Belgravia Mandela catalogue Q7:Text 21/5/08 12:51 Page 5
In1997wewereatameetingatStJames’sPalacetodiscusssomenewlithographs
based on watercolours by the Prince of Wales and the programme in which we are
involved for the publication and distribution of the Prince’s work. One of his aides
questioned
why
the
sales
have
been
so
successful
over
the
years
-
to which I replied: “ It’s simple, there are only three people in the world whose
artwork, were it sold for charity, would attract so much interest: the Pope, the Prince
of Wales and Nelson Mandela.”
In 2002 whilst in New York, we learned that Nelson Mandela had indeed started
to draw and that his lithographs were to be launched a few months later. Mr
Mandela had been invited to participate in a programme which would have him
drawing a series of works whose sales could achieve great results.
Belgravia Gallery was deeply honoured to be associated with this spectacular
initiative. The work themselves are amazing - fresh, bright, well drawn, iconic
symbols of the struggle in South Africa and the triumph over the tyranny of the
apartheid years. They are also unique, historic and extraordinary. It is always
fascinating to see art drawn by someone known in a different context. Winston
Churchill was, like Mandela, a significant writer: he also became a noted painter.
In May 2002, he began a series of sketches with the subject Robben Island. In the
company of a skilled photographer, Grant Warren, he revisited the island, scene
of some of his most painful years with its cruel repressive regime. Images of his
cell, Table Mountain from the beach, the lighthouse, church, quarry, guard towers
and many other scenes were photographed.
At his home, under the watchful eye of his art teacher Varenka Paschke, a young
South African artist, he quickly adapted from being a world leader to a budding
artist. Varenka told me she guided her student providing assistance with the basic
composition of the sketches and method of the colour applications. Nelson
Mandela completed over 20 sketches that include images he found meaningful,
both symbolically and emotionally, during the period of his incarceration on the
island. The works were completed in a series of colour separations, first the strong
black crayon lines providing the guide, then he selected colourful shades for each
image. It is interesting to note that he completed no final original piece, only a
series of separations which, when overlaid, create the final picture. The five
editions were signed individually by Mr Mandela - each of the pieces with a
generous and carefully drawn signature. His artist’s motivations written in his
characteristic neat handwriting, offer an insight into the thoughts behind the
colour images he created. Possibly the most interesting- certainly the one which
caused the most media attention was ‘The Window’- not because it has a view of
Table Mountain- inaccurately described in one newspaper as the view from
Mandela’s cell, but because it is so imaginative, with brilliant colour and
composition. The eye is drawn to the screws around the metal window frame: how
often he must have contemplated them. Asking him about the strong orange and
maroon colours in ‘The Window’, he told us “That window, you know, was
actually a window to the world, because I could see quite a lot. I could see my
mental horizons expand”.
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