The day before Waiting Friday
by
Michael Sarjeant
6 April 2023
Michael Sarjeant (19 May 1933 - 11 Oct 2014), shown for the first time, posthumously, in 2019 at Art Lovers 1932.
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
"The blue man"
2011
Oil on canvas
30cm x 40cm
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"The blue ghost outside"
2012
Oil on canvas
60cm x 75cm
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Blue flowers"
2012
Oil on canvas
50cm x 50cm
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Blue groom"
2012
Oil on canvas
31cm x 40cm
R 1 650
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Self portrait with Gaby"
2013
Oil on canvas
50cm x 50cm
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Self portrait with plaid shirt"
2013
Oil on canvas
45cm x 60cm
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Blue figures at a blue window"
Oil on canvas
40cm x 50cm
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Blue man II"
2013
Oil on canvas
50cm x 50cm
R 2 300
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Portrait with Winchester shirt"
Oil on board
50cm x 50cm
Unframed
R 1 950
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"Puppet"
2011
Oil on board
60cm x 70cm
Unframed
R 3 400
SOLD
Michael Sarjeant
"The lock on the window"
2012
Oil on canvas
50cm x 50cm
R 1 950
SOLD
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