THE SOUTH AFRICAN
ART TIMES
March 2010
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Dept. of Art & Culture’s R150m soccer art flop
With four months to go until the 2010 World Cup kicks off, hopes for an arts and culture programme to accompany the event are waning, with millions promised by the Department of Arts and Culture yet to materi-
Patrick Burnett
Members of the art community
are questioning why R150-million
for soccer-related projects has not
already been disbursed or, if there
wasn’t money in the first place, why
it was promised. Nearly 160 applica-
tions - to run projects that included
festivals, exhibitions, public art and
displays of new works - were made
for the funding.
Meanwhile, there is speculation that
the money is being held up because
of reports that a forensic audit of
world cup funding is taking place
at the department. But the DAC
has denied that R150-million was
promised in 2010 in the first place.
Instead, the amount was to have
been disbursed over three years,
with R75-million slated for 2009/10,
following on amounts of R20-million
in 2007/2008 and R54-million in
2008/2009. DAC spokesperson Lisa
Combrinck said: “I don’t know why
people think this is an art bank.”
She refused to provide details on
the forensic audit, saying it was sub
judice, but did state: “The perceived
delay in issuing funds to 2010 World
Cup related projects has nothing to
do with the forensic audit.”
She said due process was being
followed in terms of DAC’s funding
procedures and announcements
would be made as soon as the proc-
ess was finalized. In 2009, Minister
Lulu Xingwane, noting that the world
cup presented a “rare opportunity
for us to showcase our rich cultural
heritage through our craft, music and
dance” established a 2010 task team
which was responsible for evaluating
the proposals.
The task team was disbanded at the
end of January and one task team
member contacted by SA Art Times
said the amount of money available
had never been communicated. “I
don’t know about the R150-million.”
Meanwhile, another member of the
task team, National Arts Council
CEO Annabell Lebethe, said
recommendations had been made
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to Xingwane, but the task team had
not been responsible for apportion-
ing funds.
She said the focus in selecting
between 50 and 100 projects had
been on less marginalized com-
munities and the promotion of artistic
excellence. Those who submitted
proposals fear that time is running
out. Market Theatre artistic director
Malcolm Purkey said the lack of
clarity made it difficult to plan.
He said the end of February would
be the cut-off time for receiving
funding to put together their pro-
posed programme, which involved
showcasing 10 classic South African
plays at the National Arts Festival in
Grahamstown. “If it comes there will
be a scramble and a panic,” he said.
Sibikwe Art Centre artistic director
Phyllis Klotz said a proposal had
been submitted that would involve
a partnership with Mozambique for
dancers at national parks during
the event, but they had not heard
anything. “I have been in the NGO
business for 40 years and it is
getting progressively worse. One is
just at a stage where one can’t even
engage.” She said the centre could
still do the project but would “need to
know pretty soon”.
Purkey said it would be “very sad” if
there was no formal arts and culture
programme. “We have a chance to
showcase our arts and culture at the
world cup. Where is the money?”
Lebethe agreed that funding would
have to be made available by the
end of February. “If you are working
backwards [from kick-off], if it doesn’t
happen by the end of February then
Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi’s painting House of light, Oil on canvas. See Ndikhumbule’s profile on page 13
there isn’t time.”
SA Art expression under political siege again?
“Personally, we don’t know what
soccer fans want to see…but we
don’t want to miss out on the oppor-
“Botha’s team was told to cease construction several weeks ago
tunity. It provides the opportunity to after a man in a black SUV stopped on the freeway, where the
showcase.” Combrinck said the DAC sculptures were being built from stone and steel gabions, and
2010 project office was processing ordered that the work be halted – apparently because the
these project applications. elephants are a symbol of the IFP and Durban is an ANC city. That
“We will soon announce those that man was identified by the workers as John Mchunu, regional chair-
have been successful. There is suf- person of the ANC, although Mchunu has reportedly denied this.”
ficient time for work to be done by
those who will receive funds.” Read Peter Machen’s article on page 3
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South African Art Times March 2010 Page 3

Botha’s elephants’ fate still undecided

By Peter Machen
The fate of the elephants construct-
ed by sculptor Andries Botha and
his team of workers on a freeway
island in Durban remains unknown
at the time of writing, although
clouded with rumour. It has now
been widely reported that Botha’s
team was told to cease construction
several weeks ago after a man in a
black SUV stopped on the freeway,
where the sculptures were being
built from stone and steel gabions,
and ordered that the work be halted
– apparently because the elephants
are a symbol of the IFP and Durban
is an ANC city.
That man was identified by the
workers as John Mchunu, regional
chairperson of the ANC, although
Mchunu has reportedly denied this.
As yet, there has been no formal
response from the City or the ANC,
other than the suggestion that the
elephants were not properly ratified
by City Council. When contacted
for this story, City Manager Michael
Sutcliffe said “We really have noth-
ing to say at this stage”. However,
in an informal conversation with
Durban businessman John Charter,
who is a supporter of Botha’s Hu-
man Elephant Foundation, Sutcliffe
reportedly said, “We’re going to
take them down immediately. It’s
not your fault. It’s just not politically
expedient. Don’t talk about it”. It
seems, however, that Sutcliffe is
caught up in a political web that is
not of the City’s making.
Botha has already been paid a
half-payment of R750 000 for the
elephants and expects the city to
pay up the other half (through Rum-
del Cape, the contracting company
assigned to the Warwick Avenue
redevelopment, of which the
sculptures form a part), regardless
of whether they be allowed to stay
in their current location. Rumours
abound as to the elephants’ fate.
Some have suggested that the
three elephants, which Botha
designed so that they seem to be
emerging from the earth, might be
joined by additional elephants or
other members of the so-called
big five. Botha points out that the
elephant is probably the strongest
symbol of Africa and that it is intri-
cately woven into local history and
culture. For starters, the elephant
is also the symbol of the Msunduzi
Municipality in Pietermaritzburg and
appears on the twenty rand note.
While the debacle has gathered a
smattering of national press, includ-
ing a column by Ben Trovato in the
Sunday Times, it’s gone viral on the
web, where it’s been discussed on
blogs and webforums and even
pitched up in the form of a ‘Save
the Elephants’ Facebook page.
In a narrative that is awash with
irony, the most ironic element of
the story is that Botha erected the
elephants on roughly the same
spot where the last free-roaming
elephant in Durban was purportedly
shot. Now there is the strong possi-
bility that these elephant simulacra
will also be destroyed or at least
removed from the public realm.
What is certain is that the breadth
of meaning of the elephant as
a symbol vastly outweighs any
political association with the IFP.
The city – or national government,
apparently the issue was to be dis-
cussed at a national ANC caucus
– now has two choices: to get rid
of the elephants or allow them to
stay. Either way, there will be egg
on their faces. But the egg will be
minimised if they back down. (A
third option would be to move the
elephant to somewhere less public,
which would incur considerable
expense and more egg).
There’s one more aspect to the
story which has received very
little attention. This is not the first
time that the city has comissioned
public artworks from Andries Botha
which have yet to make their
way into the public space for one
reason or another. The artist has
previously been comissioned by the
city to produce a series of struggle
statues, including likenesses of
John Dube, Nelson Mandela and
Dorothy Nyembe, which were to be
installed in the historically important
area of Ohlanga. Additionally, the
city also comissioned a sculpture of
Isaiah Shembe from Botha several
years ago. The struggle heroes are
still sitting in the city’s architecture
department while the sculpture of
Shembe has not been installed
because of factional rivalry in the
Shembe community and also be-
cause to do so would apparently be
idolatrous to those of the Shembe
faith. It seems that public art in
eThekwini is bedevilled with difficul-
ties, all the more so if your name
happens to be Andries Botha.
Photo’s page 1 and 3: Peter Machen,
on location with artist Andries Botha.

