm their enduring friendship as does her portrait of Edith as Joan of Arc. After meeting and marrying Monte Dodo the couple relocated to Pietermaritzburg where the Dodo family operated a business that was to develop into the nation-wide Dodo Shoe Stores and Dodo Fashion Boutiques. They travelled throughout Europe, often spending extended periods in Paris, where Edith frequented museums and galleries and familiarised herself with the top artists of the day. Edith Dodo became a member of the Tatham Art Gallery Advisory Committee and was commissioned to look for suitable work for the collection. On a trip to London in 1965 she acquired a Manessier watercolour and an Ivon Hitchens oil. These acquisitions were viewed by the committee as very important additions which added to the Modernist thrust they were developing in the Tatham collection at that time. 1 Her own international collection confirms her innovative and courageous choices based on sound judgment and an eye for design, style and colour. Highlights include Figure on Purple painted by British artist, Ivon Hitchens in 1965, an abstract painting by French Tachiste Alfred Manessier and Picasso’s etching Rêve de Marin from his famous 347 Suite published in 1969. Polish-born, School of Paris artist Henri Hayden’s Les Champs painted in 1962 displays the lyrical composition and bejewelled colours that have assured him a place in major collections such as the Tate Gallery. Also included are prints by leading international artists Georges Braque, Joan Miró, Fernand Léger, Alberto Giacometti and Marc Chagall and the European Lyrical Abstractionists, as well as a Portrait of Monsieur Duchamp by Jacques Villon, brother of Marcel Duchamp. Edith Dodo involved herself actively in the local art scene with regular attendances at exhibition openings and events. She engaged with artists such as Walter Battiss and added their works to her substantial and growing collection. The numerous delightful Sumners are complemented by Alexis Preller’s Blue Nude and many attractive still life and landscape paintings by Terence McCaw and Gordon Vorster amongst others. 1. Brendan Bell, Director, Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg, personal communication, 2 February 2010 Edith Dodo with Walter Battiss at an exhibition opening in Pietermaritzburg. Edith Dodo discussing Ivon Hitchens’ Twisting Stream with Tatham Art Gallery curator, Lorna Nimmo.