AbstRacT – Synchrony Revealed
Online-Only Auction, 4 - 23 July 2025
AbstRacT – Synchrony Revealed
About the SessionIn 2024, the Rupert Museum presented AbstRacT – The Hidden Synchrony, an exhibition inspired by Oscar Forel’s Synchromies series - close-up photographs of tree bark that transformed the familiar into bold abstraction. These works were paired with South African modernist paintings from the museum’s collection, creating surprising visual harmonies and fresh interpretations.
Building on this concept, AbstRacT – Synchrony Revealed is the result of the museum’s third Open Call, which received over 300 submissions. From these, 41 artists were selected to showcase their work in a group exhibition - now part of an exclusive online auction in collaboration with Strauss & Co.
The auction offers collectors a chance to discover new voices engaging with themes of ecology, memory, materiality, and abstraction. Each work reveals a dynamic interplay between natural form and artistic expression - where chance, structure, and symbolism collide.
During the period of the online auction the exhibition is accessible to be viewed at the Jan Rupert Art Centre, 41 Middle street, Graaff-Reinet.
Collection of the artworks will be available once the exhibition closes on 16 November 2025.
Please contact Eliz-Marie Schoonbee to arrange collection/delivery
tel: 021 888 3261
email: eliz-marie@rupertmuseum.org
About this Item
signed
Notes
An old pine tree, located along the road to the dairy where the artist buys milk, inspired this oil painting. The pine is considered one of the oldest tree species on Earth and is often seen as a symbol of rebirth, renewal, a hopeful future, and longevity.
As a child, Maartens-van Vuuren would sit beneath a giant fig tree that grew along her route to school. In the gentle shade of this tree, she experienced a deep sense of belonging and tranquillity. In this painting, she sought to explore humanity’s interconnectedness with the natural world, especially with trees, through the layering of memories.
The tree’s textured bark evokes the idea of stacked memories, suggesting the continuation of simultaneously lived experiences: echoes from the past, an awareness of the often disquieting present, and hopes or expectations for a transformative future. Through this, the artist reflects on our quiet affinity with trees, and the everyday moments they silently witness:
Beneath this pine, vegetable sellers arrange their goods and wait for customers. The car guard leans against the trunk to rest between shifts, as people come and go from the dairy and vehicles pass by.
View all Cecilia Maartens-van Vuuren lots for sale in this auction
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