is privileged to offer for sale

previously unreleased works
together with the last works by the late
PIETER VAN DER WESTHUIZEN

This exhibition will be held All exhibition works All enquiries

from 10am Sunday can be viewed please phone
28 February till
5pm Saturday 20 March
and purchased from 021 671 6601
at 6pm on Friday 26 February or
CARMEL ART at
Leonard Schneider
66 Vineyard Rd
Claremont, Cape Town
www.carmelart.co.za 083 252 8876

“Pieter van der Westhuizen provided discerning art lovers throughout the world with many amazing and vibrant works during his lifetime. I can
truly say however that this selection of paintings is amongst his nest ever and will delight and surprise his large band of admirers for their quality,
variety and uniqueness. Anyone who is considering acquiring one of these exceptional works as an investment or just for the pure joy that all his
work brings should seriously consider availing themselves of this nal opportunity to do so.”
Leonard Schneider – Pieter’s agent

A documentary on the life and work of Carmel Art is also pleased to announce
Pieter van der Westhuizen that they will be relocating
has been completed. their Claremont gallery to the
Cape Quarter
View the trailer at www.chickenscany.co.za 27 Somerset Road
Green Point
Screenings will be announced on from 1 April 2010
this website in due course phone 021 421 3333
 Page 4
SA_Art Times JANUARIE_10.indd 1
Rendezvous focus original lithography 2009/ 2011
The Rendezvous art project in partnership with French master Lithograph Elisabeth Pons is bringing a body
of lithographical works from extensive Pons’s collection (Paris, France) to South Africa.
The collection- including Pablo
Picasso, Pierre Soulages, Yves
Klein, Hans Hartung, Wassily Kan-
dinsky, or Ossip Zadkine- will be
on show for the first time in South
Africa and will be entrance free.
This extraordinary Premiére will
also include works by outstanding
contemporary South African and
French artists: William Kentridge,
Judith Mason, Diane Victor,
Jacques Villeglé, Paul Klasen,
Jéremy Chabaud, Pontso Sikho-
sana, Philemon Hlungwani.
Elisabeth Pons’ father, renowned
master lithographer and artist Jean
Pons, established the original col-
lection in 1937.
The artists presented in the col-
lection all collaborated with Jean
or Elisabeth Pons in their studio.
Amongst them, renowned South
African artist Bettie Cilliers-
Barnard.
More then 100 South African and
French artists who have produced
lithographical works will be ex-
ceptionally regrouped together on
South African tour.
Exhibition dates and venues:
8th of October to 4th of November
2009: Main Gallery and Botanni-
cal Garden Gallery of The North
West University with exceptional
presence of master lithographer
Elisabeth PONS
2010/01/25 11th November to 4th December
09:55:18 AM
South African Art Times March 2010
2009: The Gallery of the Centuary
Complex (Eeufees Kompleks) of
The University of the Free State
20th of January to the 24th of Feb-
ruary 2010: The Sasol Art Museum
of The University of Stellenbosch
3rd of April to 11th of April 2010:
KKNK art Festival- Oudtshoorn
14th of April to 28th of May 2010:
Main Gallery of The University of
Johannesburg (UJ)
Furthermore, 6 promising South
African artists will receive the
opportunity to take part in a
workshop at master lithographer
Elisabeth Pons’ studio of Lithog-
raphy in Paris. These artists will
be announced at a ceremony on
11th of February 2010 at the Hyatt
Regency in Johannesburg.
The exhibition is proudly supported
by Air Liquide- pty, The French
Institute of South Africa (IFAS),
Business and Arts South Africa
( BASA), Natixis bank, Squidart,
The Art Room, The Hyatt Regency
Johannesburg.
In collaboration with Mark
Attwood’s Artist Press Studio, near
White River, The Artist Proof Stu-
dio in Johannesburg at, Elisabeth
Pons Studio, this French- South
Above: Litho by Hanneke Benade, printed at the Artist’s Press Studio.
African was made possible.
Top: The Sasol Art Museum of The University of Stellenbosch
For any enquiries or information,
contact: pboulitreau@hotmail.com
South African Art Times March 2010 Page 5

Paul Emsley releases the likeness of Madiba from the paper with time, skill and charcoal.
Emsley was recently commissioned by the British National Portrait Gallery in London to paint the knighted author - Sir V. S. Naipaul.

