Memorialization in Goldblatt and His Legacy in South Africa

A color photograph of a seated woman with a small boy seated on her lap. Another small boy stands immediately beside them. The setting is a living space with furniture, small wall hangings, and a broom visible at left.

David Goldblatt, Victoria Cobokana, housekeeper, in her employer’s dining room with her son Sifiso and daughter Onica, Johannesburg, June 1999. Victoria died of AIDS on 13 December 1999, Sifiso dies of AIDS on 12 January 2000, Onica died of AIDS in May 2000, June 1999, 1999. Pigmented inkjet print. Yale University Art Gallery, Purchased with a gift from Jane P. Watkins, M.P.H. 1979; with the Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund; and with support from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. © David Goldblatt 

David Goldblatt is known for his nuanced photographs of life under apartheid, covering a wide range of subjects intimately connected to South African history and politics. In this tour of the exhibition David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive, James Green, the Frances and Benjamin Benenson Foundation Associate Curator of African Art, considers the theme of memorialization in Goldblatt’s work and his legacy in South Africa today.  

Offered in conjunction with the exhibition David Goldblatt: No Ulterior Motive. Exhibition co-organized by the Art Institute of Chicago and the Yale University Art Gallery, in collaboration with Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid.  

Meet by the central column in the Gallery lobby. Space is limited.