Strauss & co - 15 February 2020, Cape Town

88 THE PROPERTY OF A COLLECTOR LOTS 53–74 72  GAIL CATLIN SOUTH AFRICAN 1948– Lucy 2014 stamped with the artist’s signature, Cape Bronze Foundry mark and numbered 1/9 bronze height: 200 cm R400 000 – 600 000 EXHIBITED SMAC Gallery, Cape Town, Forged: New Sculptures by Gail Catlin, Ruann Coleman, Barend de Wet , 21 March to 2 May 2015. “ Lucy is the first sculpture to confront us as she rises up alone in the splendid isolation of the first gallery, effortlessly transforming the space into her via dolorosa , her site of martyrdom. Catlin consistently explores the dolorous extremities of the feminine condition, and Lucy whose disfigured body is scarred by time, pain and exhaustion, also dwells on the onset of age, loss of looks and deepening solitude. However her effigy not only records her insecurity, doubt and dread, it also commemorates her indomitable will to survive”. 1 1. Lloyd Pollak (2015) “The Forgery of Sculpture” . [Online], Available: https://artthrob.co.za/2015/ 04/27/the-forgery-of-sculpture/ [20 December 2019] Photo: Mark Hall