Strauss & co - 20 May 2019, Johannesburg

75 157 Brett Murray SOUTH AFRICAN 1961– Africa Maquette signed and numbered 10/15 bronze and paint height: 28 cm R50 000 – 70 000 LITERATURE Brett Murray (2013) Brett Murray , Johannesburg: Jacana Media. Page 274, and illustrated in a photograph of the artist’s Cape Town studio, page 35. cf. Sophie Perryer (ed.) (2004) 10 Years, 100 Artists: Art in a Democratic South Africa, Cape Town: Bell-Roberts in association with Struik. Africa illustrated on page 265. This is an artist’s model of Brett Murray’s painted bronze sculpture, commissioned by the Cape Town Urban Arts Foundation and JK Gross Trust, and installed on St George’s Mall in Cape Town. Murray’s self- described ‘stoic, mock-monumental African presence’ is composed of an outsized Nigerian ritual ancestor figure bedecked with yellow Bart Simpson heads. Murray conceived the work as a satirical comment on ‘converging cultural paradigms’ in post-apartheid South Africa. City officials initially vetoed the work’s installation, but later capitulated when the artist submitted an expert testimonial by Nigerian critic and intellectual Kole Omotoso. Murray subsequently won further public commissions, notably at the Cape Town International Convention Centre in 2002. ‘The great attraction of producing public artworks is that it gives artists an opportunity to reach a broader audience. A less obvious attraction is the chance it provides artists to work closely with highly skilled artisans, welders, moulders, bronze casters, fettlers, riggers and engineers.’ 1 1. Brett Murray (2013) Brett Murray , Johannesburg: Jacana Media. Pages 273 and 274. Sean O’Toole 159 Edoardo Villa SOUTH AFRICAN 1915–2011 Abstract Form signed, dated 1985 and numbered 1/5 bronze with a brown patina length: 26 cm R70 000 – 100 000 158 Cecil Skotnes SOUTH AFRICAN 1926–2009 Totem signed carved, painted and incised wood panel with metal on wooden base height: 103 cm excluding base; 108 cm including base R60 000 – 80 000 Panel carved, painted and incised on both sides, attached to wooden base with steel brackets and bolts. TWOVIEWS OF LOT 158 ©The Estate of Cecil Skotnes | DALRO 159 157