Strauss & co - 30 June 2014, Johannesburg

188 245 RobertGriffiths HODGINS south african 1920–2010 DonGiovanni inHell signed, dated 1999/2000and inscribed with the titleon the reverse oil andcharcoal oncanvas 119,5by90cm R650000–900000 notes His loveof thearts andhis knowledgeof diverse cultural forms enabledRobertHodgins todrawon a rangeof characters andplots todelight bothhis viewers’ intellect and senses.As Kendell Geerspoints out: Itwas throughartmuseums, theatres,music, and literature that theyoungRobertHodgins foundhis escape from theLondonof the Depression-era 1930s, anescape that no doubt still informshis conceptionof art and hisunderstandingof itspossibilities. ... Avast libraryof cultural knowledgeandpointsof reference is filtered through livedexperience anddepositedonto thewhitecanvas, a battlegroundof countlesspossibilitiesbut only one solution.Theend isnever thedestination –as colours shift andareoverpainted, forms are left unfinishedas ideas are slowlygiven expression. 1 Mozart’s DonGiovanni centreson the riseand fall of thenotorious libertine,whose servant Leporello recountshis seductionof over 2000women in thecelebratedCatalogueAria.Librettist Lorenzo daPonte, basinghisnarrativeonTirsodeMolina’s seventeenth-centuryplay, castsDonGiovanni as a predatorwho seduceswomenandmurders their menfolk, emphasising thecharacter’sdarker side in thisoperawhich is, by turns,mischievous and harrowing. Its full title DonGiovanni: TheLibertinePunished or, in Italian, DonGiovanni: Il dissolutopunito , anticipates thevillain’s end inwhichhe isdragged tohell byone of his victims.The subject fascinatedaudiences as muchas it didartists,withno lesser poets thanByron andBaudelaireproducingepicpoemson theantics of this rake. In this reflectiononcontemporarypower, Hodgins seems toquestionwhether punishment is likely. Withhis fiendish face, sinister eyes and livid skin, Don Giovanni findshimself here, not inafiery furnacebut inahell that is clinical,well-lit andwhite-tiled.Casting acursoryglanceover his shoulder, it’squestionable whether that self-satisfied smirkbetrays anyguilt. We imaginehehas little remorse.On thecontrary, one senses that thisDon Juan is looking forward to the ride. 1 Kendell Geers ‘Undiscoveredat 82’ inAtkinson, Brendaet al. (2002) RobertHodgins . CapeTown: Tafelberg. Page65.