Strauss & co - 8 - 11 November 2020

68 T O P L A C E A B I D C L I C K O N T H E R E D L O T N U M B E R 823 Marianne Podlashuc SOUTH AFRICAN 1932–2006 Bo and the World Beyond signed oil on board 58 by 49 cm R30 000 – 50 000 The boy in the painting is the artist’s second son, Boris, affectionately known as Bo. He suffered from severe autism and was locked into a world of his own, but he loved the circus and his parents would take him and his older brother whenever the circus was in town. In the present lot, the boy is shown in a harlequin’s chequered costume, reaching out to the real world but also the fantasy world of the circus. Sadly, Bo died of a brain tumour when he was seventeen years old. 822 Alexander Podlashuc SOUTH AFRICAN 1930–2009 Sunday Afternoon signed and dated 02; inscribed with the title on the reverse oil on canvas laid down on board 71 by 95 cm R30 000 – 40 000 EXHIBITED Welgemeend, Cape Town, Satire and Irony: Robert Hodgins, Stanley Pinker and Alexander Podlashuc from the Kilbourn, Bloch, Wiese and Podlashuc Collections, August 2019, illustrated in colour on page 43 of the exhibition catalogue. ‘On an autumn Sunday in Sydney, Pod was invited to a shrimp barbecue by an actress, her construction contractor husband, and their two rescue dogs. Given the state of universal misanthropy and suffering in the world, this complex family relationship made an impression on Pod. He always felt there was a message in it somewhere. As it turned out, the bigger dog, Oscar, had issues. The poor chap was totally neurotic, his deep psychological problems set off by pumpkins and washing machines. After numerous therapy sessions, the couple were advised by their pet psychologist that Oscar needed his own ‘pet’. And so, Rubin Jr joined the family. Not long after, Rubin Jr acquired his own pet, a well-chewed soft teddy. It is not in the painting. 1 1. Leo Podlaschuc (2019) quoted in Lizelle and Frank Kilbourn (eds), Satire and Irony: Robert Hodgins, Stanley Pinker and Alexander Podlashuc from the Kilbourn, Bloch, Wiese and Podlashuc Collections , Cape Town: Welgemeend, page 43. 823 822