Real Art Access & Value Standard - Early Sketchbook Study

 

Page 178 - Sketchbook page developing the Real Art Access & Value Standard within Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, focusing on human-made art, process, archive, certificate, provenance, and access to real art in everyday spaces.

Page 178

Real Art Access & Value Standard

What should we do in the 20th of June 2026?
Focus mainly on real art and real living,
artists in stores.

This is a pilot project, not an idea.

The problem in art is that many people live with
printed art, mass-produced decor and
anonymous wall pieces, while living artists
struggle.

AI-generated images become very common.
An image can be produced quickly, endlessly and
cheap. This makes it feel like human
is less important when it is not.

For me, or the art of Pieter Lategan | STUDIO,
it is the opposite. Human matters more.

Handmade, sketchbook, ideas, physical surface.

It is about the artist process, has archive,
certificate, provenance matters MORE.

For me, future is helping real
art access & value standard.

The aim is not to make it cheap.
I think of making real human art easier
to find in places where we work:
interiors, furniture spaces, stores, offices.

Art System / Art Control
Pieter Lategan
20 June 2026 — 22:12
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Sketchbook Page P174 - Real Art Begins with Trust

Page 179

Real Art

This idea or work starts with my own
working and my own achievement and my studio.

The artwork is structured:
silence,
weight,
shape,
material presence,
balance,
distance,
and humanity.

The work is not only viewed,
but it is documented,
preserved,
placed,
and understood.

Change the art enough that people
see art and that it is...

The Artwork

• Title
• Date
• Medium
• Dimensions
• Process notes
• Archive number
• Certificate of Authenticity
• Provenance record
• Each photograph
• Studio archive

And why work like this?

This starts to build trust.

Art Real

Pieter Lategan
20 June 2026 - 20:22
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

This page is particularly important because it shifts the discussion from "How do I make art?" to "How do I build confidence in original art?"

 Sketchbook Page P180- Real Human Art Beyond Galleries

Sketchbook study exploring how original human-made art can become more visible and accessible beyond galleries through interior design, furniture stores, offices, hospitality spaces, and everyday environments.

Page 180
Real Human Art

I do not believe that art
only has to be in galleries, museums
or elite spaces.

Galleries are important,
but not the only route
between artist and public.

We need stronger bridges between artists,
interior designers, furniture stores, shops,
arrangers, office boardrooms, lobbies,
guesthouses, and everyday environments
where we live and work.

People buying furniture also need to
discover art.

Businesses designing boardrooms should
also be able to consider original work.

Real artists need to live
instead of painting.

Real Art Access & Value Standard
is the place where
Pieter Lategan | STUDIO
is trying to begin
to think through this problem.

Art

Pieter Lategan
20 June 2026 - 22:29
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

This page is particularly significant because it moves beyond discussing how art is made and begins to address where art belongs. It proposes that the future of original art is not confined to galleries but can extend into architecture, interior design, workplaces, hospitality, and homes.

Sketchbook Page 181 - Real Art in Homes | Developing a Complete Art System

Sketchbook study exploring how original art can move into homes, interiors, businesses, and public environments through documentation, provenance, artist process, and the developing Real Art Access & Value Standard.

Page 181
Real Art in Homes

If I ask:

What makes work worthy of sale?

Why does a buyer know that work is real?

How are artists' documents and processes recorded?

How can art become easier to access?

How can artists build and learn through long-term documentation?

How can art enter interiors, businesses, games, innovation, and create serious value?

This is all a completed system.

It is only an idea and direction at the moment.

Pieter Lategan | STUDIO

→ Carefully developed through sketchbook pages, notes, art process, documentation, archive records, certificates, website pages, and selected public posts.

→ Not a fixed model.

→ It develops properly.

→ Photograph properly.

→ The paper.

Art System

Pieter Lategan
20 June 2026 — 22:39
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Sketchbook Page 182 - The Real Art Framework | Human Authorship

Sketchbook study exploring how documentation, certificates of authenticity, blockchain verification, and human authorship contribute to building trust and long-term value in original art.

Page 182
The Real Art Framework

→ Archive properly.
→ Explain properly.
→ Price properly.
→ Build trust.

→ AI is not a real human artist.

→ Art must become more human.

• Documented
• Physical
• Traceable
• Present

Look at the following website:

Verisart.com for certificates.

This site authenticates artists' work.

You get a digital certificate.

