THE SOUTH AFRICAN
Issue : August 2009
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New scheme to promote Art Fair
Discussions about the Joburg Art Fair
showed the event to be beneficial, however,
Artlogic have cooked up a Spring Art Fair
to bolster confidence,
writes Mary Corrigall
The recent Joburg Art Fair Assess-
ment Discussions held in Joburg
wasn’t exactly defined by vigorous
self-analysis as its title implied.
Nevertheless the general consensus
appeared to be positive with most
agreeing that the Joburg Art Fair
(JAF) was advantageous to the
promotion of contemporary art.
In response to the toll that these
tough financial times have taken on
JAF, Artlogic have proposed a new
scheme which should encourage gal-
lerists continued support of the fair.
With a panel consisting only of
individuals associated with the art
fair, Ross Douglas, head of Artlogic,
established a hard line of defence
to buttress against the criticism the
fair has attracted from the media
and gallerists, who have been ques-
tioning the affordability of the fair.
Certainly Artlogic have engaged in
some level of self-reflection, evi-
denced in Douglas’ new scheme
and his more measured discussions
about the art fair. He dispensed
Pie-maker wins ABSA
l’Atelier Award 09
Stephen Rosin
The winner of this year’s ABSA
L’Atelier competition is an unlikely
suspect.
Thirty-four year old Stephen Rosin
runs a family pie-making business,
and lives in a rural area near Plett,
LI T
UA Y
LEN Q
PRODU
C T ZEL
Student Acrylic Paint
Published monthly by Global Art Information
PO Box 15881 Vlaeberg, 8018
Tel. 021 424 7733
ART TIMES
with his usual rhetoric, which
has thus far embodied Douglas’
attempt to position the fair as “edu-
cational” a “contemporary African
art affair” and as “an alternative
to a biennale” – in other words
anything other than a commercial
enterprise. Clive Kellner made a
very clear distinction between art
fairs and biennales, finally putting
to bed Douglas’ assertions that the
fair was in some way a ‘replace-
ment’ for such an art event.
Nevertheless the general tone of
the talks tended more towards the
self-congratulatory as the panellists
used the opportunity to expound on
the benefits of an art fair. The impli-
cation was that it was necessary to
justify its relevance. But generally
everyone who attended seemed
to agree that JAF has been a credit
to the city of Joburg, has aided
in positioning South Africa as a
“progressive” cultured destination
and that it has helped render con-
temporary art “less scary” to the
general public. Kellner’s informed
where, until last September, he
had no electricity. Winning the
award, held at Gauteng’s ABSA
gallery on the 23rd July came as
something of a surprise to the
artist too. “I wasn’t even supposed
to be going,” says Rosin, “it was
completely unexpected!”
Rosin, who studied painting at
the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
University in Port Elizabeth (though
he never painted a single canvas
in his final year), has entered the
competition for the previous two
years in a row, making the list of
top ten finalists last year.
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Walter
Battiss
Artist’s feature
supplement
inside
talk demonstrated that art fairs
aren’t a contemporary phenomenon
but his assessment of the art fair as
a concept was ambiguous.
“What does it do for art?” he
asked.
Indeed the talks did not address
his query. There was little mention
of how the art fair benefited the
discipline itself or the galleries and
artists – none of whom were repre-
sented on the panel. Nevertheless,
Douglas’ willingness to engage in
discussions, displayed his open-
ness to critical feedback. Alex Dodd
on the other hand, who was obvi-
ously speaking in her capacity as
media advisor to Artlogic, discour-
aged arts writers from participating
in critical assessments of the fair,
implying that the fair was a vulner-
able inchoate entity that required
nurturing.
The low sales figures for the 2009
Joburg Art Fair (JAF) weren’t
glossed over. The slump was
ascribed to a generally unhealthy
financial climate which threatened
industries across the board.
Aidan Walsh and his partner Andrew Verster share a joke with Peter Machen outside the KZNSA Gallery, Durban. Aidan Walsh
died of a heart attack in July and was one of the most amazing artists and art professionals in Durban. Aidan had an important
“The art fair took place at a very diffi-
cult time when the recession was
impact on the Durban Art Scene as a seminal figure as the curator and director of The Walsh-Marais Gallery. Other artists who
had their work shown in the gallery include Walter Battiss, Peter Schutz and Cecil Skotnes, Clive van den Berg and Penny Siopis. just kicking in. The interest rate hadn’t
As a result of the high standard set by Walsh’s curatorial eye, many works that now reside in the Durban Art Gallery’s permanent
collection were purchased from the Walsh Marais Gallery. See Aidan’s Obituary on page 5. Photo: Peter Machen continued on page 3
R3.2 M Lost Orchid
“not” a Tretchi
The pie season being what it is, Graham Britz told Beeld newspaper He added that this painting could
Rosin says he will only be able to that forensic tests on the painting, be another painting by Tretchikoff
head to Paris after December, signed “Tretchikoff”, showed that it called “After the Dance”.
possibly in January of 2010. He is was not the original “Lost Orchid” This is the first time that Britz, who
however, thrilled at the prospect. art work. sold the painting for a record
“It’s incredible,” says Rosin,
He said it was a “mistake” to have R3.2-million including commission at
“amazing”, to be afforded the
stated in the catalogue that this the auction earlier this year, admitted
opportunity not only to travel to
painting was the original “Lost that it was not the original work.
Paris, but to receive so much
Orchid”.
exposure. Until then, he plans to Beeld newspaper reported shortly
set up a proper portfolio, framing In fact, it was “without a doubt” not after the auction that there were
the works he hasn’t had funds the original, said Britz. differences in detail between the
to frame, and saving up for his The so-called “Lost Orchid” painting painting owned by Kebble, and a
The catalogue should have stated
European sojourn. sold at slain mining magnate Brett picture of the painting that appeared
that this was “a painting in the
Kebble’s art auction was not the real in a book by Howard Timmins on
Read the full story at thing, the auctioneer admitted in an style of Tretchikoff’s ‘Lost Orchid’,” Tretchikoff’s work in 1969.
www.arttimes.co.za interview published on Friday. said Britz. continued on page 3
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 A HANDFUL OF UPCOMING HIGHLIGHTS