Award winning Paul Emsley to be at the JAF 2010

Staff writer
In recent years, Paul Emsley’s
career has reached new heights
both locally and internationally. He
does not consider himself a por-
traitist, and throughout his career
has preferred not to limit himself
with one genre. It is, however, in
the field of portraiture that he has
enjoyed noteworthy successes
that warrant attention. In 2007 he
won first prize in
the prestigious BP Portrait Award
in London. In 2009, his portrait
of fellow artist William Kentridge
raised eyebrows at the Johan-
nesburg Art Fair, and sold to an
anonymous buyer despite a hefty
price tag. In the same year, he
was commissioned by the British
National Portrait Gallery in London
to paint the knighted author - Sir V.
S. Naipaul. It is under these
circumstances that Emsley
recently began his most significant
project - to produce a portrait of
Nelson Mandela.
In order to obtain the material
required for such a project, Emsley
met the world icon at his offices
in Johannesburg and undertook
all of the photography himself.
Portraying what is perhaps the
most famous face in the world, in
such a way that it not only cap-
tures the essence of the man, but
complies to the highest standards
of technical integrity (a hallmark of
Emsleyʼs work) was undoubtedly
the greatest challenge facing the
artist.
There were, however, other
unforeseen difficulties that had to
be contended with. Emsley was
given a ten minute slot in which to
take the photographs. He explains:
“There were some difficulties
and uncertainties, Mr. Mandela
being understandably rather tired
of being photographed. He was
as engaging and warm as I had
expected. He had about him a
definite atmosphere of benevolent
authority. I had to ask him to stop
smiling as my intention was to do
a fairly ‘serious’ portrait.” Emsley
managed to obtain fourteen suit-
able photographs from which to
work.
The portrait is destined to find
itself in one of the prominent
museums in Europe or the United
States (this process has not been
finalized yet), but South African
audiences can judge this historical
work for themselves at the 2010
Johannesburg Art Fair.
Paul Emsley is represented by the
Redfern Gallery in London
(www.redfern-gallery.com) and is
associated with iArt Gallery in
Cape Town (www.iart.co.za).

ANNOUNCEMENT:
The Iziko South African National Gallery will be closed from 1 March - 14 April 2010

ISANG RE-HANG The Iziko South African National Gallery will undergo repair and maintenance
during this time. A major re-hang, based primarily on the permanent collection,
will reect on the country’s unique contribution to modern and contemporary art.
general enquiries: sadams@iziko.org.za or 021 461 4663
media enquiries: info@iziko.org.za
http//:www.iziko.org.za

Ne w Ho m e Off
& Sculpture Gallery
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Gauteng & Mpumalanga Web: www.tlafoundry.co.za Email: theloop@worldonline.co.za

Tel: 086 1112473 or 27 (0)13 7512435
 The Onrus Gallery
&
Hennie Niemann Artworks
2 Lagoon Drive
Onrus River, 7201
Tel 028 316 2103
Fax 028 316 2821
info@theonrusgallery.co.za
www.theonrusgallery.co.za

Hennie Niemann Hennie Niemann

Harvesters Fynbos Pickers

Hennie Niemann and Derrick Benzien rst formed a friendship and

then a unique partnership to market the works of both South African
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Gallery at the beginning of 2008.

Today Hennie numbers among the country’s senior and most revered
living artists, with a career of virtually ve decades, nearly three of them
full-time. His knowledge of South African Art is well regarded. Derrick
has been dealing in art across the country for several years and has
a sound rapport with many galleries, auction houses, collectors and Hennie Niemann
artists. Still Life with White Lamp

Their shared passion about and expertise in art is evident in the tasteful
manner in which they display works in an atmosphere that is conductive
to promoting its dignity. Hennie’s own paintings are now marketed
exclusively through The Onrus Gallery. An impressive CV containing of
his best works is available to browse through.

Their gallery houses works by Stern, Gregoire, Buchner, Boshoff, Van

Essche, Van Heerden, Wallace, Naude, and other important names.
Corporate and collectors of investment art are well accommodated. The
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Still Life Flowers and Fruit Girl holding Lilies
 Supplement to The South African Art Times, as part of The Great South African Art Masters Series

Dorothy Kay Portrait, Figurative Artist and Illustrator 1886-1964

Self Portrait with Red and White Scaff. Oil. 1950

“Everything you do is a portrait of yourself”

The artist as a young woman
Dorothy Kay is regarded as a conventional painter in the sense that she produced work which was unpretentiously realistic and easily understood by the viewer. She is best known for her portraits
of civil dignitaries, social personalities and for her genre studies of ethnic African subjects. She was born in Ireland at the end of the 19th Century and was formally trained there, emigrating to marry a
South African and settle in the Eastern Cape in Port Elizabeth where she where she spent the rest of her life. Her art training was conventional and based on drawing from still life and the human form
–an interest which she retained throughout her long career. She seldom painted landscape unless as a background for her subject matter. She was to exhibit locally in Port Elizabeth to begin with, occa-
sionally sending work overseas to competitions or exhibitions. Many of her commissions arose from her social connections made by her husband who was a doctor. Her public artistic endeavors saw
her get involved with decorating halls for social functions, the design and execution of commissions for public companies and government buildings and many portrait commissions for private and public
figures including 25 portraits of the mayors of Port Elizabeth. Her private work was nearly always centered on her family to whom she was bonded in varying degrees of intensity. Throughout her life she
also produced self-deprecating and insightful self-portraits of herself wearing a library of different headgear. She was not afraid of appearing ridiculous and saw herself in a way which was devoid of flat-
tery. “Her late self-portraits are suffused with a wonderful honesty”. (Arnold 1996: 126) She also continued to sketch and draw all the time filling numerous notebooks with notes and fragments of visual
information. She also made drawing trips to the Transkei and, during the Second World War as a War artist, to various military installations around South Africa to gather information for paintings. In the
latter part of her life, after her husband’s death, private concerns and a quest for new methods of expression took over, resulting in an extraordinary series of works which were quite unlike anything else
she had produced before. Although she is best known for her realisic oil portraits, Kay continually sought to explore new ways of expressing herself in other media. Her work ranges from thick impastoed
paint on coarse canvas to immaculately rendered watercolors, fine copper and dry point etchings, lithography, charcoal studies, illustrations for magazines, pencil studies, frescoes for public buildings
and even, papier-mâché sculptures for dances and social events. She also made ceramic works in three-dimensions in clay for a period of three years.

