Art patronage in South Africa has taken off. The link between art collecting and money is an old one. It goes back to the days of the Renaissance when wealthy families, such as the Medicis, were the biggest art patrons. In the 20th century, names such as Rockefeller, Getty and Guggenheim are all connected with art and these names live on more through the collections and museums named after them than in their business interests.
How does this work in South Africa? We need to go back to the origins of our art museums to understand the big picture. Most of our museums were established in the late 19th century and were endowed from England with Western collections. These grew to include works by white South African artists, but excluded black artists until the Eighties, when museums started collecting their works. But it was already too late for many.
Artists such as Gerard Sekoto, George Pemba and Dumile Feni had left the country to go into exile in Europe. Others such as Winston Saoli and Sidney Khumalo were not purchased here and, if they were, they fetched a meagre price. But now works by these artists are selling for six figures. In 2006, at a Bonhams auction, a self portrait by Sekoto sold for R1,85-million (10 times its estimate) and another painting by him reached R1,38-million. (In the Fifties he could not even sell a painting in this country and had to leave.)
Last year a work by Marlene Dumas, who left South Africa in the Seventies, reached the highest price ever paid for a work by a living female artist on auction, reaching R25,5-million. The annual purchasing budget of the South African National Gallery is R140 000 and that of the Durban Art Gallery is nil. South African museums simply cannot afford South African art any more.
That’s one issue — the other, which is just as serious, is that some of our contemporary big-name artists living in the country, such as William Kentridge, David Goldblatt, Roger Ballen and Zwelethu Mthethwa, are being snapped up by museums all over the world. Once more our museums cannot afford to purchase their works. We need to take action now to make sure that the cultural capital of the most significant era in our country’s history is not going to be lost to future generations.
Here’s where corporates can come in — for they are the new Medicis. Overseas the buzzword of the moment is “venture philanthropy”. The belief is that entrepreneurs can give back to society in a businesslike manner. They get involved, employ experts and ensure sustainability. Returns on investment are both tangible and intangible. They endeavour to contribute to society by becoming part of a creative process. Their privilege is in leaving a lasting legacy while interacting with a sector of the community other than corporate.
South African corporates that have already made inroads into establishing art collections of museum quality include MTN, which recently held a touring show titled Messages and Meaning, and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, which showed its collection under the title Making Waves. Apart from its various collections, Standard Bank has shown Picasso, Miró, Chagall and now Dumas.
Rand Merchant Bank, on the other hand, sponsored the Kentridge production of The Magic Flute last year in Brussels, Naples, Tel Aviv and New York, ending to high acclaim and full houses in both Johannesburg and Cape Town.
This weekend’s Jo’burg Art Fair, sponsored by First National Bank, is the first to focus on art from the African continent. The fair is pitched at investment-standard art, all of which will be for sale. It presents a wonderful opportunity for new collectors to see a wide range of contemporary African art. This could kick-start a new generation of Medicis.
THE DETAILS
The Jo’burg Art Fair takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre from March 14 to 16 and includes commercial shows and the curated exhibition As You Like It. There will be a programme of discussions on March 15 at the Alexander Theatre in Braamfontein about the African art market and the impact of art fairs on cities. The extract by Simon Njami was taken from the art fair catalogue. On March 15 there will be a party at the old JSE building in Newtown. More on www.joburgartfair.co.za
This story was commissioned by Art Logic for the Jo’burg Art Fair