CAPE TOWN JOHANNESBURG

Decorative and Fine Arts Decorative and Fine Arts
Tuesday and Wednesday, Tuesday and Wednesday,
20 & 21 October 2009 17 & 18 November 2009
Enquiries: 021 794 6461 Enquiries: 011 880 3125
ct@swelco.co.za jhb@swelco.co.za
www.swelco.co.za www.swelco.co.za
The Great Cellar, Alphen Hotel, 13 Biermann Avenue, Rosebank,
Alphen Drive, Constantia, 7806 2196, Johannesburg
P O Box 818, Constantia, 7848 P O Box 52431, Saxonwold, 2132

JH Pierneef THE BAOBAB R 2 400 000 – 2 800 000

Pieter Wenning THATCHED COTTAGES R 600 000 – 800 000
Irma Stern AFTER THE STORM, ALICANTE R 1 800 000 – 2 400 000
Stanley Pinker SUNTAN R 300 000 – 400 000
South African Art Times August 2009 3

New scheme to promote Art Fair Lost Orchid not the real thing
continued from page 1 continued from page 1

dropped yet and no one knew what
was going on. Quite a few sales
took place a few weeks after the fair.
Buyers didn’t feel the need as they
have done in previous years to buy
artworks immediately, they could
take more time,” asserted Douglas.
The sharp 50 percent increase in
visitors to the fair was seen as
a positive indication that South
Africans supported the event. Never-
theless with flagging sales and
tough economic realities threaten-
ing its existence Artlogic have had
to come up with a plan to entice
gallerists to continue supporting the
art fair. Thus Artlogic have initiated
The Spring Art Tour, which will
run in galleries in Johannesburg,
from September 17-20, and in
Cape Town, from October 1-4. It
is expected this new event will
cement the gallerists association
with JAF, asserted Douglas.
“We wanted to offer both the spon-
sors, galleries and art communities
another event that could extend
the momentum of the art fair. We
decided that an event once a year
was not enough for that audience
to interact so we came up with the
Spring Art Tour.”
It’s an ingenious new scheme; it
always seemed implausible that an
annual event would be sufficient to
“grow a market for contemporary
art.” The Art Tour will not only
create more buzz around local art
but as it will be located in galleries
and will consist of curated shows
it is more likely that the public will
become more familiar with the local
art market and will be exposed to
more quality interactions with art.
Of course, its success depends on
whether the tour is effectively and
appropriately marketed. Grolsch
is the main sponsor of the event,
according to Douglas.
The art fair’s Sandton location was
blamed for keeping the costs barely
affordable for gallerists but Douglas
indicated that while he would prefer
to stage the event closer to the
inner city, viable venues, offering
sufficient parking and amenities,
simply didn’t exist elsewhere.
Robert Keip, CEO, investments and
premier banking at First National
Bank, the primary sponsor of JAF,
implied that the development
and enrichment of the visual arts
was not a priority for corporate
sponsors. FNB does not view the
sponsorship of the visual arts as an But at the time, Britz said that
exercise in social development but Tretchikoff could have painted two
rather as part of their sponsorship versions of the “Lost Orchid”.
programmes, which are solely moti-
Besides several small differences
vated by the necessity to reinforce
in the two paintings, the Kebble
and market their brand and “provide
painting’s signature is different to
entertainment” for their valued
Tretchikoff’s known signature.
clients, said Keip.
Throughout his work, Tretchikoff’s
In terms of these objectives, Keip
signature did not have lines struck
expressed dismay with the fact that
through the letters “f” in his sur-
FNB received little coverage in the
name, but in the Kebble work, it is
press for their sponsorship of the
struck through.
event. Douglas remained adamant
that they would not sell the naming The sale of the painting has been
rights of the event to the primary suspended.
sponsor as it would be out of step
The Kebble auction was the biggest
with internationally established busi-
of South African art to date and
ness models for art fairs.
fetched nearly R55-million.
As a commercial venture govern-
The money went into Kebble’s
ment wouldn’t consider funding
bankrupt estate. He was killed in a
the event, observed Steven Sack,
bizarre shooting in September 2005
director of Arts Culture and Heritage
which has been claimed to have
of the City of Joburg. The art fair’s
been an assisted suicide. – Sapa
survival is, therefore, dependent on
corporate sponsorship, which places
it in a vulnerable position.
When asked what was the way
forward for the art fair, Douglas’
response was unequivocal: “to
survive.”
Tretchikoff never crossed his ff’s
as with the auctioned work

Fresh Stormsvlei Art Festival not to be missed

A new Stormsvlei Art Festival is
to be launched in the Overberg,
Western Cape on Sunday 23 August.
The Stormsvlei Art Festival, a one
day event will take place between
11 am – 4 pm at Stormsvlei, an
18th century hamlet situated on the
Sonderend River at the end of the
Ruggens region of the Overberg.
Various artists will be showing paint-
ings, sculpture, installations and land
art in and around the buildings of this
historic town.
Jannie Uitlander, the artist formerly
known as Johnny Foreigner, is the
protagonist behind the Art Fair
and Happening. Highlights will
be a demonstration of the black-
smiths craft, a performance braai,
a furniture exhibition and a prize
for best moustache on show.
There will also be a country market
with food, books, collectables
and more.
Stormsvlei is situated at the cross-
roads between Riviersonderend
and Swellendam on the N2 and
Bonnie-vale and Bredasdorp on
the R317.
Lunch is available at Zandrift
Restaurant (booking advisable
028 261 1167).
Any artists, performers or musicians
wishing to participate please contact
Jannie on 073 030 7240.
Accommodation available at
Stormsvlei Riverside Cottages
www.stayhere.co.za/ads/
stormsvleicot
The Stormsvlei Art Festival joins the
Overberg’s Cultvaria and Baards-
keerdersbos annual art routes in
opening up the rich, raw art talent in
the country.
4 South African Art Times August 2009