Early years
Dorothy Kay (Elvery) was born in County Wicklow in Ireland. She was one of seven children and in the tradition
of most Victorian households, she was taught at home by a governess until she was old enough to go on to a
small private school. One of several artistically talented siblings, her mother decided that she should learn to draw
although she also displayed considerable musical talent. She could have been a successful pianist, singer or
actress. It was decided that she and her older sister Beatrice should go to the Metropolitan School of Art in Dublin to
learn painting and sculpture. Beatrice, who was five years older than Dorothy, recommended that Dorothy’s mother
should move her from the Metropolitan art school to the Royal Hibernian School of Art as she regarded the tuition
at the former to be inferior. There Dorothy continued to draw from and paint from life, copy old statues and study
the drawing of drapery. One of the earliest influences in her life was a man who had been her parents’ best-man
at their wedding and who apparently lived with or was a permanent boarder with the Elvery family. Mr Browning,
who had travelled widely - and who had been a Government Excise official in Dublin - introduced Dorothy to the
art of French polishing, woodwork and soldering – skills which were to manifest much later as an interest in and
understanding of architecture, bridges and other engineering structures. She won several awards including the cov-
eted Taylor Art Scholarship which she won in 1904. Her sister had already won it three years in a row. She began
exhibiting with the “Young Irish Artists” and the Royal Hibernian Academy, acquiring a reputation as a fine water
colourist. Much younger than most of the other students, Dorothy admired the work of Georges la Tour and George
Stubbs – both society painters. Stubbs was British and became well-known for his paintings of horses and their
owners. She was allowed to accompany her sister on a visit to Paris where she was exposed the work of people
like Botticelli and Leonardo da Vinci for the first time. She left the Hibernian after four years study and returned to
live at home and teach art and music to local children.
Through her brother Phillip who was a student at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, she met a South African
medical student from Pretoria called William Hobart Ashburner Kay who was to become her husband. They sailed
for Cape Town in 1909 and were married there. On their honeymoon, they visited Port Elizabeth which was to
become their permanent home a few years later. William Kay became a government medical officer and he was
posted to positions all over South Africa before they settled in Port Elizabeth. Their first real home was in Nylstroom
where their first child, Joan was born. A second child was born in Pretoria where Dr Kay was the MOH for a pris-
oner-of-war camp and twins were later born at Illovo Beach on the south coast of Natal. In 1917, the family moved
to Port Elizabeth where he became the District Surgeon and Port Health Officer.
Life with four children and a husband who travelled away frequently meant that most of Dorothy’s painting had to be
fitted around household arrangements. In 1920, the family moved to a “country” home in Mill Park which overlooked
the Baakens valley and its wooded kloofs. Today Mill Park is part of busy metropolitan central Port Elizabeth. The
house was renovated to include an alcove off the living room which functioned as a studio.
Early Style Dorothy’s early work was not particularly popular. She said that “Landscape painting, I have always felt,
can be done by anyone, and it has never interested me much”.(Reynolds 1991: 45) Instead, she portrayed local
subjects who were often found for her by her husband like fishermen from the harbour, horse-drawn cab drivers and
local African subjects. She also painted subjects like the stone quarries, fish markets and the salt pans in the Coega
estuary. Architecture and mechanical subjects like the jetties, bridges, breakwaters and cast iron railings were
favourite subjects. Many of the early works were thickly painted on coarse canvases.
She notes that when she began working in Port Elizabeth “More and more I came to love portrait work. They tell me
that I have a happy knack of making speaking likenesses.” (Reynolds 1991:96).
Portraiture is a particular way of translating information about a particular person. It has to, by definition, represent
an aspect of that person so that the viewer is offered a perspective of the sitter’s personality, physical presence and
psychic and emotional attributes. It is an impression which is filtered through the eyes of the artist so it may differ
from either personal or public perception of the sitter. She was an accomplished draughtswoman and technician.
Her medium throughout her portrait career was oils although she did make smaller watercolour studies and detailed
drawings as well. Her astute observation of detail, her ability to empathise with her subject and her ability to convey
character brought her many important commissions.
Middle career
The Kays were very sociable people and moved into Port Elizabeth’s
colonial society with ease. Both were members of the One Hundred Club
where they learnt to tango and do the Charleston. According to their daugh-
ter Marjorie, boisterous parties were a frequent event in their home. Many
portraits produced at this time were of friends or people associated with
their social circle. Both were members of the Eastern Province Society of
Arts and Crafts (EPSAC), a cultural society which was a forum and meeting
place for artists, music lovers and theatre goers. Dorothy was a founder
member of the society which started in 1918. She was to exhibit continu-
ously in Port Elizabeth with the Eastern Province Society of Arts from 1919
– 1963, becoming President of the society in 1947.She was given a one-
man retrospective by the society in June of 1955.
Both Kays were involved in the early funding raising projects for the con-
struction of an Arts Hall for EPSAC (now the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan
Art Museum) which was opened later in 1956. Hobart was an actively
supportive husband and often helped with the domestic chores and took
the children to school in his Chevrolet. His support was to play an important
role in both Dorothy’s perception of herself and her abilities. He was largely
responsible for persuading her to go on with her art and for providing mod-
els for her and for making suggestions and engineering opportunities for
her. He was also her main source of encouragement and affirmation. When
he died, she was to undergo a personal crisis of artistic confidence.
In 1921, she joined the Port Elizabeth Art School to learn how to etch.
Englishman Francis Pickford Marriott was head of the school which had a
staff of ex-patriot English people as staff members. He was to teach her the
intricacies of copper and zinc plate etching, aquatint and dry point etching.
During this phase of her career, she continued to produce a steady output
of oil paintings. In 1926, after a long period of grief over her mother’s death,
she submitted a portfolio of proofs to the Dominion Artists’ Exhibition in
London where one of her prints - “Romance” - was bought by Queen Mary.
She was to continue exhibiting overseas with the Royal Hibernian Academy
and submitted several works to the Water Colour Society of Ireland. In ad-
dition, she showed in London at the British Empire Exhibition (1924) and at
the Royal Society of British Artists. She was also elected a member of the
Royal British and Colonial Society of Artists
From 1928-9, Dorothy began to undertake commercial work illustrating
advertisements for clients like General Motors, a well-known shoe store and
The Outspan – a weekly magazine for which she produced, over a period
of 18 years, over 2000 illustrations for stories. Illustrating was demanding
and needed hours of accurate research to record details like how the bit
sat in a horse’s mouth or what a British “Bobby’s” helmet looked like. Over
the years she amassed hundreds of reproductions gleaned from books and
magazines from the Public Library which were then placed in numerous
scrapbooks. She also drew on the service of friends to pose for her. One
young man called George Walker who became a friend of the family when
they joined the Zwartkops Sailing Club was to feature quite recognisably
in numerous illustrations or action drawings. During the War, serving in
North Africa, he was to send her a ring made from shrapnel which he had
polished with toothpaste which she was to wear to the end of her life. She
produced two to four black-and-white illustrations per week using charcoal,
as well as designing front covers for the magazine in three colours when
required. The drawings were pasted on board, sprayed with fixative, cov-
ered with tissue paper and then wrapped in thick brown paper before being
mailed by Hobart to the magazine editor. Her magazine illustration activities
drew criticism from art critics who claimed that they spoilt her other work.
She however, denied this claiming that “It helped a lot to realize the value
of compositions and how to build them”. (Reynolds 1991:79) By 1941, she
had stopped making illustrations and had become a war artist.
In 1930, a Xhosa woman from Peddie in the Eastern Cape called Annie
Marvata joined the Kay household as their domestic “cook-general” helper.
“Cookie” was to remain with the family for 22 years, freeing Dorothy from
household chores, enabling her to enter the studio at nine o’clock every
