Xhosa Boy with Prickley Pear (JM 361)

Notes

Accompanied by the 1952 South African Association of Arts exhibition catalogue, The Diary of Johannes Meintjes Part III 1951- 1955 and Johannes Meintjes (1923-1980) Diaries.

Executed in December 1951 at Meintjes’ farm, Grootzeekoegat, this painting was acquired for 15 guineas by the young J C Quinton at the South African Association of Arts in Cape Town on 4 to15 March 1952, remaining a cherished fixture of his collection for the rest of his life. Quinton, who served as the late Chief Librarian at the Library of Parliament and chief editor of François Le Vaillant's landmark 1973 publication, was a lifelong friend whose connection with the artist spanned decades, first noted in Meintjes' diary (part I) in October 1942. Their enduring bond was further marked by Meintjes dedicating his 1963 novel, Gister is Vandag, to Quinton, who later opened Meintjes' Cape Town exhibitions in 1974 and 1977, and participated as a guest narrator in a 1982 SABC television documentary about the artist.

Provenance

J C Quinton, South African Association of Arts, Cape Town, 1952.

Aspire Art, 27 March 2017, lot 111.

Private Collection, Cape Town.

Exhibited

Argus House, Cape Town, South African Association of Arts, 4 to 15 March 1952, cat. no. 23, with the title Xhosa Boy.

Literature

Deane Anderson (1952) The Cape Argus, New Note in the Work of Johannes Meintjes, 7 March.

Magdalena Sauer (1952) Die Burger, Kunskroniek J. Meintjes, 11 March.

Johannes Meintjes(1975) Die Dagboek van Johannes Meintjes Deel III, April 1951 - Junie 1955, Bamboesberg Publishers: Molteno, cat. no. 361, page 201.

L M de Waal and M R J Opperman (2022) Johannes Meintjes (1923-1980) Diaries (Dagboeke), African Sun Media: Stellenbosch, illustrated on page 110.

L M de Waal and M R J Opperman (2024) Johannes Meintjes (1923-1980) Diaries - Synopsis, African Sun Media: Stellenbosch, illustrated on page 149.

Exhibition invite for South African Association of Arts, Argus House, Exhibition of Paintings And Drawings by Johannes Meintjes, 1952, where the present lot was exhibited. 

Recorded in the artist's personal handwritten catalogue raisonné (cat. no. 361), this oil on panel, Xhosa-Seun met Turksvy, was first acquired by J C Quinton of Cape Town.