Notes

In this work, Tretchikoff explored the topic that he had first broached in 1948, with his Herb Seller: coexistence of the momentous and the mundane.

In the Herb Seller, we saw a nonchalant Cape Malay woman offering her fare against the backdrop of election posters. Ironically, the election brought the National Party to power, and the sitter's rights were restricted as a result.

By the time Tretchikoff completed A Still life of Crayfish and Newspaper, the Group Areas Act was in its second incarnation, as evidenced by a headline in the newspaper. Meanwhile, Cape Malay traders on the seafront wrapped crayfish in papers such as this, with every page carrying the news of discrimination, nuclear tests and Cold War crises.

Apart from a very rare reference to Tretchikoff’s native country (‘America Challenges Russia’) in this work, an observer would notice a ‘bonus’ next to it: a self portrait of the artist.

Tretchikoff produced this painting at the end of his ‘golden period’ and exhibited it alongside his best-known canvases, such as Miss Wong or the Lady from Orient. The late 1950s saw him present some of his most politicised work — including his Black and White, a clear anti-racial declaration made before critically acclaimed painters in South Africa turned to protest art. Declassified government archives reveal that the Special Branch was compiling a dossier on Tretchikoff.

He did not pursue this direction any further. His audience was not keen on political statements in art. The original buyer of this painting, for example, was drawn to it because spiny lobsters in newspaper were a familiar sight on his visits to Cape Town. The work has been in the family for nearly sixty years. The current owner, a biologist, has appreciated the beauty and anatomical accuracy of Tretchikoff’s depiction of the crustacean. Boris Gorelik

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by the current owner's father.