Notes

Baldinelli first came to the attention of the South African art community with his assemblages, of which the present lot is a wonderful example. He exhibited this new trend in his artmaking in the early 1960s in Johannesburg. Before that he was better known for mosaics, or, as he called these murals, stone paintings. His assemblages are unique in the sense that they are in line with contemporary stylistic movements across the world, especially Art Autre in France and the Gutai Art Association in Japan. Purportedly, Baldinelli was a member of this group. The course of the creative process is dictated by the nature of the material itself. Unpainterly materials, ranging from motor car spares to driftwood are combined in such a way that they acquire a new artistic identity. Even junk can assume aesthetic form when converted by creative sensibility. The present lot shows a stretched sheet of thick creamy white paint over virtually the whole picture plane, but is pierced in places because of the tension.

Literature

Esmé Berman (1983). Art & Artists of South Africa, Cape Town: A.A. Balkema, page 55.