Highly collectable and historic SA art to go under the hammer at Aspire Art Auctions

Aspire Art's upcoming auction in Cape Town is sure to get art lovers' pulses racing as it gives them the opportunity to add some significant and sought-after pieces to their collections.

A total of 111 works by 74 renowned African artists — including many SA luminaries — will go under the hammer.

Headlining the auction is Drawing from Mine by William Kentridge. Intensely expressive, this charcoal drawing is one of 18 the artist produced as a still for his 1991 animated film, Mine. 

Covetable drawings from Kentridge’s films rarely come to market, but that’s not the only reason this lot is expected to generate much excitement: Aspire Art achieved record-setting and -breaking prices when auctioning Kentridge pieces in the past.

Works from Marlene Duma seldom come to market, so lot 51 is another one to watch. Titled Kindvrou, this portrait of a young girl painted in the mid-1970s has drawn comparisons to Irma Stern’s celebrated piece, The Eternal Child.

Robert Hodgins’ exceptional large-scale oil painting, A Green Girl (1988/1989), which references Shakespeare's Ophelia, is another showstopper.

Other modern treasures include a fantastic gouache, Embrace by Peter Clarke, two sensitive portraits by Neville Lewis, and works by François Krige, Cinga Samson, Eleanor Esmonde-White, Gregoire Boonzaier, Cecil Skotnes and Walter Battiss.

There's also an impressive body of sculptures by artists such as Bruce Arnott, David Brown, Sydney Kumalo and Edoardo Villa.

For fans of photography, the catalogue includes arresting works by the likes of David Goldblatt, Jac de Villier, Zanele Muholi and Guy Tillim.

Staying true to this goal, over 20% of the works on the March auction are from African countries outside SA.

Highlights include Zimbabwean artists Misheck Masamvu’s monumental painting Bottoms Up and Moffat Takadiwa’s Mr Consumer 2, marvellous sculptural form constructed using refuse materials and litter from around Harare.