New R 1 M Firewalker sculpture “explodes” into shape

Marx & Kentridge’s Firewalker
Sculpture rises on the
Johannesburg city landscape
The SA Art Times has commissioned
Wendel Fernandes these past few
weeks to photograph the rise of Johan-
nesburg’s Development Agency’s
newest commissioned public works
entitled “Firewalker”, collaboration
piece by Johannesburg artists William
Kentridge and Gerhard Marx.
The sculpture will resemble a woman
carrying a burning brazier on her head,
but only from certain angles; “If one
approaches the work from the direction
of the bridge, these loose steel frag-
ments combine to create the cohesive
image of The Fire Walker... This image
then ‘explodes’ into loose individual
fragments and abstraction as you move
around it”, Marx and Kentridge explain.
The work is being hailed as Johan-
nesburg’s Statue of Liberty, evoking the
Big Apple’s monumental torch bearing
woman. “But she is a very particular
Statue of Liberty – Johannesburg’s
Statue of Liberty – which carries with it,
at every point, either the history or the
threat of its own collapse”, the artists
say. Neustetter also noted the contra-
dictory implications of the work, which,
while its message of survival inspires,
“if we carry fire on our heads, what
else can we do?” it is also disturbing;
“should someone have to do this?”
In her article for the weekender, Alex
Dodd also draws attention to the pos-
sibility of theft, a problem which has
plagued various public sculptures in the
city in recent years. “We’re trying to
make it as solid and strong as possible,
but there is the chance that parts could
get stolen”, Marx concedes, adding
that concerns about safety, and the
piece being used as a possible hiding
place for hijackers were also taken
into account in the manufacture of the
piece.
Then again, theft of part of the statue’s
metal might only add to the sense
of contingency offered by Joburg’s
“exploding” and fragmented Statue
of Liberty.

New on the Johannesburg horizon: Firewalker, a R 1 M collaborative

piece between Gerhard Marx (left) and William Kentridge (left, in
hat) all made possible by Steven Sack’s (far right) hard work.
Johannesburg is well ahead of any other South African city in its
commissioning of public works. Photo: Wendel Fernandes

roselyn mcculloch–aloes recollected niël jonker–bush vine–the earthworm farmer’s cottage

SOLITUDE & things collected

k r a a l s t u d i o–364 milner street, waterkloof, pretoria
opening of exhibition–saturday 29 august 09, 12:00
rsvp: hanlieandclive@kraalstudio.co.za or hanlie on 082 464 6767
private viewing by appointment till 10 october 09
South African Art Times August 2009
OBITUARY
 Aidan Walsh 1933 - 2009
Durban artist and gallerist Aidan Walsh
died of a heart attack on 11 July at the
age of 76, after a year of struggling with
illness. An acclaimed and highly popular
artist, Walsh also had an important
impact on Durban’s art scene as a
gallerist and curator. Although now
Aidan Walsh and his inspiration
From Art Smart
The late Aidan Walsh’s inimitable
and humorous comments written in
October 2005 linked to a forthcoming
exhibition.
The following was sent to artSMart by
Andrew Verster, giving the late Aidan
Walsh’s inimitable and humorous
comments linked to a forthcoming
exhibition of his works. It was written
on October 10, 2005:
When I was a child, we lived in England
– war-torn England. Although I’m South
African, I was brought up there because
my father had business interests there
and the whole family went over – all
seven children and my mother – and,
BOOM, war was declared. Bad timing.
There was rationing. I was, I believe,
considered an odd child – I didn’t like
sweets, so I used to give my sweet
ration cards (children got extra), to an
old lady who lived near us. She was
amazingly interesting. Her father had
been a doctor in a Catholic Mission
Station in Yucatan, and they had a
renowned for his hyper-realist land-
scapes, and also for his portraits, Walsh
was a seminal figure as the curator and
director of the Walsh-Marais gallery,
which opened in the early 60s, and
which often gave artists who are now
of national and international importance
their first show.
The gallery, which Walsh started with
ceramicist Carol Marais – at the time
Walsh was also a ceramicist – was one
of the first galleries in Durban to show
contemporary work, and the first gallery
to host regular temporary exhibitions.
This was something which he was
encouraged to do by Andrew Verster
who, at the time, taught at Solisbury
Island. Verster, who would shortly
become Walsh’s lover and life partner,
was one of many artists who had their
careers forged in the fires of Walsh’s
passion for fine art. Other artists who
exhibited at the gallery early on in their
career included Paul Stopforth, Patrick
house in Vera Cruz. She was well over
80 and had a collection of exquisitely
illustrated books, huge and magnificent,
on the rain forests, Mayan and Aztec
ruins, the local flora and fauna. Her
flat was filled with beautiful objects
and Spanish colonial furniture. I was
totally captivated by the stories of her
childhood, visits to Mexico City, to the
forests and all the ruins. She was so
absorbing that I used to lose all count
of time. Once my father had the canal
dragged, thinking I had fallen in. I have
always seen filled with curiosity. And
Miss Elizabeth Bamber stimulated that
curiosity to an amazing degree.
I didn’t ever get to Yucatan. I haven’t
been as much a traveller and I would
have liked to be. And in another life,
I might have become an archaeo-
logist.
At least in this country, I have tra-
velled to some pretty remote places,
possibly the most remote being
Pofadder. I have made two trips there.
It has a weird and unique fascination. I
really had no idea whether it existed or
O’ Connor, Malcolm Christian, Clive
van den Berg and Penny Siopis. Other
artists who had their work shown in
the gallery include Walter Battiss, Peter
Schutz and Cecil Skotnes. As a result of
the high standard set by Walsh’s curato-
rial eye, many works that now reside
in the Durban Art Gallery’s permanent
connection were purchased from the
Walsh Marais Gallery.
In the early 80s, the Gallery having run
its course, Walsh moved to the NSA,
where he was appointed as curator
and continued to support the work of
young artists on the rise. But it was
only in his 50s, during a three month
residency at the Île de la Cité in Paris,
that Walsh started to pursue painting
with seriousness.
Verster says that he thinks that Walsh
need to get away, both from him and
Durban, in order to find his talent and
confidence as a painter, and he recalls,
with an amazed smile, Walsh returning
not, or was simply a joke. I knew it was
real when I discovered it.
So much of my trips around the North-
ern Cape, arid, desolate and stark, have
produced some amazing places, place
that people in general hadn’t heard of,
and which in their unique way are totally
fascinating.
Near Saldanah, I discovered some
upright stones near a remote sandy
tack which were thought to have been
venerated by the San. They possess an
aura similar to that which I experienced
when I saw some menhirs at Carnac in
Brittany. They have a vibrant presence
about them.
My friend Lize, who one evening was
driving past from Vredenburg to Gonna-
manskraal, noticed some indistinct little
lights flickering around the stones. She
turned off the road and drove towards
them. Her husband felt uneasy. He felt
they were interfering with something
beyond them and that they should turn
back. And they did. They both felt the
eerie atmosphere exuded by the stones.
5
from Paris with a suitcase filled only
with perfectly formed paintings. Over
the next two decades, the eternally
gentle Walsh became one of Durban’s
best selling painters and achieved much
critical recognition.
If he hadn’t followed the path of fine
art, Walsh has said that he would he
become an archeologist, fascinated as
he was by the small details and arcana
presents
of history. And indeed his paintings
often function as a kind of archaeol- BRAAM KRUGER (1950 – 2008)
ogy of the present, one that is forever
slipping away from us, and it is in that A retrospective exhibition of oil paintings
dilapidated slippage that Walsh found Curated by Dr Fred Scott
a kind of spiritual home. With his
death, Walsh and his work joins the 2 September – 14 October 2009
past – in a sense – with which he was
so perpetually fascinated. But even as
Aidan Walsh’s life now crystalises into
history and memory, the passion, skill,
inspiration and commitment to art that
defined his life will continue to shine
into the future.
Later on, when I joined them for drinks,
Lize said that in the 1850s a shipload of
Irish immigrants who were fleeing the
Potato Famine and religious intolerance,
settled in nearby Caledon. Amongst
them were Walshes, some who had
names that run in my family so they
were probably distant relations. She has
a theory that when they were packing
up in the Holy Isle, some leprechauns
sneaked in and stowed away in their The General, oil on panel, 138x122 cm, 1989
portmanteaux and snuck out again in
South Africa, and it is they who made Sponsored by Standard Bank and
with financial support by BASA
their home around the stones.
I remember my first trip to Paris. I had
applied for the Atelier flat at the Cité
Internationale des Arts. The waiting list
was two years. Unexpectedly, Diana
Breedt phoned to tell me there had
been an unforeseen cancellation and I
had to leave within ten days. My pass-
port had expired . Well, those ten
days were chaotic. I had my passport
and visa just hours before boarding UJ Art Gallery
the plane. Did I need a Jamiesons c/o Kingsway and University Road Auckland Park Johannesburg South Africa
once aboard! +27 11 559 2099 [tel] +27 11 559 3178 [fax] aedempsey@uj.ac.za [email]
Read more on www.artsmart.co.za
 controversial
contemporary
cuttingedge

