JOHANNESBURG - The
artwork based on Rembrandt masterpiece made international news in 2010 after
being dubbed “witchcraft” by ANC.
Eight years after Yiull Damaso debuted “The Night Watch!” in a public viewing
in Hyde Park, an anonymous collector made an offer to the artist for the
painting.
The artwork, which was based on the 17th century Rembrandt masterpiece “The
Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp,” depicts an autopsy of the corpse of
Nelson Mandela, who was, at the time of the painting’s release, frail, as well
as just a few days away from celebrating his 92nd birthday.
Onlookers
featured in the painting included Jacob Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa, Desmond Tutu, FW
de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki, Helen Zille and Nkosi Johnson, the child AIDS activist
who died at the age of 12, as the character of Dr Tulp.
News of the painting stirred outrage from the ANC, which released a statement the day after an image of the unfinished work appeared on the cover of the Mail & Guardian, condemning the work, saying it was “disrespectful” and “an insult and an affront to values of our society.”
“In African society it is a foreign act of ubuthakathi(bewitch) to kill a living person,” wrote ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu in the statement. “And this so-called work of art is also racist. It goes further by violating (Mandela’s) dignity by stripping him naked in the glare of curious onlookers, some of whom have seen their apartheid ideals die before them.”
As the controversy escalated, Yiull received several death threats for the artwork, and the story around it, made international news, appearing in the Guardian, BBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Corriere de la Sera and France24, among others.
Four months later, the work was shown at an exhibition at Constitution Hill which was to last two weeks. It stayed up for two and a half months due to public demand.
In September, more than eight years later, an offer was made via email directly to Yiull, who runs his own studio in Craighall Park.
“The buyer has asked to remain anonymous,” he said this week as he packed the work for shipment to Cape Town.
Yiull, 50, is well-known for his Nelson Mandela portrait series which also became a subject of controversy about the use of Mandela’s image.
News of the painting stirred outrage from the ANC, which released a statement the day after an image of the unfinished work appeared on the cover of the Mail & Guardian, condemning the work, saying it was “disrespectful” and “an insult and an affront to values of our society.”
“In African society it is a foreign act of ubuthakathi(bewitch) to kill a living person,” wrote ANC spokesperson Jackson Mthembu in the statement. “And this so-called work of art is also racist. It goes further by violating (Mandela’s) dignity by stripping him naked in the glare of curious onlookers, some of whom have seen their apartheid ideals die before them.”
As the controversy escalated, Yiull received several death threats for the artwork, and the story around it, made international news, appearing in the Guardian, BBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Corriere de la Sera and France24, among others.
Four months later, the work was shown at an exhibition at Constitution Hill which was to last two weeks. It stayed up for two and a half months due to public demand.
In September, more than eight years later, an offer was made via email directly to Yiull, who runs his own studio in Craighall Park.
“The buyer has asked to remain anonymous,” he said this week as he packed the work for shipment to Cape Town.
Yiull, 50, is well-known for his Nelson Mandela portrait series which also became a subject of controversy about the use of Mandela’s image.
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