Strauss & co - 15 October 2018, Cape Town

CELEBRATING JUDITH MASON 10 October 1938 – 27 December 2016 10 October 2018 is the 80th anniversary of the birth of this renowned artist On Good Friday in Italy each village carries its dead Christ to the local cemetery for a brief ceremony. The effigies are of painted wood and plastic, and are modelled on robust and blood-spattered Baroque models. The dirge-singing, the candlelight and the sense of grief can be very moving and over-whelmingly oppressive. Faust’s cry: “See, see how Christ’s blood streams in the firmament”, expresses it perfectly. Montanino is a small industrial village on the outskirts of Firenze in Tuscany. Dead Christ at Montanino, Private Collection “I paint to make sense of life.” “I read about Darfur, death of drug cartel youths, disposal of toxic waste on defenceless shores, or the sale of contaminated medicines. Art’s great gift is to allow us to retrieve snippets of experience, shaped by word or image or sound, so that we can make sense of life, and feel less isolated in our joy or terror.” - Judith Mason