Strauss & co - 11 November 2013, Johannesburg

138 206 Dorothy Moss KAY south african 1886–1964 Salt signed; inscribed with the artist’s name and ‘Salt’ in another hand on the stretcher oil on canvas 73 by 85,5 cm R100 000–150 000 exhibited The National Gallery of South Africa, Cape Town, W.A, where the title ‘Salt’ is inscribed on the gallery label adhered to the reverse Eastern Province Society of Arts and Crafts, Port Elizabeth, 23rd Exhibition , 18–28 September 1940, catalogue number 16 Eastern Province Society of Arts and Crafts, Arts Hall, Port Elizabeth, Works by Dorothy Kay 1902–1955 , June 1955, catalogue number 3 literature Reynolds, Marjorie. (1989) Everything you do is a Portrait of Yourself, Dorothy Kay: A Biography, Johannesburg: Privately Published. Mentioned on page 101, exhibitions mentioned on pages 464 and 475. notes An ardent supporter of the Arts in the Eastern Cape, Dorothy Kay was a founder member of the Eastern Province Society of Arts and Crafts (EPSAC). She exhibited regularly with the Society and organised fund raising events including the Three Arts Ball 1 held at the Market Hall in Port Elizabeth. Salt Shovellers was first shown in 1940 at the 23rd Exhibition of EPSAC. This oil drew upon the subject matter of Stacking Salt 2 (now in the permanent collection of the Museum Africa, pictured above) but differs from the larger oil in that there are only seven figures shown in their respective working roles, as opposed to nine. 3 The figures are seen working in what appears to be a shed or warehouse. Some of the workers are shovelling the pile of sea salt, others pulling or tipping the wooden carts used for transporting the salt. Kay referred to these two works as Shovelling Salt , Salt Shovellers or Stacking Salt which led to erroneous miscataloging of the work in future exhibitions, notably the retrospective show held in Port Elizabeth in 1955 where this painting is mentioned as having been painted in 1918 . 1. The first Three Arts Ball was held in 1926. The funds from these balls were earmarked for the building of an Arts hall in Port Elizabeth. 2. Painted in 1938 the same year as The Elvery Family: A Memory 3. Marjorie Reynolds only mentions eight figures in Everything you do is a Portrait of Yourself: Dorothy Kay, a biography (1989).