Looking Back: Contemporary African Records Set in Bowie/Collector

Norman Catherine, Fanagalo Store. Sold for £81,250 (previous record £38,104).

"I keep my little wooden Catherines all over the house; they appear in nooks and crannies, corners and on shelves. They still startle and light up the moment every time I glance in their direction...He almost occupies the same space in South African art that Eduardo Paolozzi shoulders in British art. Rebellious and just 'outside'. So, of course, I love him." (David Bowie, 2000)

Share

Romuald Hazoumè, Alexandria. Sold for £25,00 (previous record £12,931).

"He [Bowie] questioned me closely about the masks and about my work, wanting to understand the context in which they were produced, why I used recycled materials and my attitudes towards them. We talked about which masks he liked most, and why. David was very knowledgeable about art and our wide-ranging conversation moved between painting, sculpture, film and his opinion about only collecting powerful pieces that spoke directly to him." (Romuald Hazoumè, 2016)

Share

Willie Bester, What Happened in the Western Cape? Sold for £20,000 (previous record £17,836).

"A bit like Bacon, his figurative and descriptive powers are tremendous. Recurring images of yellow caspirs, police-vans, graves, hand-made guns and corrugated iron shanties accumulate to assault the viewer with a deeply felt sense of moral indignation. His technique is quite as powerful as his subject matter is didactic." (David Bowie, 1995)

Share

David Koloane, Made in South African (Pink). Sold for £17,500 (previous record £5,663).

"If Leon Kossoff had been born a black man in Soweto, he might have painted like this. This later work is surprising in its ferocity — the 90s have affected Koloane in a gravely brutal new way." (David Bowie, 1995)

Share

Peter Bongani Shange, F Mayibuye Head C & Mayibuye Head F. Sold for £16,250 each (previous record £1,791).

Mayibuye is a Zulu concept that roughly translates as 'bringing back what is lost'. In this series these stylised and idealised Mayibuye Heads symbolise the Zulu ancestors calling for a return to the traditional way of life, before the oppression of colonialism and apartheid.

Share

Percy Konqobe, Prophet's Head. Sold for £10,625 (previous record £5,585).

Konqobe is a sangoma, or traditional African healer, whose artistic practise gives form to his dreams and visions: "The bronzes are evidence to the world of the visitations of the ancestors' messengers that draw attention to my gods."

Share

António Ole, Untitled (Mask). Sold for £10,000 (previous record £3,329).

"The tension between the different logics of war and peace is epitomised by this masterful conceptualism of António Ole…there is a sub-text that envelopes the soul." (David Bowie, 1995)

Share