morning from where she only emerged for lunch and returned to until tea
time. Later, Annie was to organize the special foods and timetables for
Hobart Kay when he became ill and she was to supervise the upbringing of
numerous grand-children who moved in periodically to live with the Kays.
In 1933, the Kay family sailed overseas to visit the Elvery family in Ireland.
At a reunion meeting in London Dorothy was finally able to gain perspec-
tive and distance herself emotionally from the aura of influence of her sister
Beatrice whom she had always perceived to be more gifted than she was.
She also recognized, as many other ex-patriots do after a period of time,
that England was no longer “home” – and that South Africa was. These
intensely personal emotional shifts were to alter the tenor of her subsequent
work. The return boat trip was also to bring about introductions to influential
business people which would result in the first of her large commissioned
murals in 1936.
Her eldest daughter Joan had married the year before and settled in Johan-
nesburg. While on a visit to her, Dorothy arranged a meeting with the direc-
tor of Climax Rock Drills. She was to complete three 8,5 metre long panels
depicting rock drilling, illustrating the drilling processes as they occurred fifty
years ago by candlelight, then later by acetylene lamp and finally by mod-
ern Climax rock drill. After her death, the panels were sold to the Africana
Museum Collection in Johannesburg. Her interest and her ability to handle
mechanical subject matter also resulted in a large technically experimental
work in which she portrayed surgeons and nurses at work in an operating
theatre. Interested in “an all white subject in shadowless lighting”, it is one
of the lightest paintings she made and was the result of visiting and observ-
ing at three hospital theatres. She made twenty-seven pages of sketches
recording detailed information on instruments and technical equipment. In
the final image, she portrayed members of her family as the central figures.
Hobart is clearly visible facing the viewer. Characteristic of her preparation
for the subject matter of her paintings, she was obsessive about getting
body attitude and gesture right. She took many photographs of the way
in which instruments and equipment were used in mining, surgical and
military environments. These were never used for replication but only as an
informational tool.
Shortly afterwards, in 1938, she painted large oil depicting her family -“The
The Elvery family. a Memory, Oil on canvas, 1938, SANG
Three Generations,Oil on canvas,1939
The Eye of the Beholder ,1953, NMMAM
Dorothy Reading Under the
Laburnam Tree, Watercolour
Mama, Oil on canvas
The Pink Bonnet,Oil on canvas, 1919
Dorothy Kay, 1944
Hairdryer - Rome, Oil on canvas,1954
Brass Tacks, self portrait ,1953,
Johannesburg Art Gallery
Crowning Glory, 1954, Oil on canvas
Joan, Oil on canvas, 1930
Elvery Family: A Memory”. Arnold describes the work as an ‘audacious’
work. “Today this painting not only seems in advance of its time through the
use of devices which are accepted in a postmodernist vocabulary, but offers
fascinating material for understanding Kay’s womanhood…..Kay analysed
her nostalgia, personal history and her role as daughter, sister and mother
– in short, her womanhood” (Arnold 1996:127,128).
Dorothy’s family was a talented and unusual family bound together by
their love of singing – which they could all do - their love of the arts and a
penchant for the ridiculous in life. In her narrative style Dorothy explored
conceptual ideas like personal interaction, bits of personal history (memory)
the fusion of time and the use of quotation. The painting encapsulates
not only the idiosyncratic details of each family member’s character and
interests, but also juxtaposes different time frames from the Elvery family
histology in a single composition. “These strategies, connecting events em-
bedded in memory, render the painting similar to works made by later artists
– such as Penelope Siopis – who position themselves in a postmodern
and feminist framework.(Arnold 1996:129). The following year, she painted
Three Generations (1939) in which her four adult children are positioned
under the replication of the Elvery Family thus connecting past events to
those of the present.
One of the most authoritative portraits of any of her subjects was made
at this time. William Pagel, the “strong man” of Pagel’s circus is portrayed
seated impassively between a lion, a tiger, a lioness and leopard. To her
chagrin the painting was rejected for exhibition by the South African Society
of Artists of which she had been a member for many years and is reputed
to have been the reason for her resigning from the society. In December
of 1940, she was commissioned to paint two murals for the new Reserve
Bank to be built in Port Elizabeth. These two large works Commerce and
Industry incorporated some reworked figures from earlier works like the Old
Oyster Woman and figures from paintings on mining subjects. They were
completed two years later.
On a visit to Cape Town early in 1941 to a South African Society of Artists
exhibition, she made contact with Major J. Wright who was to facilitate her
acceptance as a war artist. She then began an intensive period of recording
aspects of military activities which included drawing at aerodromes, describ-
ing the searchlights and heavy guns of coastal and harbour defenses and
sketching at military field hospitals. For the best part of three years, she
submitted numerous war-subject works. Most were rejected and some
sketches were confiscated by the Propaganda and Censorship section.
Many works were either painted over or destroyed. Dorothy believed that
the continued rejection of her work was due to the fact that she was a
woman and as such, was not able to draw her material from its source
which was the battlefield. Relegated to what she considered to be “tame”
subjects at home, she tried to get the backing of an American magazine to
send her to the front as a war correspondent artist but was without success.
However, eight of paintings from this period now hang in the South African
Military Museum in Johannesburg. She also received many private com-
missions for portraits of young men serving in the South African Army, Navy
or Air Force. “Far End”, the Kay’s Mill Park home became a meeting place
for many of the men serving in the local divisions of the Service forces. In
1943 and ’44, she completed as many as 27 portraits which included many
of young men in uniform either posthumously or as a record of their military
service.
A sketching trip to the Transkei took place in December of 1946 which
resulted in a freeing up of her customary meticulous technique. Using
various media, she and a friend spent two weeks in a make-shift hotel
studio (“ a sort of urinals at the back of the premises”) recording “millions”
of subjects (Reynolds:156). The images have a spontaneity and looseness
of technique which were to result in paintings like Xhosa Women and He
said his name was Paulumbaan. She returned home to start on a list of
portrait commissions which were interrupted by her husband’s collapse with
a heart attack which resulted in his hospitalisation, subsequently requiring
that she should monitor his health closely for the next 20 months. In June
of the following year, Hobart’s health was sufficiently improved for her to be
able to sail to England for a reunion with a New Zealand-based sister whom
she had not seen for twenty years. Accompanied by two of her sisters, she
travelled to the Continent to war-ravaged Paris visiting art galleries both
there and back in London. She returned in October to juggle with her busy
painting schedule and to deal with Hobart’s deteriorating health which had
necessitated him returning to hospital. He was to die in October of 1949.
During this period she became friendly with Jack and Jane Heath. Both had
had academic training as artists in Britain. They had moved to South Africa
in 1946 where he took up a post at Rhodes University, subsequently taking
up the post of head of department at the Port Elizabeth School of Art a year
later. “Bohemenian” evenings took place where there was much intellectual
debate about aesthetics and life accompanied by copious amounts of food
and drink.
For a while, this interchange with the Heaths undermined Dorothy’s percep-
tion of her work. Dealing with her husband’s death had been isolating and
she floundered with over-whelming feelings of inadequacy about her abili-
ties as an artist and agonised over whether an academic knowledge of art
would improve her performance. Veering away from photographic realism
for the first time, she dabbled in semi-abstraction, unintentionally laying the
intellectual foundations for future work.
In 1950, amidst household disruptions from the new domestic staff which
had been hired to replace “Cookie” who had retired, she completed a
portrait of General Smuts, commissioned as gift for his 80th birthday.
The stiff formal portrait of “Grey Steel” incurred public criticism which she
dealt with good–humouredly. She also discovered a new medium – that of
ceramic sculpture. Records have it that she joined the pottery classes at the
Port Elizabeth Technical College as a part-time student some time in 1951
and remaining there until the end of 1953. Most of the sculptures depict
creatures or figures and are imaginatively treated. She was painstaking in
the preparation of glazes and colours but ended up with a preference for an
all white “tin” glaze.
 GALLERY

