Title page for ETD etd-10242012-114453
Du Toit, Erica Marie URN
Die lewe en werk van W de S Hendrikz (Afrikaans)
AFRIKAANS: Willem de Sanderes Hendrikz was die eerste Suid-Afrikaanse beeldhouer wat in die rigting van die moderne ontwikkeling gewerk het. Hy het deur sy werk die Suid-Afrikaners laat kennis maak met die abstrakte en ander moderne rigtings. Hy het aanvanklik baie direkte beeldhouwerk geskep waarvoor hy ons Suid-Afrikaanse hout en klip gebruik het. As lektor, kunsskrywer en veral �kritikus, wat oor grondige kennis van sy onderwerp beskik het, het hy �n bydrae tot die kunsontwikkeling in Suid-Afrika gelewer. Onder die skuilnaam, Gideon Malherbe, het hy raak kunskritieke in dag- en weekblaaie geskryf. Sy grootste bydrae was egter op die gebied van die argitektoniese beeldhoukuns.
Argitektoniese beeldhoukuns is �n kunsvorm in eie reg wat moet beantwoord aan ander vereistes as gewone beeldhoukuns daar dit in kombinasie met argitektuur gebruik word. Dit is belangrik dat boubeeldhoukuns nie net ornament moet wees wat die argitektuur versier nie, maar dat dit, behalwe om nie net die argitektuur te verryk, ook betekenis in sigself moet dra.
Tot aan die einde van die 19de eeu was beeldhoukuns en argitektuur nou verbonde. Die funksionaliste het die twee egter geskei. Hendrikz het by die moderne beeldhouers aangesluit wat die breuk tussen die twee rigtings probeer herstel het. Deur sy opleiding as argitek sowel as beeldhouer het hy �n boubeeld-houtradisie in Suid-Afrika begin waarop nog steeds voortgebou word.
Tot sy beste argitektoniese werk behoort seker die Volkskas-deure in Markstraat, Johannesburg � sterk in komposisie en ryk in vormspel- en die gedenkteken van die Mediese Korps teen die muur van die Ingramsgebou in Johannesburg. Hendrikz se werk het dikwels �n universele id�e of gedagte bevat soos duidelik uit hierdie werke blyk. Van sy vrye werk is sy argitektoniese werk eweneens die heel geslaagdste. Ons dink hier aan die hangbeelde �Die heilige Theodosia� en �Ghandi�. Hendrikz se latere argitektoniese werk is onindrukwekkend, die sterkte en forsheid van die werk het verlore gegaan. Dit word oorpresies en daar is te veel detail.
Hendrikz se persoonlike beeldhouwerk, sowel die argitektoniese as die nie-argitektoniese, gee vir ons �n beeld van waartoe hy werklik in staat was. Sy vroegste werke het in die rigting van die moderne ontwikkeling gestaan maar die werk het later alhoemeer na onverbloemde realisme geneig waarvan �Re�n� die hoogtepunt vorm. Hendrikz is op sy beste met die uitbeelding van die menslike figuur. Deur die figuur in �n perfekte posisie, dikwels simmetries, te laat stol, dra hy aan ons �n idee oor.
Hendrikz het as jong beeldhouer baie belofte getoon. Helaas het hierdie belofte nie heeltemal in vervulling gegaan nie. Daar is enkele hoogtepunte in sy werk maar gedurende die laaste sewe tot agt jaar voor sy tragiese dood het hy min blywends op kunsgebied gelewer. Hendrikz se gekompliseerde kunstenaars-persoonlikheid, asook finansi�le-, gesondheids- en huweliksprobleme het waarskynlik tot die vroe� einde van sy skeppende vermo� bygedra.
