A room of my own
work on paper
by
Michael Sarjeant
29 April 2022
Michael Sarjeant (19 May 1933 - 11 Oct 2014), shown for the first time, posthumously, in 2019 at Art Lovers 1932. The work wistful and moving, and full of longing. The recurring female form, attempting to fill the rent in his world, the their arms unable to hold on. The persistent presence of a diminutive male figure in a suit, often bearing a gift of flowers, sometimes with a long and stretched-out arm, trying to reach the unreachable. The human figures often portrayed as giants lost in a doll's house world too small for them, and yet too large.
Sarjeant experimented with a variety of approaches, the brush strokes often richly applied, but occasionally delicate and clean, many works strongly reminiscent of Chagall and the interiors of Van Gogh. On occasion suggesting a secret surrealist, perhaps an early Miró, the manipulated scale of Yves Tanguy.
Two hundred and twenty-four paintings left behind and fifty-eight drawings, the only remaining record of his thoughts and yearnings, his solitary and reclusive epilogue, his loneliness complete after the passing of his wife.
As Gustav Klimt said: 'Whoever wants to know something about me... ought to look carefully at my pictures.'
"Hodgins managed to get a grant of £20 a year from the Walls Sausage Trust, which was sufficient to supply paint and equipment for both himself and his friend, Michael Sarjeant, a young student considered by (John) Mansbridge the most brilliant at Goldsmith since Graham Sutherland."
Elizabeth Rankin (1986) 'Biographical Notes Based on Reminiscences of the Artist,' in Robert Hodgins: Images 1953-1986
Michael (Kirkman) Sarjeant was born in London, which is also where he studied at the School of Art at the University of London. He received his National Diploma in Design, with painting, special level, in 1953. According to John Mansbridge, his senior lecturer, 'he proved himself an artist of exceptional ability and achievement'.
It was also in London where he met his South African wife, Mary Gabrielle - Gaby, Gaye or Gub Gub to Michael - a fellow student of the arts. After their marriage they returned to Waterkloof in Pretoria, where Gaby hailed from, and where they remained for the rest of their lives.
Michael lectured at the University of Pretoria for a period of time, 'fully capable of teaching classes in Drawing, Painting, Modelling, The History of Art and Architecture, and allied subjects', as his senior lecturer commended.
Etna Foxcroft met Michael and Gaby Sarjeant in her capacity as financial advisor, and by this time Michael has already become reclusive and agoraphobic, and Etna had to consult with them at their house instead of in her office. When Gaby, still Michael's muse and anchor, his beloved and friend, passed away, he called Etna early in the morning and said: 'I don't know who to call. I don't know what to do.' Etna, with the help of Michael's neighbour, Flip Klopper, became his lifeline to the world outside. She did his shopping and everything else required beyond his hermitic existence. He never left his house again until he died alone and childless in 2014, leaving all his artworks to Etna.
Michael Sarjeant
"Do not peel away the black areas"
Marker on paper
59cm x 42cm
Unframed
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Coffee for the harpsichord player"
Marker and watercolour on paper
59cm x 42cm
Unframed
R 950
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Self portrait with cigarette"
Marker and watercolour on paper
59cm x 42cm
Unframed
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Self portrait after Louise Bourgeois"
and detail
Marker and watercolour on paper
59cm x 42cm
Unframed
R 950
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