Current Exhibition
As part of the fiftieth jubilee of La Motte’s Rupert ownership, La Motte owner Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg invites art-lovers to an exhibition of rare and important artworks that shares some favourite works from her collection as well as the family collection and allows insight into her love for art. The exhibition, entitled Celebrating the love of Art – a personal selection by Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg, acknowledges her appreciation of the arts and their preservation, a passion she shares with her late parents, Dr Anton and Mrs Huberte Rupert.
“This special exhibition features works with personal meaning and remembrance that I would like to share with guests to La Motte”, says Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg.
Celebrating the love of Art is on exhibition in the La Motte Museum for the duration of 2020 and features, amongst others, works by Käthe Kollwitz, Irma Stern, Maggie Laubser, Jean Welz and Cecil Higgs from the Rupert Art Foundation and individual family collections.
Exhibition Guide
IRMA STERN (1894-1966)
Zanzibar Woman
1949
Oil on canvas
Collection: Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg
Zanzibar Woman painted in 1949, is one of the highlights of this exhibition. Stern’s trips to Zanzibar in 1939 and 1945 were life-changing events that would continue to influence her artistic output for years to come. During these journeys Stern collected artefacts and carved woodwork from Arab buildings as frames for her paintings, reserved for the pieces she considered to be her best works.
IRMA STERN (1894-1966)
Vuurpyle / Red Hot Pokers
1936
Oil on canvas
Collection: Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg
Most of Stern’s still lifes contain flowers and testify to her love of natural forms and her own garden. Stern often composed flower-pieces in her studio, along with fruit and a selection from her wide-ranging collection of artefacts.
IRMA STERN (1894-1966)
Pomegranate seller
1948
Oil on canvas
Collection: Rupert Art Foundation
IRMA STERN (1894-1966)
Congolese Woman
1946
Oil on canvas
Collection: Rupert Art Foundation
Stern travelled to the former Belgian Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo) in 1942 with a romantic expectation and the aim of painting the Watussi and Mangbetu people. She returned there in 1946 and 1955.
The mother-and-child theme appears frequently in Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenbeg’s collection and symbolises the importance of family and a mother’s love and care for her children. The mother-and-child theme is represented in this exhibition by the following works.
PABLO PICASSO (1881-1973)
Mother and Child with Shawl
1966
Lithograph
Collection: Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg
KÄTHE KOLLWITZ (1867-1945)
Woman with Dead Child
1903
Etching
Collection: Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg
KÄTHE KOLLWITZ (1867-1945)
Mutter mit Zwillingen / Mother with Twins
1932-1936
Bronze
Collection: Huberte Goote Foundation
ELEANOR ESMONDE-WHITE (1914-2007)
Mother and Child
1960
Oil on wood
Collection: Rupert Art Foundation
JEAN WELZ (1900-1975)
Portrait of Dr. A. E. Rupert
1966
Oil on canvas
Collection: Rembrandt van Rijn Foundation
In a first sitting for the commissioned portrait of Dr. A. E. Rupert, Jean Welz asked what colours Dr. Rupert preferred, to which he answered red and olive green. To Welz’ further enquiry about Dr. Rupert’s features, he answered that “it comes from the Karoo, and the influence of the Karoo on people who lived there” which inspired the background colours and completion of the portrait.
CECIL HIGGS (1898-1986)
Stellenbosch bosse
1959-1960
Oil on canvas
Collection: Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg
Higgs’s, lifelong friend, Dieter Bertram, wrote that the early period of Higgs in Stellenbosch appeared to be a highly productive period of her career after moving in with her cousin, Christina van Heyningen, who offered her a studio at 52 Dorp Street. Van Heyningen’s profession as a lecturer in literature had an influence on Higgs, who shared the passion for literature with her cousin. Being part of the social and cultural life of Stellenbosch, Higgs soon befriended various artists and writers, such as Maggie Laubser, Ruth Prowse, Maud Sumner, Francois and Uys Krige, Wolf Kibel and Lippy Lipshitz.
Featured work from the first rotation of Celebrating the Love of Art from 25 January until 5 July 2020:
CECIL HIGGS (1898-1986)
Cassis
1965-67
Oil on canvas
Collection: Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg
Cecil Higgs is a favourite of La Motte’s owner, Hanneli Rupert-Koegelenberg. Cassis was inspired by Higgs’s trip to the French-Mediterranean coast in 1965, following an expedition with a local fisherman who showed her and her companions the famous calanques.
IRMA STERN (1894-1966)
Still Life with Magnolias
1936
Oil on canvas
Collection: Rupert Art Foundation
Irma Stern’s biographers agree that her still life paintings from the 1930s and 40s represent the highwater mark of her career. This painting was the first acquisition of Irma Stern’s work by the late Dr. Anton and Mrs. Huberte Rupert.
CECIL HIGGS (1898-1986)
Anemones
1959
Oil on canvas
Collection: Rupert Art Foundation
Cecil Higgs relocated to Sea Point in 1946 and later to Onrus near Hermanus in the 1960s. The sea became influential in her work, and from 1956 to 1961 she produced a series of seascapes which received critical acclaim. Higgs loved to collect shells, choral, starfish and other found objects from her walks on the beach. Dieter Bertram writes that this marine interpretation of “Anemones” was among the largest Higgs had ever attempted.
References:
- Arnold, M. (1995) Irma Stern: A feast for the Eye. Stellenbosch: Fernwood Press for the Rembrandt van Rijn Art Foundation.
- Ballot, M. (2016) Maggie Laubser – A Window on Always Light. Stellenbosch: SUN MeDIA.
- Berkowitz, E. (2018) Käthe Kollwitz Artist Overview and Analysis, The Art Story, viewed May 2020,
https://www.theartstory.org/artist/kollwitz-kathe/artworks/. - Bertram, D.R. (1994) Cecil Higgs, Up Close. South Africa: William Waterman Publications.
- Master Works Fine Art Gallery (2020) Pablo Picasso, Mère et enfant au fichu (Mother and child with Shawl), 1966, viewed May 2020,
https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artists/pablo-picasso/lithograph/megravere-et-enfant-au-fichu-mother-and-child-with-shawl-1966 - Master Works Fine Art Gallery (2020) Yaacov Agam, viewed May 2020,
https://www.masterworksfineart.com/artists/yaacov-agam/biography - Miles, E. (1997) The World of Jean Welz. Vlaeberg, Cape Town: Fernwood Press for the Rembrandt van Rijn Art Foundation.
- Peter Stuyvesant Foundation. (1995) Hommage à Jean Lurçat Cape Town: Peter Stuyvesant Foundation.
- Raymond, L. (2015) Eleonor Esmonde-White. Paarl: Main Street Publishing. The Cologne
- Kollwitz Collection (2020) Mother with two children, The Cologne Kollwitz Collection, viewed May 2020,
https://www.kollwitz.de/en/mother-with-two-children-sculpture-en-bronze
Exhibition info:
Venue: La Motte Museum, La Motte Wine Estate
Date: Until Winter 2021
Hours: Tuesdays to Sundays 09:00 – 17:00
Virtual Experiences Tuesdays to Fridays 09:00-17:00
Closed on Christian Religious holidays.
Entrance is free.
Contact DetailsT: +27 (0)21 876 8850
E: museum@la-motte.co.za
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- Art in Clay 2016 – A Sense of…
- Art in Clay 2015 – Fragile Fynbos
- Art in Clay 2014 – The Setting
- Art in Clay 2013 – Tables of the Cape, centuries of decorative and functional porcelain
- Art in Clay 2012 – Celebrating Women Potters
- Art in Clay 2011 – Potters no longer with us
