Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art
Online-Only Auction, 7 - 14 March 2022
Portraits
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
inscribed with the artist's name and the title on the reverse; inscribed with 'Do as I can' and 'HJCG · DE · KZN · ME · FECIT · ANNO · MMXXI · 16 · APRILIS (the artist's initials, location and the date) on the frame
Notes
Heather Gourlay-Conyngham's self portrait riffs off the iconic Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban painted in 1433 by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck (b. before 1390, d. 9 1441), one of the most famous portraits in Western art history. The painting is still in the original artist-made frame and judging by the inscriptions on it, the work is likely to be a self portrait,
Van Eyck painted the motto ‘AlC IXH XAN’ (As Well As I Can) at the top, and the inscription ‘JOHES DE EYCK ME FECIT ANO MCCCC.33. 21. OCTOBRIS’ (‘Jan van Eyck Made Me on October 21, 1433’) at the bottom, which suggests that this work was painted as a studio piece to demonstrate to prospective patrons the extent of his accomplishments. Not only could he depict light, space and three-dimensional form in a naturalist manner, he seems to be telling the viewer, but he was also masterfully adept at capturing a range of different surfaces and textures – human skin, luxurious red velvet and the soft brown fur of the coat. And with the painter standing alongside the portrait, the patrons could judge for themselves if he was able to capture a good likeness! The headdress is not actually a turban but a ‘chaperon’, a type of hood with a short cape, common in the Middle Ages. The cape was sometimes worn hanging down, and sometimes, if the wearer was wealthy enough to afford the necessary length of expensive fabric, worn draped around the head. It conveys a sense of Van Eyck's status and importance as court painter to John of Bavaria-Straubing, ruler of Holland, Hainault and Zeeland, and later Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy.
Van Eyck is popularly believed to have invented the medium of oil paint, but he is more likely just to have perfected practices that were current in his artistic milieu in Bruges, in what is now Belgium. The medium of oil paint spread throughout Europe and became the dominant medium for painters from the Renaissance onward.
Gourlay-Conyngham, inaugural winner of the Sanlam National Portrait Award, is known for her realistic idiom. Her subject matter is always acutely observed, painstakingly rendered and instilled with a contained energy. In the present lot, she matches Van Eyck step for step.
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