Strauss & co - 7 November 2016, Johannesburg

151 217 Douglas Owen PORTWAY south african 1922–1993 The Lovers signed and inscribed with the title on the reverse oil on canvas 74,5 by 59,5 cm R70 000 – 100 000 provenance The Collection of the Late Mrs Liselotte Hardebeck. Portway is perhaps better known for his large abstract canvases of translucent colour fields; his figural works are rare. The present lot, with its solid, fleshy figures, immediately calls to mind Picasso's neo- classical phases, as well as other European, post-War examples by, amongst others, André Derain, Georges Braque and Henri Matisse, each of which reflected the prevailing interest in Le rappel à l'ordre (a return to order).