Andrew Verster
Garden Umbrella, Umbrella Series
About the SessionStrauss & Co is delighted to present Andrew Verster: Gorgeous and Free, a landmark timed-online auction devoted exclusively to the celebrated Durban painter, educator, critic, and activist Andrew Verster. This collection serves as a focused snapshot of a prolific career, offering new generations an opportunity to engage with an artist who was a prominent figure in the 1980s. It is a chance to explore a body of work that is deeply compelling and a tribute to the legacy of an artist of such significant contributions.
The 38 lots on offer span the full breadth of Verster's creative output. We are thrilled to present a comprehensive selection that includes his characteristic oil paintings, watercolours, a captivating sculptural door piece, and five monumental tapestries created in collaboration with Stephens Tapestry Studio. Each piece reflects a singular visual language, rich with a distinctive chromatic exuberance and an unapologetic vision.
Leading this outstanding collection is Expulsion, a four-panel tour de force from 1987. This powerful artwork, with its vividly coloured wilderness and hunched male figures, revisits the biblical expulsion from Eden, reinterpreting the narrative through the lens of queer desire. This was a profoundly courageous and dignifying gesture in apartheid South Africa. The aesthetic beauty of Verster’s work often belies the quiet but fearless political messages embedded within, demonstrating how he navigated an oppressive social landscape with subtlety and strength. His bold use of colour and intimate scenes also show a clear debt to painters like David Hockney.
This auction reaffirms Verster’s vital place within a lineage of queer South African painters, including Edward Wolfe and Alexis Preller. This catalogue delves deeper into his body of work and his place in art history, solidifying our commitment to championing significant South African artists.
ZAR 7 000
About this Item
signed and dated 80; inscribed with the artist name, the series title and medium on a Gallery International label adhered to the reverse
Provenance
Gallery International, Cape Town.
Estate Late J Jaakke.
Private Collection.
Notes
I met Andrew during the early 1970s when I was living in Durban. I was working at the Walsh Marais Gallery for Aidan Walsh, Andrew’s partner. They lived in a wonderful old Victorian house in Essenwood Road on the Berea. We lived nearby and visited them frequently, there always seemed to be an endless supply of interesting people coming and going.
At that time Andrew was still lecturing at Durban University. He had a studio at the back of the house and produced impressive work, experimenting in different mediums. His paintings were abstract, using vibrant colors to depict the lush vegetation which abounded in the garden, the swimming pool and various aspects of the house itself. These were the forerunners of what was to become his breathtaking Fragile Paradise series. His beach scenes are also reminiscent of those carefree days, capturing the sultry atmosphere, the heat, the sun beating down on the
sand, the umbrellas, palm trees and deck chairs. Over the years Andrew’s style progressed but these wonderful works from the 1970s and 1980s have retained their significance and appeal.
Ann Palmer
August 2025
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