The Engen Collection
Live Virtual Auction, 24 June 2025
The Engen Collection
About the SessionThe Engen Collection is a corporate collection that highlights a crucial chapter in South African art history.
Initially put together as the Mobil collection in the early 1980s, it brings to market a selection of works from a broader archive of over two hundred artworks, offering insights into the networks, pedagogies and creative resistances that shaped South African abstract art in the early 1980s. It comprises of paintings, tapestries, works on paper and photographs representing a significant corporate investment in South African contemporary art during a period of intense cultural and political transformation. The collection engages with a moment when South African artists were developing visual languages that could operate across the cultural and artistic boundaries. These artists, including Bill Ainslie, Simon Stone, Gabriel Tsolo, Judith Mason, Andrew Verster, Pippa Skotnes and Gail Altschuler, documented individual artistic development alongside the collective creation of alternative artistic practice.
The collection traces the intellectual and artistic genealogy of artists working within and against the constraints of the 80s, many of whom were influenced by the South African artist, teacher and activist Bill Ainslie and the Johannesburg Art Foundation (JAF), an institution that maintained inclusivity. Founded in 1982, JAF operated as an educational anomaly, rejecting prescribed curricula and external authority in favour of emancipatory and experimental pedagogy. Under Ainslie's direction, the Foundation fostered abstract expressionism, an art movement whose rejection of traditional representational art prioritised non-objective imagery to evoke emotion. The connections of the institution extended beyond the JAF itself, linking to the establishment of Federated Union of Black Artists (FUBA) and the Thupelo Workshops in Cape Town, institutions whose impact continues to shape contemporary South African art discourse.
The CEO, Mr George Roberts, said: "The Engen Collection represents a broad and vibrant range of South African artists and has been a treasured part of our company’s story for many years. As we look to the future, we believe it is time for these remarkable artworks to find new homes where they can continue to be appreciated, shared and celebrated. We believe that by releasing this collection, the artworks will find new life amongst a wider community, while inspiring new audiences by continuing to tell the story of South Africa’s creative spirit."
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
About this Item
signed; signed and inscribed with the title on the reverse
Notes
"This early work by Adriaan Boshoff Is a heartfelt tribute to the Highveld Landscape of South Africa. Capturing the quiet transformation of autumn, Boshoff embraces the shift as the land softens into warm khaki tones - colours that resonate with the palette he would later develop. Through his masterful brushwork, he conveys not only the vastness of the terrain but also the quiet poetry found in seasonal
change. It is a visual ode to both place and moment, evoking a profound sense of belonging and nostalgia." -Louise Boshoff, 2025.
The urge to paint surfaced early in Pretoria-born Adriaan Boshoff's childhood. This self-taught painter worked primarily in oil and excelled
at portraying landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and figures in everyday life, in his unmistakable impressionistic style. Some of his most memorable works are scenes of the South African veld with cattle grazing and romanticised visions of childhood. Often referred to as the 'Renoir' of South Africa, Boshoff said that he wanted to capture the fleeting moments of life before they are gone forever. His work has been exhibited and is collected throughout the world.
Thanks to Louise Boshoff for assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.
Literature
R J Angel (no date) Mobil Court Art Collection: A Collection of South African Visual Art, Mobil Oil Southern Africa, illustrated in colour with the title Transvaal Landscape near Bethal, unpaginated.
Provenance
The Engen Collection.