Review 2011

Christo Coetzee Et In Arcadia Ego signed and dated 64, signed, dated 17/3/64, and inscribed Paris 120 Fig on the reverse Applied with a label of participation in the Prix Marzotto Pour La Peinture “Communaute Europeene”, 1964, on the reverse oil on canvas 195 by 130cm Sold R389 900, March 2011 “Et in Arcadia Ego”, interpreted as “Even in Arcadia I exist”, refers to the famous pastoral painting by Nicolas Poussin in the Louvre, Paris, and was intended to set up an ironic contrast between the shadow of death and the usual idle merriment that the nymphs and swains of ancient Arcadia were thought to embody. Coetzee, who would have been very familiar with Poussin’s painting, was interested in themes of metamorphosis and the cycles of life, death and resurrection, which are explored in this painting that symbolises transformation and continuity. Emma Bedford, Senior Paintings Specialist, Strauss & Co 52