attend!
sasol new signatures
art competıtıon 09

Exhibition
Pretoria Art Museum – Arcadia Park
cnr Schoeman and Wessels Streets
27 August – 20 September 2009

Gallery hours:
Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10:00 to 17:00
For further information contact
association of arts pretoria 012 346 3100
or visit www.sasolsignatures.co.za
 Walter Battiss Supplement to The South African Art Times

Orgy 3, screenprint, 43,5 x 61cm, (Stephan Welz & Co. October Auction – Cape Town)

Reality is fantasy and fantasy is reality… Art is more real than everything around us because we crystallize it.

Walter Whall Battiss (junior) was
born into an English Methodist
family of Settler stock in Somerset
East in the Western Cape province
of South Africa on the 6th of January
1906. His siblings Alfred and
Doreen were born in 1907 and 1910
respectively. The young family lived
in the Battiss Temperance Hotel.
Walter Senior was an athletic man
and could not relate to his sensitive,
artistic son. The family moved to
Koffiefontein, an Afrikaans com-
munity, when Walter was 11 years
old. A friend of the family; William
Fowler took Battiss to see the rock
engravings of the ‘Bushman’ in the
veldt near Koffiefontein.
In 1919 the Battiss family relocated
to Fauresmith. The sense of isola-
tion he felt only increased when, due
to his intelligence and diligence, he
was pushed ahead by two standards
at school. He matriculated in 1923
at the age of 17 and found his first
employment at a bank in Fauresmith.
In 1924 he became a clerk in the
Magistrates Court in Rustenburg.
His formal art studies started in 1929
and he finally obtained his Bachelor’s
Degree in Fine Arts from the
University of South Africa in Pretoria
at the age of 35 in 1940.
Battiss married the noted art-educa-
tionalist Grace Anderson on the 12th
of March 1940. Anderson, an older
woman, born in the late 1800’s,
was intelligent and strong-minded,
a painter, potter and weaver. They
were both very dedicated to the pur-
suit of their own art and the couple
held two joint exhibitions in 1942
and 1945. They moved to ‘Giotto’s
Hill’ in Menlo Park Pretoria, it was a
large house filled with art materials
and layers of artworks and items col-
lected by both artists. They each had
their own bedroom, studios and
spaces. Not much is mentioned
about the nature of their marriage as
Grace was not the public persona that
Battiss was, they had one son – Giles.
Battiss travelled extensively through-
out his life. After Grace’s death in
1975 it is well documented that
Battiss visited ‘hippy’ communes in
both Greece and Santa Fê where he
participated in group orgies which
became a major theme of his work
during the late ‘70’s. He was not a
libertine; he did not drink alcohol and
did not engage in the orgies out of
lasciviousness, but as a means of
expanding his experience of himself,
other human beings and the world
around him. He would later reveal
that he had always felt that he was
an island to himself. It was perhaps
the early foundational relationship
with his father that perpetuated the
development of a public persona –
the artist-performer who became
the self-proclaimed King Ferd the III
of Fook Island.
Battiss’ persona was in stark con-
trast to the conservative Calvinistic
mindset of the country and govern-
ment. He was open minded and
free-thinking and above all believed
in and championed the cause
of freedom of expression. This
perspective was one which grew
throughout his life, as he had a keen
intellect and a constantly inquiring
mind. He retained a childlike curios-
ity throughout his life. Undoubtedly
his early encounters with indigenous
rock-art opened his perceptions
to alternative realities. As a public
figure he was warm, accessible
and a strong role model for his art
students and younger artists. He
remained energized and never lost
his enthusiasm – he was a rare
combination - balancing teaching
with prolific art production.

