South African artist Danie de jager (South African, 1936-2003) developed a reputation as one of the world’s most experienced sculptors. He attracted a following from patrons around the world and was commissioned to create a significant number of major public works.

Throughout his career, De Jager produced a variety of works from naturalistic depictions of animals to works of geometric abstraction. His most famous work is a life-size elephant titled “Shawu” which is located at the entrance of South Africa’s Lost City Palace Hotel at Sun City.

Other major public commissions include “Arabian Horses” at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dubai “The Flying Horses of Atlantis” at the Atlantis Royal Hotel in the Bahamas, and “Oscar the Seal”, at the Table Bay Hotel in Cape Town, to name a few.

De Jager also create works for many private clients including the likes of Michael Jackson, Robert de Niro, Natalie Cole, Sting, Cliff Richard, Bill and Hilary Clinton, Margret Thatcher, and His Highness Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum.

“Bust of a woman” is a prime example De Jager’s skill and vision. With this particular work, executed in bronze, the artist has managed to create a wonderfully creative, stylized depiction of a woman while maintaining the natural features.

De Jager’s subtly cubist treatment of the woman’s features gives the bust a unique character that blurs the boundary between the classical and the modern, the naturalistic and the stylized. It shows a great deal of skill and restraint.