Notes

The present lot was possibly produced in 1961 and subsequently featured in the journal Our Art that same year. Walter Battiss, by this time, was a passionate student of Southern African rock art, publishing no fewer than seven books on the subject in the 1940s and 50s. The sixties marked a dynamic shift in the artists style and iconography. Seen here in the present lot the elongated figures became typical and were directly inspired by his large collection of rock art photographs and tracings. Battiss started to paint directly onto the board with thick paint applied by a palette knife, then he would scratch figures and animals into it with the back of he palette knife or a tool. A technique called sgraffito. According to Siebrits, "overhearing Heather Martiensen and Cecily Sash of the Wits Art Department discouraging their students from painting with the aid of a palette knife, Battiss consciously introduced it into his work" ¹. Battiss claimed:

"I painted with a palette knife because the Wits art school said you should never paint with a palette knife. So I loved painting with a palette knife. I loved being a rebel, doing what they say I mustn't."²

The subject matter and technique changes were largely made due to his travels to exotic parts of Africa, the Middle East, Southern Arabia, Crete and Greece, during which he was brought into contact with many contrasting cultures and landscapes.

1. Warren Siebritz (ed) (2016) Walter Battiss: "I Invented Myself", exhibition catalogue, Johannesburg: The Ampersand Foundation, page 57.
2. Ibid

Provenance

Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery, Cape Town.

Private Collection.

Literature

Various Authors (1961) Our Art 2, Pretoria: The South African Association for the Advancement of Knowledge and Culture, illustrated in black and white on page 4.