Evening star., 1949-07-31
Sponsored by Union of South Africa
17O Items in Exhibition at National
By Florence S. Berrymon


clear-eyed observer of South Afri-
can art, has anticipated critics
reactions to this exhibition in say
ing there are no new directions
of a national flavor, that the main
influences in the last 80 years
have come from European art,
echoes of almost every ism A
majority Of the artists are natives
of South Africa (of European and
British ancestry; the next larg-
est number are British-b born. And
there are individual artists from
Poland, Austria, Russia and else
where. But approximately four
ffths of them studied art in Lon
don, Paris, Munich and other con-
tinental centers.
National Subject Matter
Considering the care with which
the show has been assembled, it
obviously has what the committee
considers the best of South
Africa's painting and sculpture.
The average visitor, however, will
probably be more interested in
the display as a reflection of the
country, than as an embodiment
of artistic merit. The show has
both facets.
The paintings range from such
traditional work as Robert Broad
ley's Snow in Lancashire" and
Willem Coetzer's still life Dusty
Shelf" to the surrealistic. African.
Influenced paintings of Alexis
Preller. 1t is not an extensive
gamut, and is considerably right
| of center, in character. Preller's
paintings are arresting. with their
African native subject matter.
symbolism. blue tonality illumi-
mated with flashes of crimson as
in "The Kraal" or their riot Of
color as in "Basuto Allegory." =
Outstandingly interesting to me
are the paintings by Walter
Battiss, wholly a product of South
Africa, where he was born and
studied. He has been a research
worker and greatly interested in
the prehistoric and Bushman rock
paintings of his own country, and
their influence in his work is OBJ
vious.
One painter, Gerard Sekoto, is
a Bantu NATIVE African) self
taught, but now studying in Paris.
The life Of his own people is his
subject matter, and his several
paintings have an authority and
individuality quite different from
the treatment of native subjects
by such sophisticated artists as
Neville Lewis, whose portrait Of a
native chief for instance, Gin
western clothes and seated in a
well-stocked library is an Occi-
dental-eye view Of the African.
The same viewpoint is demon
strated in quite a number of sculp-
lures in metal, stone and wood.
Moses Kottler's Mother and
Child" in what appears to be
polished ebony. is but one of a
number Of warmly naturalistic
works representing native women.
Irma Stern is a vigorous inter-
prefer of natives, both in oil and
graphic media. She also has one
of the best decorative paintings
(not concerned with locale) in her
heavily pigmented "Chrysanthe-
NUNS"
Quite a number of others
have sent paintings of still life,
flowers, figures and interiors.
Notable is Jean Welz' large
"Earthenware," showing the in
f1uence of modern French. Harry
Trevor's "Still Life with Indian
Rug" is vividly colored, traditional
In technique. Maude Summers
Letter" is the best of her group.
Celebrating the South African
scene are such paintings as "Veld
Flowers" in vivid red, blue and
yellow, by Hugo Naude Q869-
194D, the first South African to
study art abroad and become a
I professional painter; well-pat-
termed Deserted Karoo Farm" by
lie Roux Smith LIE Roux; freshly
colored "Hout Bay" by Terence
McCaw; poster like "Baobat
Trees" and "Dar-es-Salaam" by
Jacob Pierneef: Tropical Forest
by Maurice van Essche, Maggie
Laubser's Landscape With
Sheep" and many others.
y \ y +
Summer Show
The Arts Clubs summer show
recently opened. holds the recort
of some years past as being among
the most traditional ANIMALS ir
Washington. Very few of the 81
paintings in oil and water color
pastels and prints by some 40 art.
lists "a number have two each, q
few three each) so much as noe
in the direction of contemporary
idoims. It is not an exciting show
but a pleasant one, composed
largely of scenes and still life.
Clara Saunders and Margaret
B. Smith are showing portraits II