Father and son in the rocks, ca. 1949, oil on canvas,

60 x 76cm, Walter Battiss Art Gallery

This work caused a great amount of controversy both stylisti-

cally and for its subject matter – it was unlike any other form
Zebras in Grass, 1952, oil on canvas, 64 x 87cm, private collection
of painting being produced at that time in South Africa. In the
greater context of world art it was totally contemporary, while While once again the subject matter references Africa and San-style figures,
at the same time expressive of the influence of San rock art on the composition draws upon elements of Abstraction, it also interestingly is
People in love with trees, 1981, watercolour, 36 x 50,5cm, private collection
Battiss’ work. reminiscent of the fabric design of the Omega Workshops which had such an
Battiss and his wife Grace owned 2 black Scotty dogs named Lindy and Suzie. influence upon his wife Grace, who was a weaver and ceramicist.
 Artist’s Signature Style
Battiss’ style moved away from realism toward a hieratic, abstract, symbolist character as he
sought to create an art which reflected his South African heritage – which he felt included the
art of the Bushmen. He worked in oils and watercolours, woodblock and silk-screen prints.
He was able to compartmentalize what he was trying to explore or express by working in a
variety of art mediums. He printed his first serigraph / silk-screen in 1954. The appearance of
calligraphic forms, animal and human abstractions and the influence of Ndebele beadwork
began to emerge in Battiss’ work from 1955 as he sought to create a new visual language.
In July 1961 he visited the Middle East (Baghdad, Persia and Arabia), where he studied early
pre-Islamic calligraphy, as he was fascinated by the graphic, fluid, liquid forms which he saw as
GALLERY
being derived from nature. By 1962 Battiss began applying paint with the palette-knife, straight
from the palette – drawing it across the canvas and dragging out the colours in rainbow-like
arcs. He then drew into the paint in a sgraffito delineation of form.
His Orgy series from the mid to late 70’s feature complicated compositions, densely
populated with bodies that contort and co-mingle – presenting a further challenge to society’s
perceptions of acceptability of gender and sexual orientation. Battiss depicts these taboos with
an over-arching lightness and playfulness of spirit. He also created and participated in many
different forms of interventionist, performances or art happenings and installations
from the late ‘60’s till his death. They occurred either as dialogue between him and other
artists, or directly with the public with some of these forming part of the ‘Fook’ experience.
In these art ‘works’ Battiss showed himself to be completely current with the thinking and art
trends being explored by his international contemporaries, and way ahead of the art mindset in
South Africa.

Symbols of love, 1966, oil on canvas,
122 x 122cm, Pretoria Art Museum
Greek Island, watercolour, 33 x 47,5cm, Red Bull in kraal, oil on canvas, 50 x 40cm, Pretoria Art Museum
Pretoria Art Museum
Battiss continued to push his work through an accumulation of
symbiotic influences while working towards a style that would
be uniquely his own form of expression. Here the motif of horse,
bull and rider refer to the simplified schematic representations
found in San Rock art while stylistically and colouristically he has
drawn upon Expressionism and the works of artists such as Oskar
Kokoshka, Ernst Ludwig Kirschner with their thickly loaded appli-
cations of impasto paint, bold dramatic colours and dark outlines. Coco de Mer, Seychelles, 1973, screenprint and collage, 57 x 40cm,
Walter Battiss Art Gallery

In both the Liza Minelli and Coco de Mer prints Battiss references the
Pop Art work of Andy Warhol and Robert Rauschenberg, once again
proving how completely international and contemporary his work was.

Mantis, oil on canvas, 90 x 184cm UNISA collection

Symbols of love and Mantis form part of a series of work in which Battiss created vast patterned
compositions. Within the patterns we may see elements of San rock art, hieratic figures, and the
calligraphic mark making of early pre-Islamic cultures. It also references the work of Cy Twombly
and perhaps it might have even influenced the work of Keith Haring.

80 000 buck or more, 1967, oil on canvas, 91 x 101cm, private collection

Summer, 1959, oil on canvas, 40 x 35,5cm, private collection
Battiss had now completely come into his own artistically; he drew upon his
African heritage and international artistic acculturation. His work was com-
Battiss developed a technical device of mixing his paint on his pletely contemporary in terms of international art trends. He had begun to look
palette, then applying the unblended colour onto the canvas with upon graffiti as the true uncensored art of the people; this work predates in
the palette knife in thick rainbow-like swathes of colour. He then intention, form and content the work that was later produced by Jean Michel
drew with the back of his paintbrush into the wet paint, exposing Basquiat.
the underlying colour in a method referred to as sgraffito. His line
work is reminiscent of Picasso’s Minotaur series. The subject
Figures and Rocks, ca. 1940, oil on canvas, 61 x 76cm, Walter Battiss Art Gallery
matter mostly centered on the human form.
The subject matter of this painting may refer to the gatherings that were held outside
Rustenberg that Battiss was invited to as a young man of 19. Stylistically and thematically
although not colouristically, it references the work of Matisse’s painting’s ‘La Joie de Vivre’
(1905) and ‘Luxe, Calme et Volupte’ (1904).

Mantis Dance, undated, screenprint, 40 x 52 cm, Pretoria Art Museum

Battiss created anthropomorphic and metamorphic figures influenced by

African Rocks and figures, oil on canvas,
81 x 101cm, South African National Gallery
The Early Men, 1938, oil on paper
In this masterpiece we see that Battiss has drawn together all
Battiss knew when he painted this painting that he had finally connected with a form of expression the previous elements that he has played with and investigated
that he wanted to pursue – the distillation of detail and design to the essential elements, the human and begun to create an art that while it references all these influ-
form forming part of the harmony of the whole – he considered this to be his breakthrough work. ences, is now making a stylistic statement completely his own.
the figures found in San art that are believed to represent the San Medicine
men in a state of trance – halfway between this world and the next, halfway
between man and animal / insect, they may also be seen as symbolic repre-
sentations of the interconnectedness of all life forms – a precept certainly held
by the San-Bushmen. Battiss has created a bold and graphic statement that
may be read as both design, sign and symbol.

