Christo Coetzee
Composition , 1960
Oil, ping pong balls and mixed media on canvas
39 3/8 x 31 3/4 in, 100 x 80.5cm
Signed and dated 'Christo Coetzee/ Milan, 1960. October 40.F.' verso
South African by birth, Christo Coetzee was an artist at the centre of the international art scene. He first studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he...
South African by birth, Christo Coetzee was an artist at the centre of the international art scene. He first studied at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, where he was part of the famous Wits Group along with fellow artists Cecil Skotnes and Larry Scully. Determined to expand his craft, in 1951 he moved to London to study at the Slade School of Art under William Coldstream, a founding member of the Euston Road School. Influenced by the vibrancy of the city, some four years later Coetzee had his first solo exhibition at the revolutionary Hanover Gallery, famed for presenting works by some of the most influential artists of the day, including Francis Bacon, Henry Moore and Lucian Freud.
Moving to Paris in 1954 he formed a friendship with the art critic Michel Tapié, who brought him into his circle of friends including the artists Jean Dubuffet, Yves Klein and
Lucio Fontana. Coetzee exhibited alongside the latter at the renowned Galerie Stadler in Paris in 1959. It was in Paris that Coetzee first began working on his assemblage technique. He described this technique of building up layers of painting and fixing objects to the canvas as “deconstruction through reconstruction”.
Determined to widen his artistic knowledge, in 1959, impressed by the radical approach to art by the Gutai artists, Coetzee moved to Japan where he studied for a year. Composition was created on his return to Europe in 1960. Enchanted by his year in Japan, Coetzee’s work at this time harmonizes a number of important developments. There is an emphasis on direct expression and spontaneity, recalling the work of one of the leading members of the Gutai group, the painter and pioneer of performance art, Murakami Saburo.
Following a career spent largely outside South Africa, Coetzee’s works were scarce in his country of origin, prior to his 2001 retrospectives in Cape Town and Johannesburg. In 2011, Coetzee’s home and studio in Tulbagh were converted into a museum and gallery where pieces from the artist’s own collection are on display. His work can now be found within international collections such as The South Africa National Gallery, The Tate Modern, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Stedelijk Museum and The Guggenheim Museum.
Moving to Paris in 1954 he formed a friendship with the art critic Michel Tapié, who brought him into his circle of friends including the artists Jean Dubuffet, Yves Klein and
Lucio Fontana. Coetzee exhibited alongside the latter at the renowned Galerie Stadler in Paris in 1959. It was in Paris that Coetzee first began working on his assemblage technique. He described this technique of building up layers of painting and fixing objects to the canvas as “deconstruction through reconstruction”.
Determined to widen his artistic knowledge, in 1959, impressed by the radical approach to art by the Gutai artists, Coetzee moved to Japan where he studied for a year. Composition was created on his return to Europe in 1960. Enchanted by his year in Japan, Coetzee’s work at this time harmonizes a number of important developments. There is an emphasis on direct expression and spontaneity, recalling the work of one of the leading members of the Gutai group, the painter and pioneer of performance art, Murakami Saburo.
Following a career spent largely outside South Africa, Coetzee’s works were scarce in his country of origin, prior to his 2001 retrospectives in Cape Town and Johannesburg. In 2011, Coetzee’s home and studio in Tulbagh were converted into a museum and gallery where pieces from the artist’s own collection are on display. His work can now be found within international collections such as The South Africa National Gallery, The Tate Modern, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), The Stedelijk Museum and The Guggenheim Museum.