J A Riley, sergeant in the Miss Dorothy Savage,Exhibited

1st City Regiment , Oil on canvas 1924, Oil on canvas

Cookie. Annie Mavata, 1954, Pretoria Art Museum

Flesh and Steel c 1942, Oil on canvas General J C Smuts, Oil on canvas, NMMAM Collection

The War Years

Portrait of an Actor. John Hamber. Herman Buisman Esq.

1955, Oil on canvas 1962, Oil on canvas

Doorway Old Town House Cape Town, Etching He said his name was Paulumbaan, 1948, Oil on canvas
Portrait of Herbert Hastings Portrait of Nancy McWilliams.
McWilliams, Oil,1944. NMMAM Oil, 1944, NMMAM

The Oyster Woman,

Oil on canvas,1922,
Albany Museum

Malay Driver, Etching 1923 The Watchman (Nongqai), Etching The Travellers, 1944, Oil on canvas
Portrait of a Man wearing a suit

Collections consist of South African art (particularly

that of the Eastern Cape), British art, international
printmaking and Oriental art (including Indian miniatures
and Chinese textiles). These are supplemented by an
active programme of temporary exhibitions.
(Portraits by Dorothy Kay owned by Nelson Mandela Bay)

1 Park Drive, Port Elizabeth, 6001

Tel: 041 5062000 Fax: 041 5863234
Email: artmuseum@mandelametro.gov.za
Website: www.artmuseum.co.za

