Strauss & co - 30 June 2014, Johannesburg

162 222 Gerard SEKOTO south african 1913–1993 PensiveYoungWoman signed oil oncanvas 45,5by 35,5 cm R1000000–1500000 notes Originally trainedas a teacher, GerardSekoto soon left that profession topursueacareer inart. He receivedencouragement and support from ReverendRoger Castlewhoalsoprovidedpart-time art classeswhichSekotoattended for awhile. He participated inhis first exhibitionwith the rest of Castle’s class at theGainsboroughGallery in 1939 wherehemet JudithGluckmanwhovolunteered to teachhimhow touseoil paints as, at the time, hewasonlyusing ‘poster colours’. 1 Thispaintingwas probablyproducedbetween 1939and 1941while Sekotowas receiving tutelage fromGluckman. The similarityof their techniques at the time is clear where thepainted surface is affectedwith the same stippled texture that one sees inmuchof Gluckman’spainting. Thepresent lotwaspurchased in theearly 1940s andhas remained in the family since. Describing the successwithwhichSekoto’s early workwasmet, EsméBermanexplainshow ‘noneof the tiredacademicclichésor timidprettinesswere present in the self-taught painter’swork. The fearless colour, theunconventional viewpoint, even theawkwardhandlingof familiar formswere refreshinglyoriginal andhonest’. 2 Stylistically, thispainting isprobablymost comparable to WomanwithaGreenScarf in the DurbanArtGallerycollection. 3 Paintedcirca 1940, there is a similar handlingof themedium: the same darkoutlines that delineate the formof thefigure andgentlygrade into thecontoursof the surface it depictswhile thevividcontrast of thedarker foregroundwith thebold, bright, almost acidyellow background is also similarlyhandled. It ispossible that thismaybeoneof theearliest examplesof oil paintingbyGerardSekoto.We seeperhaps theearliest indicationof stylisticdevices that are yet tocome to fruitionover the full extent of his artisticdevelopment. For example, thebackground hachuring is similar to that innumerous examples of his laterwork, suchas Womanwithbaby and Woman’shead . 4 Sekoto’s later, Parisianworkhasbeencriticised for becoming stylised, formulaicand repetitive, submitting to the fashionableParisianconventions of the timeand lacking in theconvictionand integrityof theearlySouthAfricanexamples. PensiveYoungWomanembodies all the characteristics, charmandauthenticityof theearly examples. Though thepaintingmaybecriticised for beingdark, this is likelya result of the fact that itwasproduced ina townshipwithout lights or electricity.Where the laterworks lack validity and relevance, choosing rather todepict generic examplesof an idealisedmemoryof ‘home’, this paintingoffersmoreconvincing insights into the oppressiveconditionsunderwhichblackSouth Africanartistswereproducingart. Thepensive figure in thedarkenvironment isprobablyamore honest reflectionofwhat theartist observed aroundhim thanany romanticiseddepictionof colloquial township lifecouldprovide. 1 BarbaraLindop. (1988) GerardSekoto . Johannesburg: DictumPublishing. Page 21. 2 EsméBerman. (1983) ArtandArtistsof SouthAfrica. Cape TownandRotterdam: AABalkema. Page417. 3 BethHouston. (ed.). (2013) Song forSekoto, exhibition catalogue toaccompanyanexhibitionheldat theWits ArtMuseum, Johannseburg, 25April – 2 June 2013. Johannesburg: TheGerardSekotoFoundation. Illustrated incolour, page9. 4 BarbaraLindop. (1988)Opcit. Pages 266–7.