Willem Hendrikz is in 1910 in Brandfort in die Vrystaat gebore waar hy in �n regte plattelandse atmosfeer grootgeword het. Hy het argitektuur aan die Universiteit van die Witwatesrand studeer maar het net voor sy finale eksamen besluit om beeldhouer te word. Hy het vervolgens sy opleiding as beeldhouer in London en op die vasteland voltooi. Van 1937 tot 1945 was hy dosent aan sy alma mater. Die Tweede W�reldoorlog het egter �n onderbreking in sy doseerloopbaan veroorsaak toe hy aan S.A. Kamoefleer Korps verbonde was. Aan die einde van die oorlog het hy na Amerika gegaan en met navorsing oor kunsopleiding wat hy daar doen, het hy sy M.A.-graad behaal. In 1945 het hy besluit om voltyds kunstenaar te word. Kort daarna het hy van die Raad vir Sosiale Navorsing �n reisstipendium ontvang en met sy gesin na Europa gegaan. Hy het daar internasionale erkenning ontvang met sy beeld �Re�n�. Die reis is, eerder as wat oorspronklik beplan was, be�indig, omdat Hendrikz ernstig siek geword het. Terug in Suid-Afrika het hy �n plasie naby Plettenbergbaai gekoop, terwyl hy sy ateljee in Johannesburg behou het vir groot opdragte. Hendrikz het egter baie probleme ondervind en die lewe het naderhand vir hom te moeilik geword In 1959 het sy lewe tot �n einde gekom.
ENGLISH: Willem de Sanderes Hendrikz was the first South African sculptor following the modern trends. With his work he brought to South Africa the abstract and other modern tendencies. He started off by doing direct sculpture using South African wood and stone. As lecturer, a writer on art and art critic, he knew his subject well and he did much for the development of the arts in South Africa. Under the pseudonym, Gideon Malherbe, he wrote a series of critique on art which was published in daily papers and magazines. His greatest contribution was however in the field of architectural sculpture.
Architectural sculpture is a form of art on its own, with requirements other than ordinary sculpture since it has to be used in combination with architecture. It is important that architectural sculpture should not only be ornamental decoration of architecture, but it has to have, apart from enriching the architecture, a meaning in itself.
Up to the end of the 19th century sculpture and architecture have been used in combination. Functionalism has divided the two. Hendrikz associated himself with the modern sculptors who tried to bring the two together again. Through his training as architect and his knowledge of sculpture Hendrikz started a tradition of architectural sculpture in South Africa that since has been built on.
Of his best architectural work are the doors of Volkskas in Market St., Johannesburg � strong in composition and rich in form � and the memorial for the Medical Corps against the wall of Ingrams building in Johannesburg. Hendrikz�s work quite often has a universal idea locked up in it, as in the work mentioned. Of his work that was not commissioned his architectural work were the best, for example �Saint Theodosia� and �Gandhi�. His later architectural work are unimpressive, it is no more strong and powerful but tend to be over precise and with too much detail.
From the personal work of Hendrikz, architectural and non-architectural, one can form an idea of what his real talent was. His first work strikes a modern note but it then tends to get more and more realistic. Of this realistic period �Rain� forms the climax. Hendrikz used the human figure in his best work. By placing the figure in a perfect position, often symmetrical, he tries to convey a certain idea to us.
Hendrikz started off as a young sculptor with possibilities but he never quite fulfilled this promise. He achieved some success but the last seven to eight years before his tragic death his work wasn�t quite up to standard. His complicated artistic personality, financial-, health-, and marital problems mostly played a part in this.
Hendrikz was born in Brandfort in the Free State in 1910 where he grew up in a real country atmosphere. He studies architecture at the University of the Witwatersrand but decided shortly before his final exams to become a sculptor. His training as sculptor he got in London and on the continent. From 1937 up to 1945 he lectured in Fine Arts at the University of the Witwatersrand. During the Second World War he was a member of the Camouflage Corps. At the end of the war he left for America to study methods of art education. He wrote his M.A.-thesis using this information. In 1945 he decided to be full time artist. Soon after this he received a travel grant from the Council of Social Research and went to Europe, taking his family with him. He became internationally known in art circles through his sculpture �Rain�. The journey was ended sooner than intended when Hendrikz became seriously ill. Back in South Africa he bought a small farm near Plettenberg Bay. His studio in Johannesburg he kept for commissions. Problems didn�t stay out and life for Hendrikz seemed too much. His life came to an end in 1959.
� 1976 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
Please cite as follows: Du Toit, EM 1976, Die lewe en werk van W de S Hendrikz , MA dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10242012-114453/ >