Strauss & co - 16 February 2019, Cape Town

45 31 Judith Mason SOUTH AFRICAN 1938–2016 Untitled, eight each signed oil on board each 40 by 45 cm (8) R100 000 – 150 000 ITEM NOTES A graduate of Wits University, where she also taught painting, Judith Mason was a technically disci- plined artist who recognised the importance of diligent practice and contextual reading. Shortly before her death in late 2016, Mason pub- lished a book of counsel for young artists. It offers rich insight into her practice, in particular this octet of transformative studies of human motion set against abstract grounds of colour. Like all other mammals, noted Mason, humans are ‘an exqui- site, flexible articulation of bones, called a spine … the pelvis … and the clever appendages which clutch, punch, run and kick.’ 1 Rendering the body, she advised, demanded more than mere familiarity but deep attention. ‘An innate sense of anatomy will not only stop us from making silly mistakes, but will give us the confidence to distort with confi- dence when we need to … Knowing what the body does in reality gives us license to use it as a metaphor.’ 2 1. Judith Mason. (2015) The Mind’s Eye , White River: Books & Books Press. Pages 18 and 19. 2. Ibid. Page 28.