Welgemeend August Art Month 2018

Introduction This year marks the 5th anniversary of the annual collaboration between the Friends of Welgemeend, Strauss & Co, Delaire Graff Estate and the Kilbourn family to present a selection of artworks from our collection at Welgemeend and to raise awareness of and funds for the preservation of Welgemeend and the Boerneef Collection. The theme of the 2018 exhibition is Shifting Boundaries: A selection of works showcasing South African women artists of the past 100 Year s. We thought it appropriate to highlight and recognize the incredible contribution made by women artists to the ever expanding South African art scene. In fact, women artists often lead the way in shifting the boundaries of what was generally regarded as “good” or “acceptable” art and continue to enrich our lives by doing so. As it often happens, artists that met with a lot of resistance and critical derision in their lifetimes, become the most collectible over time. Auction results underscore this fact and in the 9 years since the first Strauss & Co art auction, Irma Stern’s works generated R338m in sales, double that of JH Pierneef… impressive indeed! Maggie Laubser generated R58m in sales during that period and occupies the fifth position. Our aim is to not only recognize these pioneering artists’ contributions, but also to celebrate the incredible variety of women artists, many of whom are still significantly underrated and under-appreciated. To this end, we have brought together 98 works by 67 different artists, which we hope will be one of the most historically comprehensive exhibitions of women artists yet in South Africa. “Shifting Boundaries” explores three main themes: body, space and society. The selection includes portraits of women by women (body); still lifes, landscapes and interiors as seen by women (space); and works engaging contemporary social issues (society). Last year, we featured several women artists in the exhibition “Abstraction: South African Art of the 50’s to the 70’s” and most of these artists have not been included in the current exhibition. The artist list covers three pivotal periods from the last century and includes works by pioneer modernists like Cecil Higgs, Maggie Laubser, Maud Sumner and Irma Stern, mid-century trailblazers Nel Erasmus, Esther Mahlangu and Judith Mason, and highly regarded contemporary artists Jane Alexander, Deborah Bell, Marlene Dumas, Mmakgabo Sebidi, Penny Siopis and Mary Sibande. The exhibition also includes sculptures by, among others, Beth Armstrong, Wilma Cruise, Noria Mabasa and Rina Stutzer. There are also photographs by Zanele Muholi, Nandipha Mntambo, Thania Petersen, Mary Sibande and Sue Williamson’s important photo installation A Tale of Two Cradocks (1994). Dit is ’n besondere lekkerte vir my as versamelaar om “kurator te speel” en die geleentheid te hê om werke uit ons versameling rondom so ‘n spesiale tema saam te voeg. Die eerste ernstige werke wat Lizelle en ek gekoop en oor maande afbetaal het was van vroue kunstenaars, Maggie Laubser en Maud Sumner en dit het die grondslag gelê vir die huidige uitstalling. Die eerste Stern wat ons gekoop het in 1996 is ook op die uitstalling, Madonna ’n ets van 1951. Ons deel ’n voorliefde met Boerneef vir die werk van Cecil Higgs en dit was ’n vreugde om twee intieme tonele, ’n stillewe, ’n onder-see toneel en mis-landskap by die uitstalling te kon insluit. Die enigmatiese landskappe van die Everard-groep het vir my as ’n boorling van die platteland groot bekoring en dwing mens om weer, met vars oë, te kyk na die landskap rondom jou. Die jukstaposisie van landskappe en seetonele in die Salon reflekteer ook ons reis van die noorde na die suide. Ons het nog altyd ’n groot bewondering vir die werk van Maud Sumner gehad wat Impressionisme en Abstraksie met gesofistikeerde gemak kon kombineer in uiters elegante werke. Freida Lock se “Kombuis interieur” laat mens dadelik warm en tuis voel en is ’n inspirasie vir ons kombuis in Tamboerskloof. Duitse Ekspressionisme het ’n groot rol gespeel in Irma Stern en Maggie Laubser se vorming en die ekspressiewe werke Oriental Woman with Clenched Fist van Stern se eerste uitstalling in Kaapstad in 1922 en Laubser se Vrou met Kopdoek van 1926 staan in sterk kontras met die latere en meer idilliese Pondo Woman en Woman Sewing Karos (1929) van Stern en Portrait of a Girl with Geese van Maggie. Ons hoop dat die insluiting van werke uit verskillende periodes van die leidende kunstenaars insiggewend sal wees. Mmakgabo Sebidi, Esther Mahlangu, Jane Alexander, Judith Mason, Marlene Dumas, Zanele Muholi and Penny Siopis are all mould breakers and substantially changed our appreciation of paint techniques, material, media and perceptions of beauty, power and prejudice. Adding the flamboyance of Mary Sibande, the elegance of Deborah Bell and Shany van der Berg and the precision of Lyndi Sales, Barbara Wildenboer and Cecily Sash to the mix, made the hanging of the exhibition challenging and inspirational. Over the years the scope of our collaboration has expanded to include a range of activities spread over the month of August.This year’s programme “Art Month at Welgemeend” includes a fundraising dinner, cocktail evenings, masterclasses by Penny Siopis, Wilhelm van Rensburg, Amanda Botha, Lizelle Kilbourn, Bina Genovese and Vanessa Phillips, a music concert by Liza and Gerhard Joubert and a conversation on Women’s Day between art journalist Amanda Botha and world renowned heart specialist Dr Susan Vosloo. Our thanks to everyone involved in many months of planning and execution of the comprehensive program. We hope it will not only benefit Welgemeend but also bring joy to the participants and renewed admiration for all the women in our world. This exhibition is dedicated to my mother, who passed away on 13 August 2017, almost a year ago, and Shany van den Berg’s work Laaste Blomtuin is included in memory of a truly remarkable woman. Frank Kilbourn