Recently I came across fabulous local South African artist Hannetjie De Clercq. She lives and works in the quiet and peace of Riebeek-Kasteel, a rural town in the Western Cape of South Africa just 85 kilometres (53 miles) north-east of Cape Town. Take the N7 highway to get there.
Hannetjie De Clercq finds herself in the company of renowned South African Artists such as Walter Battis, Gregiore Boonzaier, Frans Claerhout, Robert Hodgins, Gordon Vorster and Louis Jansen van Vuuren, all of whom are featured along with Hannetjie de Clercq in the distinguished Sasol Art Collection.
“She feels that an over explanation of her work would render it impotent and therefore does not title her work. For her, the beauty of art is in the interaction of the viewers with their subjective personal view with a specific painting, to find meaning in the imagery.”
— Hannetjie de Clercq website
The artist has a unique style, strongly sensual and inspired by middle-age frescoes and icons. The preferred medium is mainly tempera and also oils and watercolours on canvas and board. As you can see from the excerpt above, all her work is untitled (Flickr slideshow).
Her paintings are found in corporate and private collections in many cities of the world, including Amsterdam, London, New York, and Paris.
Purper en Kaneel Komyn en Smarag — Author: Riana Scheepers
Format: 205 x 260 mm, Hardcover
ISBN: 978 0 7993 5648 9
Price: R300.00 ($34.56)
“When I paint, my soul seeks out the romanticism of Middle Age iconography – the mystical colours, the nostalgic hankering after the mysteries of the past, the elusive mysticism of women . .”
Sources: Hannetjie de Clercq; South African Artists Online for items #1, #3, #4, #6, #7, #8 and #9; Walker Bay Art Gallery for items #2, #5, #11 and #12; Welkom Art for items #10 and #13.
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