Lina, 1938, oil on canvas, private collection
This charming portrait is painted in a semi-impressionistic / expressionistic
style that at the time was being explored by the second generation Cape
Impressionists such as Gregoire Boonzaier. Not satisfied to merely work
of a more abstract, simplified symbolism. However he continued to paint
highly observed watercolour scenes.
Liza Minelli, screenprint and collage, 63 x 50cm,
Walter Battiss Art Gallery
Bird, tree, man, screenprint, 45 x 36cm, private collection
Alette Wessels
Kunskamer
Maroelana Centre,
27 Maroelana Street,
Maroelana, Pretoria
Analysis of the artist’s work / key stylistic influences
Battiss dedicated his life to the study and pursuit of his art. He gained his artIn April 1965 he visited the Hadhramaut, Southern Arabia and in December
degree over an extended period of study as time and finances allowed. In a visited Jordan. In 1966 Battiss visited Greece for the first time, it lit a spark of
turn around, Battiss supported his studies to become a teacher through the kinship and recognition in him and he was to keep returning to this country
sale of his own artwork. He sold his very first piece of work at the age of 16. which eventually lead to the creation of the ‘Fook’ Island concept. ‘Nesos’
He took any available time away from work to sketch and paint the surround- created in 1968 was a compilation of images from the various Greek Islands
ing landscapes in a painterly, realistic manner similar to that explored by the he had visited. He printed 25 editions of fifty four colour serigraphs, and hand
Cape Impressionists. Battiss received his art training entirely in South Africa bound each one, perhaps one can attribute the art-books Battiss compiled to
and in 1938 he was to travel to Europe for the first time. Here he was to find the early influence of his mother and her book binding commissions. Battiss
that much of what he had been searching for artistically was confirmed by seemed to come into a second fruition after his retirement at the end of
many other artists on the same journey towards a new form of expression. 1971. He is quoted as saying ‘Happiness belongs to youth but I’m finding
it as I grow older’. Towards the end of 1975, in collaboration with Norman
Despite his dedication to his teaching, his own artworks and intellectual Catherine – the first ‘Fook Island’ exhibition and ‘happening’ was staged.
pursuits, Battiss always made time to form, join or participate in Art Societies “’Fook’, as artist Norman Catherine explains, was Battiss’s “user-friendly and
and Art movements. In 1939 ‘The Amazing Bushman’, a study of the rock fun for everyone” idea for art, his reaction to the deeply serious conceptual
art of the San-Bushmen was published - the first of many publications as art he saw while on his numerous travels abroad. “Basically, Battiss invented
Battiss was not only a prolific visual artist but wrote effusively too – obser- Fook Island because he wanted everybody, children as well as people his
vations, poetry, free-form verse and essays. Battiss was also to ‘discover’ own age, to enjoy the freedom to create art, especially at a time in South
the rock art treasury at Zastron in the Free State in 1939. In 1944 an exhibi- Africa when there was serious censorship,” Battiss believed that one’s
tion of his copies of rock paintings was held in Johannesburg; this was of response to a work was more about one’s own taboos and perceptions than
great art historical importance in South Africa as it was the first presentation that which the artist is trying to communicate. In July of 1969 he visited
of this form of art from an aesthetic viewpoint. His copies were faithful repro- West Germany, on his return he went to his holiday home in Port Shepstone
ductions without any interpretation or manipulation, however it was through to rest, he suffered a severe heart attack and died on the 20th of August.
this close study of the work that he found the key he was looking for in his Battiss never stopped producing art – it was his life – he never ceased in
own painting. engaging with creativity.
Untitled, 1976, watercolour and white ink, They come – they go, gouache, 41 x 55cm
35 x 49,5cm, University of the Witwatersrand UNISA Gallery
Art Galleries Collection
This work forms part of both Battiss’ island and
orgy series.
Boy and bird, screenprint, 50 x 37cm, Pretoria Art Museum
Bird, tree, man and Boy and bird screenprints are reminiscent
of the paper cut-outs produced by Matisse towards the end of
his career. They share the same clarity of vision, lyrical content
and sinuous silhouette outlines, freshness of colour and light-
ness of spirit.
Silk Stockings, screenprint, Shepherd, screenprint,
45 x 36cm, (Stephan Welz & Co. 60 x 43cm, (Stephan Welz & Co.
October Auction – Cape Town) October Auction – Cape Town)
African women, 1960, oil on board, 31 x 41 cm,
private collection Barrow Hill, Ladybrand OFS, watercolour, 44 x 94cm, Pretoria Art Museum
During the mid ‘50’s to late ‘60’s Battiss created a series of A watercolour copy of a cave painting of the San Bushmen. This form of art was to revolutionize
compositions focusing on aspects of daily West African life, in Battiss’ approach to his own artwork, in response to studying it he abandoned perspective,
both subject matter and style, he was heavily influenced by the simplified the human form to that of a symbol and worked towards compositions that would
work of Maurice van Essche’s Congo series. become a patterned harmonious whole.
www.artwessels.co.za alette@artwessels.co.za
Tel (+27) 12 346 0728 gerrie@artwessels.co.za
Fax (+27) 12 346-0729 OPEN
Alette 082 652 6663 Mon to Fri 09h00 - 16h00
Gerrie 084 589 0711 Saturday 09h00 - 13h00
 Artists that influenced
Walter Battiss
Larry Scully (1922 - 2002) Hole in the Wall, 1962,
oil on board, 45 x 60cm, private collection
UNISA staff November 1971 from left to right: Frieda Harmsen, Leonike Drake,
Zakkie Eloff (1925 - 2004) The Hunter, 1955,
oil on board, 39,5 x 49,5, private collection
Early life
Battiss showed an interest and precocious aptitude for art from a young
age, he would often entertain guests at the hotel by drawing pictures for
them. His mother recalled that when she tried to teach him the alphabet,
showing him an apple for ‘A’, etc. he then drew the candle for ‘C’ rather
than the letter. She was very supportive of this interest and kept his early
artworks which she bound as a book. She was trained by the publishing
house of Zaëndorffs, London, in book binding and was later commissioned
to bind the family photos of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His formal
art studies started in 1929 at the Witwatersrand Technical College (drawing
and painting), followed by the Johannesburg Training College (a Teacher’s
Diploma) where he received etching lessons from Emily Fern. Battiss con-
tinued his studies while working as a magistrate’s clerk, and finally obtained
his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at the University of South Africa at the
age of 35. He was then appointed Art Master at Pretoria Boys’ High School
in 1936, a post that gave him a certain amount of freedom and space to
be able to continue to pursue his artistic and intellectual intentions without
ever having to compromise on his artistic ethics for the sake of sales and
money. He was a dedicated teacher and never lost his enthusiasm to impart
knowledge and a love of art to his pupils. He had a profound effect on his
students, inspiring many to take up art as a career while opening the minds
of others to art, culture and life in a manner that was new, unconventional
and liberating. It was at this time that he began to seriously pursue his
study of rock art.
Artistic breakthrough
The Early Men – his stylistic breakthrough, combined abstraction, the
elimination of perspective and the reduction of human and natural forms to
