Art & Aspirations: The Randlords of South Africa ~ Michael Stevenson

Art & Aspirations: The Randlords of South Africa and Their Collections

Michael Stevenson

Fernwood Press, 2002, in very good condition.

Written by Michael Stevenson, this is a study of the Randlords, their backgrounds and the accumulation of their fortunes on the diamond fields of Kimberley.

The discovery of diamonds and gold in South Africa during the second half of the nineteenth century created unique opportunities for a handful of men to accumulate enormous wealth very rapidly.  At the end of the century they were among the richest and most powerful individuals in the world. Most of them settled in Britain and adopted would-be aristocratic life-styles, soon becoming known as the 'South African millionaires' or 'Randlords'.

Craving social acceptance and recognition, they constructed upper-class identities to transcend their modest, in some cases humble, backgrounds.

They systematically acquired and displayed properties and possssions that symbolised wealth and power in Europe.

Arguably, their most symbolic expenditure was on art, which they bought with the same zeal they had devoted to trading in gold and diamonds in South Africa.Binding:  Hard cover.  Quarter bound leather with slip case. 

Book Condition: Good with some wear at the bottom of the books cover. Not obvious as hidden by the dust jacket which is in very good condition

Edition: Fernwood Press 2002

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