Cannas

Provenance

Constance van Kleef, and thence by descent.

Private Collection.

Notes

In the present lot, we see Tretchikoff turning to one of his favourite subjects, that of flowers in a vase. Ironically, Tretchikoff disliked having cut flowers in his home, frequently borrowing them from a neighbour. For him, flowers were living organisms best seen as plants in the ground, living and vibrant. Nevertheless, this vibrancy is seen to full effect in this work. Dating from his “middle period” we see the artist at the height of his confidence with the brush, moving away from the realism of his earlier works, and the painting almost has an expressionist feel to it with swathes of colour applied with deftness and self-assurance that is refreshing and extremely attractive. The sheer variety of colours evident in the foliage is typical of the artist: light and dark blue, red, purple, yellow and white. Green is almost seen as a minor hue in the composition, yet there is nothing odd or unnatural in the way the leaves present themselves to the viewer. This contrasting of shade is a technique that Tretchikoff mastered early in his career – namely the use of unexpected choices and juxtapositions of colour – notably in his famous portraits of his early period. It is unusual and refreshing to see this applied to his still life's and marks this work out as an exceptional flower painting of the highest quality.

The work creates a sense of dynamism in a static composition, again an unusual and attractive characteristic of this specific painting. The present lot stands out as an example of a painter at the height of his powers and one for which deft handling of his medium comes naturally. The background shows his typical use of allowing the canvas beneath to remain visible, again showing confidence and adding vigour and assuredness in his technique. The painting combines much that is typical of the artist in a refreshing and innovative way. It is undoubtedly one of the most significant of the still life's painted by Tretchikoff in the early 1960s.

Andrew Lamprecht, Curator of Historical Paintings and Sculpture at Iziko Museums of South Africa.