A surfboard painting fetched R115,000 at an auction of eight surfboards that raised a total of R301,000 for a range of ocean charities at Jack Black’s Taproom in Cape Town last week.
Comedian Nik Rabinowitz had the crowd in stitches while goading bidders into making ever-higher bids for the surfboards during a comedy-filled charity auction at the Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival on Wednesday night.
The horizontal painting by artist Richard Joshua, in the style of abstract realism, depicts an ice-cream seller on the beach at the Strand, near Cape Town.
His artwork almost beat the price achieved by a surfboard painted by Kirsten Sims that sold for R130,000 in 2018.
Joshua, who is well known for the way he uses bright colours and patterns to draw cultural and historical references from his work, said he was very nervous when he saw his painting was the last board in the line-up.
“I thought to myself that if my board fetched R12,000, I would be happy. But it was exhilarating to see it go all the way to R115,000,” Joshua said.
Artists invited for the 2022 Wavescape Artboard Project took the theme “rejuvenation” to heart, with Brett Murray emphatically expressing that sentiment in his strongly worded surfboard “F##k Shell” that hit out at the seismic survey that Shell Oil tried to conduct off the Wild Coast, but failed.
Murray’s board fetched R46,000, while Norman O’Flynn’s piece entitled “Unf##k the World” fetched R36,000.
Painted surfboard sells for near-record price at charity auction
Image: Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival
A surfboard painting fetched R115,000 at an auction of eight surfboards that raised a total of R301,000 for a range of ocean charities at Jack Black’s Taproom in Cape Town last week.
Comedian Nik Rabinowitz had the crowd in stitches while goading bidders into making ever-higher bids for the surfboards during a comedy-filled charity auction at the Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival on Wednesday night.
The horizontal painting by artist Richard Joshua, in the style of abstract realism, depicts an ice-cream seller on the beach at the Strand, near Cape Town.
His artwork almost beat the price achieved by a surfboard painted by Kirsten Sims that sold for R130,000 in 2018.
Joshua, who is well known for the way he uses bright colours and patterns to draw cultural and historical references from his work, said he was very nervous when he saw his painting was the last board in the line-up.
“I thought to myself that if my board fetched R12,000, I would be happy. But it was exhilarating to see it go all the way to R115,000,” Joshua said.
Artists invited for the 2022 Wavescape Artboard Project took the theme “rejuvenation” to heart, with Brett Murray emphatically expressing that sentiment in his strongly worded surfboard “F##k Shell” that hit out at the seismic survey that Shell Oil tried to conduct off the Wild Coast, but failed.
Murray’s board fetched R46,000, while Norman O’Flynn’s piece entitled “Unf##k the World” fetched R36,000.
Image: Wavescape Surf and Ocean Festival.
Other artists represented were Skumbuzo Vabaza, Christiaan Conradie, Bruno Morphet, Alicia McFadzean and Danielle Clough.
The Wavescape Artboard Project initiative has raised more than R7m for ocean causes over the years.
This year, all proceeds will be donated to the National Sea Rescue Institute, the 9Miles Project, the Beach Co-op and Shark Spotters.
TimesLIVE
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