Praise for SA's Van Gogh
2005-04-25 11:05
Cape Town - It is impossible to name all the achievements of this son of our land who was known as South Africa's own Van Gogh."
This was the reaction of Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool to news of the death of world-renowned artist Gregoire Boonzaier, 95, on Friday night.
The Western Cape government last year honoured Boonzaier, who lived in Onrus, with a Disa Award.
In a tribute on Sunday, Rasool described the artist as someone "who dedicated himself and his work to humanity".
"Even in the darkest hours of apartheid, he - as a white Afrikaner - constantly reminded the privileged about the consequences of discrimination and gave recognition to those who were denied opportunities.
"We lost an architect of our freedom who caught the promise of this freedom in oils and lithographs before it even became a reality. In this way, he, as Afrikaner, helped to provide a vision of the nation we share in today."
Rasool said Boonzaier's portrayal of life "in the lost District Six" became an established South African and Cape art form.
'Incredibly strict, but excellent'
He praised Boonzaier for the generous support he gave to young artists from various backgrounds.
Professor Muller Ballot, art historian and former director of the University of Stellenbosch's Sasol art museum, said Boonzaier's contribution was important on two levels.
He was one of the artists who helped from the 1930s to the 1950s "to introduce and promote the modern (art) form to the South African public".
Secondly, he travelled through rural areas with his art until the late 1960s and in this way "advanced art in rural areas by bringing it to ordinary people".
Doctor Conrad Theys, Boonzaier's only art pupil, said the loss of his "incredibly strict, but excellent teacher" was very traumatic.
Theys described Boonzaier as a "perfectionist, very precise - with him, something was either right or wrong, there were no grey areas".
Boonzaier's modesty and love for his fellow human beings, particularly those less fortunate than him, was another outstanding characteristic.
Boonzaier's son, Anton, said he believes that "everyone who knows the name Gregoire would know that a huge South African character has left us".
Boonzaier Jun said his father, who held his first exhibition when he was only 14 years old, wished to "die in his own bed" and this wish was realised. "He simply died of old age."
Boonzaier leaves his sons, Anton and Emile, and six grandchildren.