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7 Sep 2013

The presence of these two impressive paintings by Robert Gwelo Goodman on one sale provides the rare opportunity of seeing some of the artists finest works and assessing how his French training and exposure to the international art world impacted on the development of his style. In 1895 he studied at Pariss famed Acadmie Julian where Henri Matisse was a fellow pupil. Following success in London when three landscape paintings were accepted at The Royal Academy in 1898 and a painting tour of India in 1903/4, he re-settled in South Africa in 1911.

         

Full of Flushed Heat, Tulbagh                                                Dawn on Table Mountain

The influence of the French Realists encouraged his interest in familiar topographical environments and what art historian, Evelyn Cohen, called an “honest portrayal of the major features of a specific scene”.1 The paintings provide uncommon insights into the historical development of Tulbagh and Cape Town, before urban expansion. In addition to revealing how these places appeared in a bygone era, Goodman’s painterly treatment evokes the unique qualities of each location.

His canvases primed with Van Dyck brown, in the academic tradition, provide strength and stability, while their surface vitality derives from the broken brushstrokes inspired by Impressionist and Divisionist painters. Successfully employed in the vivid Tulbagh landscape, these multiple brush marks capture and refract light with shimmering effect and contribute to the atmosphere of intense heat. By contrast, the verdant forest and cool tones of Table Mountain are rendered with a subtlety that underscores the tranquillity of the scene at daybreak.
1. Cohen, Evelyn. 1988. ‘Early Training and French Vision in South African Art Prior to 1920’. In Alexander, Lucy; Bedford, Emma and Cohen, Evelyn. Paris and South African Artists 1850-1965, Cape Town: South African National Gallery. Page 15.

Text By Emma Bedford

Important South African Art & Furniture, Decorative Arts & Jewellery
including The Dr Johan Bolt Cape Collection

Monday 21 October 2013
Session 1 at 10am
Session 2 at 1.30 pm
Session 3 at 3.30pm
Session 4 at 5.30pm
Session 5 at 8pm

VENUE
The Vineyard Hotel, Newlands
Colinton Road (off Protea Road)

GPS Co-ordinates: S 33° 58’ 44.6” E 18° 27’ 31.1”

PREVIEW
Friday 18 to Sunday 20 October 10am to 5pm

WALKABOUTS
Conducted by Stephan Welz and Emma Bedford
Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 October at 11am

ENQUIRIES
+27 (0) 21 683 6560
Mobile +27 (0) 78 044 8185
Fax: +27 (0) 21 683 6085

ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE R150.00
 


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