The glue pot, 1951, SANG
Mature work
From 1951, subject matter in her painting changes to include still life
objects which masquerade as abstract compositions. Hair dryers, lamps,
spear–fishing equipment, umbrellas, shells and mirrors all feature as sub-
jects. She also completes the definitive portrait of Annie Mavata. Dorothy
was to make one of the first democratic portraits of a black person where
the intrinsic nature of an African woman’s personality is the dominant
ethos of the portrait. Most depictions of African subjects by European
painters in South Africa at this time were ethnic or romantically stere-
otyped. The portrait of Annie Marvata is a landmark image for its time.
The portrait was painted some years after taking a photograph of Annie
with a camera given to her by her husband. Because he was ill, she was
unable to execute the portrait until three years later. Dorothy regarded the
camera as a tool. “She was not interested in the mechanised, monocular
vision of the camera lens but in the subjective interpretation of the human
eye…. she considered her photographs as ‘notes’ to be adapted and
manipulated”. (Arnold 1996: 98). It is an interpretative and unsentimental
portrait of a woman who is wearing the clothes of a servant but who is a
confident independent personality. “ … it is not the didactic illustration of
a cook in the kitchen”. (Arnold 1996: 99). Arnold goes on to note that the
portrait of Annie Marvata has to be seen against the political background
of the politically turbulent 50’s. Kay sold her work to a white art market.
“Acceptable and saleable subjects in these years included landscapes,
still-life paintings and portraits. Aesthetic considerations dominated
picture making, and the controversies of the period were concerned with
style and the claims of Modernism rather than the social implications of
the subject matter.” (Arnold 1996: 101).
A visit to Britain in 1954 was to galvanise her in new directions. In a semi-
nal painting called “Brass Tacks”, Dorothy depicts herself in a Braque-like
caricature of her nick-name “spike” which she superimposed on a Greek
bust. Recognizable objects which were part of the household objets d’art
were distorted and manipulated into a cubist-like composition in shades
of ochre, black and rust. It is an extraordinary departure from her normal
oeuvre and heralds a period of quasi-abstract works which are laced
with humour and fun. A second version which she submitted to the Living
Art exhibition in London was rejected. Visits to many prominent London
galleries convinced her that standards in art, in her opinion, had dropped
appallingly. One of the most striking works that she ever made was made
on a short visit to Rome. Again, a hairdryer forms the central topic of the
painting, herself featuring as the protagonist under the dryer. It is a hu-
morous, commanding image of the artist, her elbows resting on the arms
of the chair. In reverse on the front of the dryer is the word “Imperatrice”.
She referred to it later as her “Pope” picture. It is the apogee of a series
of unsentimental and insightful self–portraits executed over her life time.
Both “Cookie” and “Hairdryer, Rome” were submitted for a competition
arranged by the Trustees of the National Galleries of Australia.
In May of 1955, she presided over an EPSAC sponsored exhibition of
70 of her works in all media ranging from early 1902 to the present time.
No oil paintings were sold. Throughout her long productive career, she
produced in the region of three hundred portraits, many of them com-
missioned works of important local and national figures. She continued
to work despite increasing health problems. Concern about her son’s
financial problems with his Farm at Addo near Port Elizabeth may have
contributed to the heart attack that she suffered in April of 1957. Whilst
recuperating, she met a British Press attaché called Reggie Ross–Wil-
liamson and his wife. He was an artist in his own right and had studied
“monotypes” under John Piper, an eminent British artist. Dorothy was
unfamiliar with the media and asked to be shown how they were made
and after a demonstration, she embraced the new process with enthu-
siasm. The process is a reverse printing procedure where fabric paint is
rolled onto a plate of glass and paper placed on top and then incised with
a pencil or marked with fingers. Prints are then pulled off the glass. At the
age of 71, Dorothy was to experiment with the new process combin-
ing the technique with careful drawing because she found the element
of chance irritating. She was to make a series of monotypes of ship’s
figureheads, romantic relics from old ships which she was to search for
and find on trips around the Western Cape. Four years later she began to
make abstract monotypes for inclusion in an exhibition to tour Yugoslavia.
These constructivist-like works are a far cry from her realistic portraits
which had been staple fare throughout her working life.
During the next three years she would produce quasi-abstract paint-
ings of objects like umbrella spines, shells and deckchairs which were
given conceptual titles like “astronaut”, “sentinel” and “ampersand”. She
continued to paint portraits, one of the last being an imposing portrait of
Herman Buisman, a long time friend and admirer. On a trip to Dublin with
her family in 1963, she had a stroke and was flown back to South Africa.
She died at her home “Far End” seven months later.
Old Oyster Woman, Oil on canvas
Kay’s rising value
Old Oyster Woman was for sold R1.4 million
in Cape Town in 2009 by Strauss and Co. Art Auctioneers.
Commissions
Marine Power.Commission for General Motors 1945
Manpower, Commission for General Motors 1945
Surgery. Oil on canvas,1937, UCT Cape Town.
World Events in 1950
- Major events which started in this period are the outbreak of the Cold
War and the beginning of the decolonization of Africa.
- Klaus Fuchs, a Soviet spy confesses to passing on information about
British and American nuclear secrets to the Russians.
- In South Africa, the Group Areas act is passed formally segregating
the races and the Suppression of Communism Act is also passed a few
months later.
- L. Ron Hubbard publishes “Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental
Health” in America.
- The world’s tenth highest mountain in the Himalayas called Annapurna
is conquered.
- The Korean War starts and the world’s first jet dogfight takes place.
- Peanuts - the comic strip drawn by Charles M Schultz is first published.
- The first Gay liberation movement is founded in Los Angeles in
America.
- Mount Etna erupts in Sicily.
- Myxomatosis is introduced to Australia to control the rabbit population
- Born: Jody Scheckter, SA racing driver; Mark Spitz, American Olympic
Gold medalist swimmer; Peter Gabriel, rock musician; Stevie Wonder,
jazz musician; Sir Richard Branson, Princess Anne and
Dr Phil Mc Graw.
- Died: George Bernard Shaw, George Orwell, Vaslav Nijinsky and Jan
Smuts. Source: Wikipedia.
A Year in the life of the artist -1950
At the beginning of the year she accompanied friends to Durban where
she made contact with an artist who was working on a commission to
paint cricket fields for Lords Pavilion to be hung at the MCC in London.
She was awarded the commission to paint the St Georges Park Cricket
Ground in Port Elizabeth. She also made numerous contè drawings of
Zulu men and women on this visit and on a subsequent return visit later
in the year.
“Cookie” retires and a period of domestic upheaval commences with
interruptions to her painting schedule because of having to make court
appearances at the trial of a burglar. She completes a portrait of Betty
Dunlop and has to cancel other sittings for two portraits.
Vasco De Gama, a large decorative panel depicting the explorer which
had been exhibited in 1946 was retrieved from the Arts Hall and is
reworked in painstaking detail.
She also began designing for a commission for panels for a Bulawayo
motor firm which had seen the designs she made for General Motors.
She was to research both Cecil John Rhodes and David Livingstone in
depth as a background to the designs which were never completed. The
etching “Energy” is produced during this period.
She begins work on the Smuts portrait which is to be presented to him on
his 80th birthday. The work is completed and delivered by November.
The self-portrait of herself as an artist holding her palette is completed.
Her wardrobe is being “tackled’ as there was a possibility that she may go
to New York where her children were working.
Begins a portrait of May, Mrs Ivan Hunt which is ‘all white organdie and a
bit of glamour’ (Reynolds 1989: 237)
In the school holidays, she returns to Durban to make detailed sketches
of military insignia and flags which will be need for the Smuts portrait.
More drawings were made of Zulu subjects.
Returns to Port Elizabeth in time to prepare and submit work for EPSAC’s
annual exhibition.
Dorothy Kay kept many diaries and note books throughout her life. Her
daughter Marjorie edited an autobiographical account of her mother’s
memoirs of family life in The Elvery Family: a memory” in which she
records her mother’s comments and thoughts many things which con-
cerned and interested her. She also published an in- depth biography of
her mother’s life and work. The most pertinent comment to come from the
artist herself is the one she uses to title the biography in which her mother
declares that “Everything you do is a portrait of yourself”.
Biography: Dorothy Kay
1886: Born to Anglo-Irish parents in County Wicklow
1902: Enters Metropolitan School of art, Dublin
1904: Wins Taylor Scholarship at the Royal Hibernian Art School at the
age of 16
1909/10: Becomes engaged and marries William Hobart Ashburner Kay
and emigrates to South Africa
1918: Moves to Port Elizabeth where Hobart becomes District Surgeon
and Port Health Officer and Dorothy begins to exhibit with EPSAC paint-
ing local subjects and people.
1921: Joins Port Elizabeth School of Art to learn to etch
1922: First one-Man exhibition in Grahamstown
1924: Shows works at British Empire Exhibition in London and Canadian
National Exhibition in Toronto and Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin.
1926: Dominion Artists’ Exhibition, London
1927: Begins illustrating for Outspan magazine
1930: Annie Marvata joins Kay household as domestic manager
1936/37: Joan married and Dorothy is commissioned to design panels for
Climax Rock Drills and Gold Mining for Empire Exhibition in Milner Park,
Johannesburg. Commissioned to paint Bishop MacSherry. Produces
large painting Surgery.
1938/40: Paints The Elvery Family: a memory and Three Generations
and William Pagel Esq.
1940: Exhibits at Royal Academy, London. Commissioned for Reserve
Bank panels, Port Elizabeth
1941: Appointed Official War artist and travel to Transvaal to make
sketches
1945: Commissioned by General Motors for murals and paints Vasco da
Gama mural
1948: Trip to Britain and Hobart dies
1950/3: Sketching trip to Transkei – records many ethnic studies. Begins
to make ceramic works. Cookie retires. Portrait of General Smuts com-
pleted. Self-Portrait Glue Pot is accepted for exhibition at the 1952 Van
Riebeeck Tercentennial Festival, Cape Town and subsequently bought by
SA National Gallery. Completes Brass Tacks.
1954: Portrait of Annie Marvata completed
1955: Paints Hairdryer. Rome. Shown at sponsored EPSAC exhibition
“Works of Dorothy Kay 1902-1955”.
1956: Exhibits first S A Quadrennial
1960: Exhibits second S A Quadrennial and South African Graphic exhibi-
tion in Yugoslavia and Munich, Germany.
1961: Exhibits graphics Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil
1964 : Exhibits Third SA Quadriennal and Venice Biennale
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum’s staff and
librarian. Albany Museum, Grahamstown, William Humphreys Museum,
Kimberley, Pretoria Art Museum and Basil Brady
Biographical Sources :
1. Art and Artists of South Africa.Berman, E. 1994. Southern Book Pub.
2. “The Elvery Family: a Memory”. Reynolds, M. 1991. Carrefour Press. CT
3. “Everything You Do is a Portrait of Yourself”. Reynolds, M. 1989.
Private Publishing.
4. Women and Art in South Africa. Arnold, M. 1996. David Philip. CT
5. Archives. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum, Port Elizabeth.
Researched and written by Jeanne Wright
The South African Sale
Tuesday 23 March &
Wednesday 24 March
London
Enquiries Catalogue
Giles Peppiatt +44 (0) 1666 502 200
+44 (0) 20 7468 8355 subscriptions@bonhams.com

