SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

William Kentridge

Documented citizenships : South Africa

William Kentridge, born in Johannesburg in 1955, develops a practice in which drawing, cinema and theatre continually inform one another. His animation technique uses charcoal drawings photographed after successive alterations. Erasures and revisions remain visible, allowing each image to retain a memory of its transformations. This method gives time a tangible depth rather than presenting an entirely smooth succession of separate scenes.

South African history, apartheid and colonialism run through his films, prints and installations. In Drawings for Projection, recurring characters inhabit a world shaped by Johannesburg. Kentridge connects these political concerns with humour, dreams and uncertainty. His work for the stage extends the exchange between movement, space and narrative, keeping drawing as an open point of departure from which very different artistic practices can develop together.

This profile brings together identity references for William Kentridge and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

Documented auction references

1auction reference

1auction house

1documented result with a price

Lempertz

References include catalogue entries and available results; they do not all represent completed sales. Attributed works and special lots are excluded from the priced results.

Works recorded at auction

Photograph : Lempertz · Enlarge image ↗

Lempertz · Lot 412

Untitled

Pastel

Original catalogue wording

Ohne Titel
pastel

Auction date : 2025-12-05

Published result : 50400 EUR

Including buyer’s premium

Estimate : 20000

View the lot at the auction house ↗

Sources and references

Reference record
ARTIC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
LoC · Reference link only; institutional text and images are not reproduced.
NDL · NDL Terms of Use (source attribution)
Documentary source
Documentary source
Documentary source

SwissArtGallery documentary note based on the cited sources. Titles, media and qualifications are provided in the profile language; the original catalogue wording remains available in each record.
Profile updated : 2026-10-22