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."
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About this Item
signed and dated '92
Exhibited
Prime Art, Cape Town, Quintessentially South African, 1992.
Notes
The present lot captures a distinctive white building with a curved gable roof - an unassuming architectural gem nestled in the remote West Coast town of Nuwerus, over 300 kilometres from Cape Town. First encountered by the artist during a 1988 journey to Port Nolloth, the structure remains standing to this day, a quiet testament to the endurance of the region's vernacular architecture.
Kramer's deep appreciation for South African townscapes was crystallised after a 1974 trip to Europe, which allowed him to return with fresh eyes and a renewed awareness of the uniqueness of the local built environment. Inspired by the photo-realism movement, he began translating his documentary photographs into paintings, imbuing them with a deeply personal and national sensibility. This approach reflects his long-standing fascination with everyday buildings - structures shaped not by grand architectural ambition, but by time, utility, and personal eccentricity. As Kramer explains, his interest lies not in designed architecture, but in buildings that "have grown and matured over time,"1 bearing the marks of alteration and idiosyncratic modification by their owners. These are the buildings that tell stories.
Nuwerus itself holds a compelling history tied to South Africa's transportation network. Originally known as Aardvarkgat (Ant Eater's Hole), the area began as a resting place for postal riders traversing the vast Hardeveld terrain between Vanrhynsdorp and Garies. A farm owned by B Schreuder provided essential stabling for horses, leading to the name Nieuwe Rust (New Resting Place), later simplified to Nuwerus in 1940.
John Kramer was born in Worcester, Western Cape, in 1946 and attended the Hugo Naudé Art Centre. He graduated from the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Art in 1968, winning the Michaelis Prize and has remained in the city ever since. He began working in the exhibitions department at the South African National Gallery in 1970. Kramer continued to paint throughout his career; when he retired in 2002, it was to pursue painting full-time. The subjects of his realistic works are vignettes of quintessential small-town South Africa - portraits of buildings, petrol stations and local shops. Devoid of living elements, Kramer's paintings are frozen in time, a bygone memory cast in soft light. Currently residing in The Gardens suburb, Cape Town, he continues to captivate audiences with his solo exhibitions, showcasing his realistic paintings that capture the essence of the South African small town - a theme that he has pursued for over fifty years.
His work has been featured in prestigious events such as the Cape Town Biennial, Cape Town Triennial and various exhibitions at Renowned galleries like the South African National Gallery. He has had work shown in the Netherlands and Belgium and is represented in a number of private and public collections.
1. Interview with the artist, 2025.
Thanks to John Kramer for assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.
Provenance
Prime Art Gallery, Cape Town.
The Engen Collection.
