About this item
Artwork Title
Poerbasledam Yard
Artist
Art Form
Painting
Art Medium
Enamel; Board
Description
Enamel on board
Artwork Measurement (cm)
121 x 142
Date
2006
Label Information
The painting depicts the Poerbasledam farmyard, situated on the road between the Western Cape villages of Mamre and Darling. It dates to the 1830s and was used as a shop and small hotel. Additional barns and outbuildings were added in the 1940s. The original name was Commercialdale and it belonged to a member of the Duckitt family. The property is mentioned briefly in The Old Houses of the Cape by Dr Mary Cook and Hans Fransen (1965) and the revised edition by Fransen (2005).
The artist acquired the property in 2003 and renovated the building in 2003/4 with restoraton of the thatched roof replacing the original leg of mutton front gable and wolf ends. It is now used as a studio.
The new name of the farm is an early 18th century Afrikaans rendition of the French expression "pour passer le temps", meaning in the local context, a small household task, something like the never ending darning of socks.
The painting takes its perspective inspiration from Italian Renaissance paintings showing a magical "bird's-eye-view". The artist has previously painted similar oblique views of Pretoria (1980s) and his house and garden in Darling (1990s).
An elevated geographical view seems to present the additional aspect of an imaginary map and the artist also casts a sidelong glance at Impressionist works done from the tops of Parisian buildings looking downwards (probably influenced in their turn by photographic possibilities in terms of different perspectives). In a similar way he deals with the notion of transitory states of existence; a specific reference to the parallel South African realities; on one hand the political changes from Cape Dutch to Cape Colonial, and "Old" to "New" (post 1994) South Africa; and on the other with reference to the artist's own life experience; the differences between the life of a younger as opposed ot an older artist.
The painting style and technique is loosely Impressionistic but without the psuedo scientific approach to colour. The brighter enamel paint and colour choices are probably more Post Impressionist, in a deliberate and personalised anachronism (also typical of the artist's other works) and the use of black and white certainly pushes it into the Expressionist and "naïve" categories as well. For this artist there is a delightful anachronistic pleasure in being able to record the present through methods and techniques of the past.
Poerbasledam Yard is a night view and is representative of the theme of the exhibition (at UCT Irma Stern Museum, held in 2006); namely a retrospective and revisiting of pictorial subject matter The artist's first exhibition in 1976. The night views cast the new paintings in a rather romantic light, proposing a truce between the depiciton of visual "truth" and "thrashing about in the dark"; that more problematic and ominous aspect of self referencing and the ambivalence of reminiscence. The work pinpoints an autobiographic and personal artistic moment in the South African present, with specific visual reference to the artist's and the country's artistic and historical past. This night view of the artist's farm house and studio, situated in the
Darling district of the Cape, formed part of an exhibition, titled “30 New
Paintings,” held at the Irma Stern Museum in June 2006 to celebrate three
decades of art production. The property was acquired in 2003 and
renovated the following year. The name is an early Afrikaans rendition of
the French expression meaning “a small household
task”.
The nocturnal scene provides an opportunity for self reflection and visual
“truth” juxtaposed with an awareness of the transitory state of existence.
Maritz says “the work pinpoints a moment in the South African present
with specific reference tomy and the country's artistic and historical past”,
heightened by the use of perspective seen from a bird's eye view and
technique of painting in bright enamel colours.
He studied at the Michaelis School of Art and graduated with a BA Fine Art
in 1981.
The artist acquired the property in 2003 and renovated the building in 2003/4 with restoraton of the thatched roof replacing the original leg of mutton front gable and wolf ends. It is now used as a studio.
The new name of the farm is an early 18th century Afrikaans rendition of the French expression "pour passer le temps", meaning in the local context, a small household task, something like the never ending darning of socks.
The painting takes its perspective inspiration from Italian Renaissance paintings showing a magical "bird's-eye-view". The artist has previously painted similar oblique views of Pretoria (1980s) and his house and garden in Darling (1990s).
An elevated geographical view seems to present the additional aspect of an imaginary map and the artist also casts a sidelong glance at Impressionist works done from the tops of Parisian buildings looking downwards (probably influenced in their turn by photographic possibilities in terms of different perspectives). In a similar way he deals with the notion of transitory states of existence; a specific reference to the parallel South African realities; on one hand the political changes from Cape Dutch to Cape Colonial, and "Old" to "New" (post 1994) South Africa; and on the other with reference to the artist's own life experience; the differences between the life of a younger as opposed ot an older artist.
The painting style and technique is loosely Impressionistic but without the psuedo scientific approach to colour. The brighter enamel paint and colour choices are probably more Post Impressionist, in a deliberate and personalised anachronism (also typical of the artist's other works) and the use of black and white certainly pushes it into the Expressionist and "naïve" categories as well. For this artist there is a delightful anachronistic pleasure in being able to record the present through methods and techniques of the past.
Poerbasledam Yard is a night view and is representative of the theme of the exhibition (at UCT Irma Stern Museum, held in 2006); namely a retrospective and revisiting of pictorial subject matter The artist's first exhibition in 1976. The night views cast the new paintings in a rather romantic light, proposing a truce between the depiciton of visual "truth" and "thrashing about in the dark"; that more problematic and ominous aspect of self referencing and the ambivalence of reminiscence. The work pinpoints an autobiographic and personal artistic moment in the South African present, with specific visual reference to the artist's and the country's artistic and historical past. This night view of the artist's farm house and studio, situated in the
Darling district of the Cape, formed part of an exhibition, titled “30 New
Paintings,” held at the Irma Stern Museum in June 2006 to celebrate three
decades of art production. The property was acquired in 2003 and
renovated the following year. The name is an early Afrikaans rendition of
the French expression meaning “a small household
task”.
The nocturnal scene provides an opportunity for self reflection and visual
“truth” juxtaposed with an awareness of the transitory state of existence.
Maritz says “the work pinpoints a moment in the South African present
with specific reference tomy and the country's artistic and historical past”,
heightened by the use of perspective seen from a bird's eye view and
technique of painting in bright enamel colours.
He studied at the Michaelis School of Art and graduated with a BA Fine Art
in 1981.
Acquisition Type
Purchased
Building
Date Acquired
2006
Provenance Notes
Purchase following exhibition at Irma Stern Museum to celebrate 30 years of solo shows.
Rights Holder
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Please contact us if you are the owner of the image rights so that we add the correct credit or if the database record reflects incorrect information.