stylized symbols reminiscent of the Rock Art he had been studying. In 1933
another turning point for his artistic career occurred when he visited the Le
Roux farm Molopodraai, in the Orange Free State; where he saw cave/rock
paintings for the first time.
After his first visit to Europe in 1938 and following many discussions with
close friend and former fellow art student Terence Mac Caw, they decided
the time was right to form an art group that represented artists interested
in creating a new art, pertinent to and for South Africa. This was formed in
1938 and called the New Group; the movement continued to 1949 and was
to have a profound and lasting impact on the art of South Africa.
Middle Career
‘Homecoming’ a book with a set of 10 drawings, was published in 1945.
Battiss became the editor of a new magazine, ‘Aurora’ he also wrote
numerous articles for newspapers and magazines throughout his life. He
visited the Namib Desert where he spent time living amongst and hunt-
ing with the Bushmen. In April 1949 Battiss visited Paris where he met
Picasso, beginning a life-long correspondence. He gave Picasso a copy
of ‘The Artists of the Rocks’, whereupon Picasso asked him if he thought
he (Picasso) was as good an artist – Battiss’s response is unfortunately
not recorded. ‘Fragments of Africa’, a collection of prints was published
in 1951. Over the course of 1952 to ’53 he delivered three lectures on
South African art at the University of London. From 1954 Battiss began to
experiment with various forms of printmaking and printed his first serigraph.
The appearance of calligraphic forms, animal and human abstractions and
the influence of Ndebele beadwork began to emerge in Battiss’ work
around 1955 as he sought to create a new visual language. In 1959 he was
commissioned to paint murals for the Transvaal Provincial Administration
Building in Pretoria. In July of that year he was appointed to the position of
Chair of Fine Arts, Rhodes University, but this was not a good fit – Battiss
became frustrated with the small town provincialism of the Institution and
resigned after 6 months, returning once again to Pretoria Boys. Battiss was
appointed Professor in the Department of History of Art and Fine Arts at
Clinton Harrop-Allin, Hillary Graham, Karin Skawran.
the University of South Africa (UNISA), Pretoria in 1964. In 1970 Battiss
founded the African Council for Art with Cecil Skotnes. He retired from
Unisa at the end of 1971.
End
He was awarded a Bronze Medal and Diploma at the 14th International
Art Olympiad Competition / Exhibition held by the Victoria and Albert
Museum in London, 1948. In 1956 he was awarded a Pro Arte Medal by
the University of Pretoria. On the 25th of May 1960 he was elected Fellow
of International Institute of Arts and Letters. He was awarded the Medal
of Honour for Painting in 1964 from the SA Akedemie vir Wetenskap en
Kuns. In March 1965 he was elected honorary member of the Academy
of Florence by the College of Professors. In November 1969 the National
Film Board made a film featuring four South African artists which included
Battiss. A special issue of ‘De Arte’ was published in his honour and
presented to Battiss on the 15th of October 1971 to commemorate his
contribution to the magazine and his retirement from UNISA. Battiss was
conferred the degree of Hon D. Litt et Phil (honoris causa) from UNISA in
May 1973.
A Year in the life of the Artist
1938 Battiss visited Europe for the first time, visiting the areas where van
Gogh lived and worked in France. He was also to meet Abbé Henri Breuil,
an archaeologist who shared his passion for rock art. On his return to South
Africa he, Mac Caw and Boonzaaier formed the New Group. Unlike many
of the other members, Battiss had received his art training entirely in South
Africa, and as previously mentioned he had not yet travelled to Europe to
see or be exposed to European art trends before. But this was all to change
and this visit marked the beginning of Battiss’ wanderlust and his thirst
to see and experience all that he could in terms of art, life and culture.
In Europe, Battiss was to find that much of what he had been searching
for artistically was confirmed by many other artists on the same journey
towards a new form of expression. He painted The Early Men - in this paint-
ing we may see the influence of Henri Matisse – in both the treatment of
the figures and the background. Matisse explored such extreme treatments
in his Pink Nude series. Battiss has eradicated all identifying facial features,
the bodies forming symbols that like the San Rock art may be read as man
or the human figure. The ground upon which they sit or lie has become a
colour field of intersecting planes of colour – all perspective is eliminated.
Battiss was to take this to its extreme conclusion in his ‘70’s silk-screen
prints with the use of planographic flat colour, and cut-out silhouette forms
of figures and animals.
1938 in the World
• New England Hurricane of 1938 (or Great New England Hurricane or
Long Island Express) 40 foot waves destroyed homes leaving 60 000
Battiss and Fook alphabet
Walter Battiss painting a view near the town of Seymour, Eastern
Cape, 15th November 1980
homeless and 700 dead.
• Black Sunday at Bondi Beach Sydney as freak waves dragged 300
swimmers out to sea – lifesavers managed to save all but 5.
• Floods and Landslides in Los Angeles caused 200 deaths.
• The First use of seeing-eye dogs occurred.
• German troops entered Austria March 19 – Adolf Hitler tries to
Anschluss Austria, this was a primary cause of WWII. 1938 was a
pivotal and volatile year as Hitler geared up to take Poland, Austria and
Czechoslovakia by force.
• Germany began its persecution of Jews.
• Seabiscuit and War Admiral competed in their long awaited race to
decide the best horse - Seabiscuit beat War Admiral.
• Action Comics issued the first Superman comic.
• Adolf Hitler is Time magazine’s “Man of the Year” (as most influential
during the course of the year, not as ‘best’ man of the year)
• Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
• Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia.
• Ball Point Pens are introduced by Hungarian Laszlo Biró – hence the
pen also being named a biro (UK).
• The first photocopier was created and released in the USA by Chester
Carlston.
• Nescafe introduced Freeze Dried Coffee.
• The first ever issue of The Beano is published.
• October 30 – Orson Welles’s radio adaptation of The War of the
Worlds is broadcast, causing panic in various parts of the eastern
United States.
1938 in South Africa
• 1 July - The South African Press Association is established with
offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Bloemfontein and in
Parliament (Pretoria).
• 16 December - Cornerstone of the Voortrekker Monument laid.
• December 23 – A coelacanth, a fish thought to have been extinct, is
caught off the coast of South Africa near Chalumna River, near East
London and is identified by Marjorie Courtney Latimer.
• The 1938 South African general election was held for the 152 seats in
the parliament of the Union of South Africa. The United Party won an
absolute majority.
• Paranthropus robustus was originally discovered in Southern Africa in
1938.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Berman, E. (1975) The Story of South African Painting, Cape Town: A.A. Balkema.
Berman, E. (1983) Art & Artists of South Africa - An illustrated biographical dictionary and
historical survey of painters, sculptors & graphic artists since 1875, Cape Town: A.A.
Balkema.
Carman, G. & Isaac, S. (Eds.) Walter Battiss: Gentle Anarchist, A Retrospective Exhibition
of the works of Walter Whall Battiss (1906 – 1982) Standard Bank Gallery 2005.
Schoonraad, M. (1976). Walter Battiss; South African Art Library Series. Cape Town: Struik.
Double Portrait of Battiss
Written and researched by Cate Wood Hunter
DECADE
HIGHLIGHTS
from 10 Years of Collecting
for the Sanlam Art Collection