This is a blockchain system.

It provides a timeline.

Certificates evolve with the creator.

Authors own...

AI is not the artist — humans are.

Art System

Pieter Lategan
20 June 2026 — 23:24
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

About the Artwork - Archive Study

"Gathering Around the Fire" | Pieter Lategan

This early watercolour remains an important reference within my studio archive.

Although it was produced many years before the development of Silent Monumentalism, it documents questions that continue to influence my work: human presence, composition, movement, spatial relationships and the emotional weight carried by groups of people sharing a common place.

Looking back, I can already recognise the beginnings of ideas that would later develop into more restrained and architectural forms.

Rather than copying this painting, I now study it as evidence of how an artistic language develops over time.

The purpose of preserving work like this is not nostalgia.

It is documentation.

Each sketch, painting and notebook becomes part of a continuous archive that records the evolution of a studio practice.

This is one of the principles that supports the Real Art Access and Value Standard.

About the Artwork: "Gather Around the Fire" | Pieter Lategan - 2026 
Archive Number: PL-SM-EW-2016-0529-001

Sketchbook Study - Gathering Around the Fire | Pieter Lategan 2016

Gathering Around the Fire - Pieter Lategan | 29 May 2016
Johannesburg South Africa
Archive Number: PL-SM-EW-2016-0529-001

Complete Sketchbook Spread - "Gathering Around the Fire" | Pieter Lategan 2026

This photograph documents the complete A2 sketchbook sheet after it was folded to A4. It includes the original watercolour Gathering Around the Fire, early graphite figure studies, handwritten studio notes and the reverse-side rhinoceros drawing. Rather than recording only the finished artwork, the image preserves the complete working object as part of the permanent Pieter Lategan | STUDIO Archive.
Archive Number: PL-SM-EW-2016-0529-001

Rhino Study | Reverse of Gathering Around the Fire | Pieter Lategan 2011
Pretoria South Africa

Reverse side of the original artwork Gathering Around the Fire. This untitled graphite pencil rhino study was drawn in Pretoria in 2011 on the reverse of the same A2 sheet of 120 gsm cartridge paper. It forms part of the complete archival record of the artwork and shares the permanent archive number PL-SM-EW-2016-0529-001.

Figure Study Around the Fire — Related Study for Gathering Around the Fire
Graphite Pencil on 120 gsm Cartridge Paper
A2 sheet folded to A4
29 May 2016 
Studio Period Pre–Silent Monumentalism / Early Studio Work

Gather Around the Fire -  Artwork Documentation Sketchbook Page P183 | Pieter Lategan

"Gather Around the Fire" | Pieter Lategan

29 May 2016 — Johannesburg, South Africa

Archive Number

PL-SM-EW-2016-0529-001

× Beekeit sketchbook paper
20 sheets
120 GSM Cartridge
A2 folded to A4

Part of Painting 8 — The Idea — Part of Studies.

The artwork was folded to A4 to fit into the sketchbook.

The original size is A4 of a pencil drawing, which was done on the back of A2.

The artwork of the fire was done around 2011.

The artwork was done at Pro Photo in Pretoria.

Gather Around the Fire, Pieter Lategan, was a watercolour artwork.

I left my world on 19 November 2015 in Johannesburg.

This was the beginning of a new adventure, something I never planned during my life.

I thought I would always work for a boss. That was not true.

At 45 years old, I left a good job to see my lifetime.

Only where life will take me.

I went on my own, like the Johannesburg style.

Artwork

Pieter Lategan

21 June 2026 — 18:26

Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

Page 184
"Gather Around the Fire" - Pieter Lategan

Page 184
"Gather Around the Fire" | Pieter Lategan

This (the artwork) was developed before my own style,
Silent Monumentalism / Gravitas (May 2026).

My work already explores human presence, gathering, shared space, relationships and the movement between figures.

Emotional relationships between objects, humans...

At that time I considered an exhibition, but it never took place.

This artwork, which is not really a final painting, still lives and walks for me.

It is one of my creations.

More than ever, I already started with my recordings / documentation.

This artwork will stay important because it is the principal behind the Real Art Access & Value Standard of the Pieter Lategan | STUDIO.

The value of an artwork also lies in the documentation, authorship, date, place of creation and archiving of artworks.

When I look back, I realise this forms part of my development into Silent Monumentalism.

