Christo Coetzee (1929–2000) Oil On Canvas, 1965

CHRISTO COETZEE (1929–2000)

Between the European avant-garde and Gutai

An artist associated with the European and Japanese avant-garde movements of the 1950s and 1960s, Christo Coetzee developed his body of work in South Africa, London, Paris, and Japan.

Trained at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he joined the “Wits Group,” he held his first solo exhibition in 1951, then exhibited at the Hanover Gallery in London in 1955 thanks to the support of collector Anthony Denney.

Invited to Paris by Michel Tapié, he worked there for nearly ten years in collaboration with the Stadler Gallery. In 1959, a fellowship took him to Japan, where his encounter with the Gutai group had a lasting impact on his artistic exploration.

He settled in Spain in 1965. In 1975, in Cape Town, he cut up twenty-three of his paintings before “reconstructing” them: a radical act he would describe as a “Gutai gesture.”

Mixed media on canvas, signed and dated 1965.

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Closely associated with the European and Japanese avant-garde movements of the 1950s and 1960s, Christo Coetzee developed his work in South Africa, London, Paris, and Japan.

He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, where he joined the “Wits Group,” and held his first solo exhibition in 1951. With the support of collector Anthony Denney, he exhibited at London’s Hanover Gallery in 1955.

Invited to Paris by Michel Tapié, he worked there for nearly a decade, collaborating with Galerie Stadler. In 1959, a scholarship took him to Japan, where his encounter with the Gutai group had a lasting impact on his artistic explorations.

He settled in Spain in 1965. In Cape Town in 1975, he cut up twenty-three of his paintings before “reconstructing” them: a radical act he would describe as a “Gutai act.”