Knysna Fine Art 20 August – 1 September 2009

8 Grey Street Monday – Friday 09:00 – 17:00
Knysna Saturday 08:00 – 13:00
Tel: 044 382 5107

For more information call the

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Tel: 021 947 3359 / 083 457 2699 BROUGHT TO YOU BY
www.sanlam.co.za
South African Art Times August 2009 13

S A Ar t Times Co n tempo ra ry Arti s t’ s P ro fi l e

MBONGENI BUTHELEZI Long awaited

Staff Writer room in Soweto and study art at the Limited edition books
FUNDA centre. Much like his art,
2009 has been a frenetic year for
Buthelezi says, “I built my life up out of
of nothing.”
Mbongeni Buthelezi. The Johan-
nesburg-based artist’s first national Buthelezi’s first big break came Gabriel De Jongh
touring exhibition opened in May, when the Plastic Federation of
at the Pretoria Art Museum, and South Africa bought up his entire finally available
July saw him jetting off to Germany, stock of work, from his room. Then,
where he had been invited to the in 1998, Buthelezi was the artist
Kunst:Raum Sylt-Quelle Foundation in residence at the National Arts
to stay in the foundation’s centre and Festival in Grahamstown, and since
complete a commission. then the offers have been pouring in,
Buthelezi exhibiting in Germany, the
Johannesburg audiences may
UK and the US.
remember Buthelezi’s striking
canvasses from the Joburg Art Fair These days, with the artist’s small-
in April. Star of Dr Ralf-P Seippel’s scale works selling in the region of
booth, Buthelezi was feted as having R 17 000, Buthelezi lives in a double-
developed an entirely new method storey house in Krugersdorp, a far
of painting. cry from the one-room he rented in
Soweto in his student days. He is
Yet from a distance, one might
committed to giving back, however,
mistake Buthelezi’s large-scale works
by conducting recycling workshops,
for oil paintings. Rendered in mono-
getting children involved in collecting
chromes, sepia tones or in full colour,
materials for him and teaching.
the images of township life, human
forms and landscapes certainly Buthelezi’s travelling show, ‘Imizwa
resemble expressionist paintings. Yami’, which translates as ‘My
feelings’ is showing at the Pretoria
These are no ordinary paintings, how-
Art Museum, until 16th August.
ever, and a closer look betrays them.
From there, it will travel to the Sasol
‘Plastic on canvas’ or ‘Plastic on plas-
Museum in Stellenbosch, the Red
tic’, read the labels, and indeed, it is
Location Museum in Port Elizabeth
rubbish which is Buthelezi’s medium
and Oliewenhuis Museum in
of choice. Collecting plastic carrier
Bloemfontein, and continue travelling
bags and packaging from super- Asked by writer Mmutle Kgokong who had accessibility to traditional art until 2011.
markets, restaurants and recycle how he developed the unusual and making materials such as oil paints, I
bins, Buthelezi melts an average of rather smelly technique, Buthelezi would not have discovered the art of Read and see more work at:
5000 plastic bags onto each of his said that his humble beginnings plastic painting.” www.seippel-gallery.com
canvases using a heat gun. Initially certainly aided the discovery. “Lack
And Buthelezi has certainly had to Or see his work at: Seippel Gallery,
work ing with matches and cigarette of materials was a motivating factor,” Arts on Main, Johannesburg, Sunday To order: phone
lighters, Buthelezi eventually dis- says the artist, who began experi- struggle to reach where he is today.
covered that the heat gun, usually menting with discarded plastic when In June, he told Rapport, how, as 25. July 2009 Office 011 783 5080
used to strip rather than apply paint, he could no longer afford the water- a young man passionate about art, John Contat 083 2666 188
was the perfect instrument for his colours he had been trained to use at he left home with just two blankets Photos by Helenus Kruger
craft. FUNDA. “If I was a privileged artist and a sack of clothing, to live in a Artwork courtesy Seippel Gallery or P-J 082 4506 598
Cost: R600-00, incl. vat & postage
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Durban Open Mondays to Saturdays Errol Boyley books
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Artwork illustrated from PAST/PRESENT

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a world class African city 011 886-0502/0774

Maggie (Maria Magdalena) Laubser, South African 1886–1973 Maggie (Maria Magdalena) Laubser South African 1886–1973
Composition with Head, Foliage and Huts, 1956 Fishing Boats
signed; signed and dated 1956, Strand on the reverse signed
oil on board oil on board
45 by 40 cm 51 by 40,5 cm
R700,000-R900,000 R500,000-R700,000

JOHANNESBURG
Important South African Paintings,
Watercolours and Sculpture

Monday, 7 September 2009

Enquiries: 011 728 8246

Vanessa Phillips Ann Palmer Stephan Welz Mary-Jane Darroll Bina Genovese

Tel: +27 11 728 8246 Fax: +27 11 728 8247 jhb@straussart.co.za www.straussart.co.za
89 Central Street, Houghton, Gauteng, 2198 P O Box 851, Houghton, Gauteng, 2041
Tel: 087 806 8780 or 078 044 8185 Fax: 021 683 6085 ct@straussart.co.za
First Floor Colinton House, The Oval, 1 Oakdale Road, Newlands, 7700
Postnet Suite 200, Private Bag X26, Tokai 7966