Artwork

Pieter Lategan

21 June 2026 — 18:37

Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa

The Chainsmokers - Closer | Official Video | 2016

Continue Exploring This Project

Read the Studio Notes | click here
Read the Main Article | click here

Voguing | Dance Style - Sketchbook Notes on Harlem, Body, Stage and Audience

"Strike a Pose!" Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Guillaume Cizeron | Rhythm Dance #MilanoCortina2026

Voguing and the Body - Sketchbook Page 005

My Confession to God Today

O God, I am hard to reach.

My meaning is that You make us strong enough to believe, because You let me know, You let me feel, and You let me learn what it means to be a king and a warrior.

Kings do not make themselves strong only by themselves. They become strong because You choose where to place them. It is important for them to speak, to find strength, to carry responsibility, and to show respect.

Voguing

Voguing is a dance style inspired by the poses of models in fashion magazines.

Video reference note:
YouTube — Vogue Supremacy — 90s Ballroom Style — Derek Faces
Final spelling of the video title must still be checked before publication.

Silent Monumentalism — Voguing
Pieter Lategan
21 April 2026, 2:42 PM
Pretoria, South Africa

Voguing as Dance Style - Sketchbook Page 006

Voguing is also known as vogue dance.

It is a dance style born from the LGBTQ Harlem ballroom scene of the late 1970s and 1980s.

It is named after the famous fashion magazine Vogue. It draws inspiration from fashion modelling, couture, angular poses, and Egyptian hieroglyphics.

In this ballroom dance, dancers use sharp angles, dramatic poses, and intricate hand movements. It mimics the poses of runway models and turns the body into a strong visual structure.

The dance is dramatic, controlled, acrobatic, and expressive. This dance form uniquely celebrates the body.

Harlem, New York, Manhattan, is an intellectual, cultural, and artistic hub for people of colour.

135th Street Station connects to the history of Harlem.

The name Harlem comes from Dutch settlers and refers to Haarlem in the Netherlands.

Silent Monumentalism — Voguing
Pieter Lategan
21 April 2026
Pretoria, South Africa

Harlem, Park, Jazz and Performance Space - Sketchbook Page 007

St. Nicholas Park.

The area connects to Dutch-American history, St. Nicholas Park, City College, immigrant communities, and Hamilton Heights.

Central Harlem.

Jazz developed here and became part of mainstream African-American music and culture. The music, the streets, and the jazz players all form part of this history.

This reminds me of jazz.

A difficult past is carried through music. Music tells stories about what happened in the streets, in history, and in the lives of people.

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Harlem streets become signs, symbols, and structures in the memory of the city.

The Apollo Theater is a venue for performance.

Soul food, Harlem, Black culture, clothing, street life, music, and performance become part of the same visual field.

Spanish Harlem and wider Harlem communities form part of this cultural landscape.

Silent Monumentalism — Harlem
Pieter Lategan
21 April 2026, 22:25
Pretoria, South Africa

Harlem, Morningside Heights and Dance History - Sketchbook Page 008

Harlem is home to large Dominican and Puerto Rican communities.

Morningside Heights.

Riverside Park and General Grant National Memorial are part of the historical landscape of Manhattan.

Manhattan.

Video reference note:

YouTube video — Visit the Iconic History of Harlem, New York

Approximate playtime: 21:49 minutes.

Video reference note:

YouTube — New York: The Voguing Revival

BBC Travel Show.

The story is about poses and movements.

Voguing came from Harlem. It came from drag shows, ballroom culture, pose, movement, identity, and performance.

Silent Monumentalism — Harlem

Pieter Lategan

21 April 2026

Pretoria, South Africa

Observation: Performer, Audience and Stage - Sketchbook Page 009

Observation: I see an interesting stage.

It is not only the performer who performs. The public also becomes part of the performance.

While the performer performs, the audience stands around the performer and watches how the performance happens.

When the performer wants to perform, he steps out of the audience and moves into the circle or stage. He becomes the performer.

When he finishes his dance, or his voguing, he moves back into the audience and becomes a spectator again.

The audience is part of the stage.

Within this movement, the person can become performer, actor, dancer, viewer, and participant.

The audience may also mimic or copy the steps with their hands and bodies.

This dance style was born from a marginal space and later became known by a broader public.

