Going, Going ... A lifelong love affair

21 October 2014 - 02:00 By Yolisa Mkele
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WITHIN THESE WALLS: A painting by Cecil Skotnes in Harry Lits's home in Linksfield, Johannesburg
WITHIN THESE WALLS: A painting by Cecil Skotnes in Harry Lits's home in Linksfield, Johannesburg
Image: LUNGELO MBULWANA

Black streaks lacerate the interior walls of art collector Harry Lits's Linksfield home.

Having spent nigh on half a century collecting the works of Cecil Skotnes, Eduardo Villa, Sydney Khumalo and Ezrom Legae - all members of the Amadlozi Group - illness has forced Lits to sell some of his most prized possessions. Where the works once hung or stood, there are now only the black streaks.

At 84, Lits's battle with Parkinson's disease has reached the point where he can no longer nimbly navigate his way through his home. He and his wife, Bernice, are leaving their house for a place that can accommodate his needs.

Their new home will not be able to accommodate all his art, so he is auctioning 30-plus artworks .

He said: "I loved my art. It was something I have lived with and was hoping to die with."

Lits' s friendship with gallery owner Egon Guenther was formed by a mutual love for African art that engulfed both their lives. Guenther played a big part in creating the Amadlozi Group in the 1960s.

Said Lits: "My collection really started when I wrote my matric. In that year I saw an art display and thought: 'If I ever got money, this is what I want to do with it.' Through the supervision and knowledge of Egon, I learnt to love that which produces the African aesthetic and feel," he said.

The works to be auctioned are primarily sculptures and drawings from the four Amadlozi Group members, and they are expected to fetch around R4-million in total when they go under the hammer next month.

"The collection is a stunning credit to Lits's vision," said Ruarc Peffers, a senior art specialist at Strauss & Co.

"During the 1960s and 1970s he assembled this collection of seminal work, which is one of the finest single-owner sculpture collections to have emerged in years."

While the art world may be excited at the prospect of these works entering the market, the loss of the works is like a sledgehammer blow to Lits.

"When we built this house, a friend of my wife's asked if I had built it for her. She looked rather taken aback and said: 'No, he built it for his art.' I thought that summed up how I feel about [selling]. It took about six months of negotiation to agree to it, not because of the money but because it was so difficult to let go," he said.

  • The Harry Lits Collection of works by the Amadlozi Group will go on auction on November 10. It will be preceded by an exhibition of the work from today until October 31 at Strauss & Co in Johannesburg. For more information, contact 011-728-8246
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