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Still Life with a Basket of Lemons

Christo Coetzee

1929 – 2000

Artwork Details

Artist          Christo Coetzee 
Title            Still Life with a Basket of Lemons
Medium      Oil on canvas on board (50 x 60 cm)

About the Artist

Christo Coetzee (1929–2000) was a South African artist born in Johannesburg and was later based at different times in London, Paris, Spain and South Africa. He passed away in Tulbagh. He studied Fine Art at the University of the Witwatersrand from 1946/1947 to 1950 and continued at the Slade School of Art in London in 1951–1952 on a postgraduate scholarship. Further Italian and Japanese government scholarships brought him into contact with European Art Informel and Japan’s Gutai group. Coetzee became known internationally for experimental painting, assemblage and performative acts that challenged the conventional picture surface.

About this Artwork

Coetzee turns a traditional still-life subject into an exploration of shape, colour and composition. This intimate still life presents a basket filled with lemons arranged on a tabletop against a simple interior background. The composition is modest and understated, focusing attention on a handful of everyday objects rather than grand narratives or dramatic subject matter. The woven basket, curved handle, leaves and brightly coloured fruit create a carefully balanced arrangement, while the restrained palette of creams, greys and muted earth tones allows the yellow lemons to become the focal point of the image. Although Coetzee later became known for experimental and innovative approaches to painting, works such as this reveal his enduring interest in formal relationships and observational painting.