Silent Monumentalism — Stage
Pieter Lategan
21 April 2026, 22:47
Pretoria, South Africa

New York: The voguing revival! - BBC Travel Show | 2020

Gravitas Academic Monument — Plastic Shell and Cement Fill Study

 

Plastic Shell Study — Reflective Vertical Monument on Studio Table

Reflective shell model on the studio table, testing vertical form, base structure and material presence.

Side View of Working Trophy Shell with Studio Tools .23

Side view of the working model with studio tools and background context.

Folded Shell and Stepped Base Construction Study

Folded shell and stepped base study, showing how the object begins to hold weight and void.

Silver-Grey Shell Construction Study for Academic Monument

Silver-grey shell study showing the same monument form in a quieter material tone.

This page forms part of the continuing sketchbook and studio process archive for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

This second page focuses on the plastic shell and cement fill study. The photographs show a working model placed on the studio table, together with tools, notes, sketchbook pages, material studies and construction references. The object is still in process. It is not presented here as a final trophy, but as part of the visual thinking and structural testing behind the work.

The study explores how a vertical form, a stepped base, a hollow shell, and a central void can hold weight and presence. Within the language of Gravitas, the object is not treated as decoration. It is treated as a small architectural monument: a structure that must carry silence, balance, weight and material seriousness.

The reflective gold and silver surfaces in these photographs are part of the process investigation. They help test form, edge, shadow, visibility and finish before the object is resolved as a final studio piece. The sketchbook pages show colour notes, void studies, ground area planning and material decisions connected to the larger development of the work.

This process is part of my ongoing studio work in Silent Monumentalism and Gravitas, where structure, silence, weight, surface and material presence remain central.

---

Gravitas Academic Monument — Process Series

This page forms part of a continuing sketchbook and process archive for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

• Part 1: Trophy Base and Mould Study
• Part 2: Plastic Shell and Cement Fill Study — current page
• Part 3: Assembly, Finish and Presentation Study

For the wider studio framework, see Silent Monumentalism principles and Gravitas as a discipline within Silent Monumentalism.

Related archive: Silent Monumentalism Online Handbook.

Gravitas Academic Monument | Trophy Base and Mould Study

 This sketchbook and process sequence documents an early construction study for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school award concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

The work explores how a small academic trophy can be built from simple geometric forms using a combination of 3D-printed plastic, cement or stone-composite fill, and a cast base structure. The study focuses on proportion, weight, silence, material presence and practical construction rather than decoration.

The base study examines how a rectangular foundation can be cast with a central opening or recess, allowing the upper trophy elements to sit into or onto the structure. This process belongs to the wider development of Silent Monumentalism and Gravitas, where balance, discipline, structure and material seriousness are treated as part of the final object.

This is not a generic trophy-cup design. It is a small monument to learning, effort, academic discipline and achievement.

Gravitas Academic Monument Trophy Base Sketch

Early sketchbook measurement study for the base of the Gravitas Academic Monument trophy system.

Academic Monument Casting Block Study

Sketchbook note exploring how to cast a specific base block with a central hole or recess.

Gravitas Academic Monument Mould Test

Handmade prototype mould testing the shape of the rectangular base and central recess.

Silent Monumentalism Trophy Construction Study

Process view of the mould study while testing the relationship between the base and upper trophy elements.

Gravitas Base Form Construction Test

Top view of the mould prototype, showing the base shape and internal recess area.

Academic Monument Base Recess Study

Side view of the handmade base mould showing the low rectangular form and edge construction.

Studio Process for Gravitas Academic Monument

Studio process image showing the cutting and adjustment stage of the handmade mould prototype.

Gravitas Trophy Mould Material Study

Hand-Cut Prototype Detail for Trophy Base

Wilson Phillips - Hold On | Official Music Video | 27 Febrruary 1990

Notes:

“This study documents the early development of a mould and base system for the Gravitas Academic Monument, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO. The process explores plastic, cement, weight, structure and material presence as part of Silent Monumentalism.”

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Gravitas Academic Monument — Process Series

This page forms part of a continuing sketchbook and process archive for the Gravitas Academic Monument — Best Academic Achiever of the Year, a school trophy concept by Pieter Lategan | STUDIO, Pretoria, South Africa.

• Part 1: Trophy Base and Mould Study — current page
• Part 2: Plastic Shell and Cement Fill Study
• Part 3: Assembly, Finish and Presentation Study

For the wider studio framework, see Silent Monumentalism principles and Gravitas as a discipline within Silent Monumentalism.

Related archive: Silent Monumentalism Online Handbook.