

115
William Kentridge
Porter Series: Man with Bed on Back
- Estimate
- $70,000 - 100,000
$87,500
Lot Details
mohair, silk and embroidered tapestry
signed, titled, numbered and dated “Porter with Bed, 1/3, 2000, William Kentridge” on a fabric label affixed to the reverse; further signed "KENTRIDGE" on the reverse
105 1/8 x 80 3/4 in. (267 x 205.1 cm.)
Executed in 2000, this work is number 1 from an edition of 3.
Specialist
Full-Cataloguing
Catalogue Essay
"Mr. Kentridge’s 'Porter Series'... measuring as much as 11 feet high or wide, they show one or two figures carrying, or oddly fused with, objects. Of indefinite race, age and often gender, the porters have a Michelangelesque grandeur, even as their black-brown tonality suggests tar or earth. Contributing to their imposing stature are their backgrounds: maps from a world atlas published in 19th-century Europe, when its empires were the most expansive. True to their name, the porters are moving stuff. They are nomads, refugees, asylum seekers or maybe even adventurers. They seem more industrious than driven, but mostly they are on the move, set in motion by forces beyond their control." (Roberta Smith, "Shadowy Nomads, Writ in Warp and Woof; ART REVIEW | 'WILLIAM KENTRIDGE: TAPESTRIES," The New York Times, December 31, 2007)
Provenance
Exhibited