Sydney Kumalo: Ecstatic woman - SOLD
Sydney Kumalo
Ecstatic woman – 1965
Bronze
Height: 74 cm
Signed and dated on base
Sold
Born Sydney Alex Kumalo, 13 April 1935, Johannesburg
Died 11 February 1988 at the age of 52, Soweto, Johannesburg
Kumalo is held in high esteem by all his fellow South African artists and the art community of South Africa. He was in many ways the doyen of South African Black art. As such he was an important influence especially on younger African sculptors, by whom he is greatly revered. Through his teaching at Polly Street and at the Jubilee Centre, as well as through his personal example of integrity, dedication and ability, he inspired and guided students who in their own right became outstanding artists, for example, Ezrom Legae, Leonard Matsoso and Louis Maqhubela. (E J de Jager)
Sydney Kumalo enrolled at Polly Street Art Centre in 1953, and became a member of Cecil Skotnes’ group of serious artists who were encouraged to acquire professional skills. Skotnes introduced a basic training programme with modelling as a component, which marked the introduction of sculpting (in brick-clay) at Polly Street.
Elza Miles writes that Cecil Skotnes’ friendship with Egon Guenther also had a seminal influence on the aspirant artists of Polly Street: Guenther broadened their experience by introducing them to German Expressionism as well as the sculptural traditions of West and Central Africa. He familiarised them with the work of Ernst Barlach, Käthe Kollwitz, Gustav Seitz, Willi Baumeister and Rudolf Sharf. It is therefore not surprising that some of Kumalo’s sculptures show a definite affinity with Barlach’s powerful expressionist works.
Kumalo was Skotnes’ assistant at Polly Street from 1957 to 1964, and having recognised his great talent as a sculptor, Skotnes encouraged him to become a professional artist. After Kumalo’s very successful assistance with a commission to decorate the St Peter Claver church at Seeisoville, near Kroonstad, with painting designs, sculpture and relief panels in 1957, he arranged for Kumalo to work in Edoardo Villa’s studio from 1958 to 1960, to receive professional guidance and to familiarise himself with the technical aspects of sculpting and bronze casting.
After participating with Skotnes, and other artists, in several successful commissions - usually to decorate churches with sculptures and relief panels (often depicting the ‘Stations of the cross’), Kumalo resigned as Skotnes’ assistant in 1964 to become a full-time professional artist.
Kumalo started exhibiting his work with some of the leading commercial Johannesburg galleries in 1958, and had his first solo exhibition with the Egon Guenther Gallery in 1962. His career took off in the mid 1960’s, with his regular participation in exhibitions in Johannesburg, London, New York and Europe.
Provenance:
Bonhams, The South African Sale, 10 September 2008, p 123, Lot 385
Bibliography:
Elza Miles, Polly Street: The Story of an Art Centre, Johannesburg, 2004, pp 42, 47, 49, 58 to 60, and 92
Steven Sack, The Neglected Tradition: Towards a New History of South African Art (1930-1988), Johannesburg, 1988, p 107
E J de Jager, Images of Man: Contemporary South African Black Art and Artists, Alice, 1992, p 109
To view the Sydney Kumalo web page click here