Hannah O’Leary Illustrated:

+44 (0) 20 7468 8213 Gerard Sekoto (1913-1993)
Market street scene
Catherine Harrington oil on panel
+44 (0) 20 7468 8216 Estimate: £120,000 - 180,000
(ZAR 1,443,000 - 2,164,000)
sapictures@bonhams.com
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www.bonhams.com/sasale

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 est. 1977

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South African Art Times March 2010 Page 13

Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi - an African Symbolist painter

SA Art Times exclusive interview:
Ndikhumbule Ngqinambi
Ndikhumbule, who is currently work-
ing at Greatmore Studios, was born
in 1977 in Cape Town, but as his
paintings reflect, his reference point
returns to his family roots in Tsolo,
in the Eastern Cape. In 2000-2001
he attended the Community Arts
Project (CAP) in Woodstock and
learnt painting from Joseph Gaylard.
He says his painting reflects the
contrast between the rural and urban
landscape and reflects the themes
of culture (the spirit self) and religion
(the outer physicality of Church).
His works embody the pull between
culture and religion, symbolised in
cultural practices that address the
self and formal religious practice.
His reference point is that of Xhosa
culture that addresses the spirit and
physical lifetimes. “Your spirit will
always return back to your cutural
base, the place you come from”
In turning wave, the wave symbol-
ises a message being sent from the
world under water, the cultural/spir-
itual world, to the formalised religious
world of the church, above the water.
It illustrates the contrast between
the religious world and the cultural
world of the self. The cultural belief
is a lasting practise, the world that
every person’s spirit inhabits that is
different from a religious world. For
Ngquinambi, placing people on the
landscapes shows continuity, that life
continues on a spiritual and physical
plane, and thus carries on forever.
House of Light symbolises the path
of a young man (See cover). The
path representst he young boy,
coming from initiation school, where
he has received knowledge from his
elders. The light represents the new
knowledge - ‘All those things you
didn’t know’.
Ndikhumbule recently held a solo
show at The AVA Gallery in Cape
Town. See www.ava.co.za for more
work

Left - right (above): Wrong window,(top right) Turning wave, (middle) Recorded history, (below) On the void

A R T A T T O K A R A P R E S ENTED BY

The spaces between UNTIL 25 APRIL 2010

About the exhibition: Focussing on Marais’ Karoo, the exhibition features

landscapes by a select group of artists investigating the way in which they observe
landscape and then create their own interpretation of the place.
A RT AT TO K A R A EXHIBITION LO CAT I O N
Julia Meintjes art@tokara.com Tuesday - Saturday 9h00-after dinner; Crest of the Helshoogte Pass on
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Important South African
Paintings, Furniture, Silver,
Ceramics and Jewellery
INCLUDING A COLLECTION OF WORKS
BY WILLIAM TIMLIN AND
THE EDITH DODO COLLECTION

Auction:
Monday 15 March 2010
Vineyard Hotel, Newlands

Enquiries: (021) 683 6560

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Preview:
Friday 12 March, 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm
Saturday 13 March 9.00 am to 4.00 pm
Sunday 14 March 9.00 am to 6.00 pm
The preview will take place at the
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offices which are situated directly
opposite at The Oval.
Maurice Charles Louis van Essche, Nude, signed and dated 65,
oil on board, 90 by 60cm R300 000 – 500 000

We are currently accepting consignments for our next auction

Emma Bedford Vanessa Phillips Ann Palmer Stephan Welz Mary-Jane Darroll Bina Genovese Mica Curitz

JOHANNESBURG CAPE TOWN

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