Cecil Skotnes

‘CECIL SKOTNES: A Private View’ opens at Iziko South African National Gallery on 19 April and runs until 18 June.

Whilst Skotnes is undoubtedly an icon of the South African art world, the exhibition moves beyond the artist’s public face to reveal a more personal view, focusing on such aspects of his extensive output as his drawings, cartoons, watercolours, prints and works of art on paper.

Also on display are a number of letters and documents collected over five decades as well as objects, personal memorabilia and a collection of objects from Skotnes’s home and studio.

Skotnes played an important pioneering role in art education in South Africa. He was highly involved with the Amadlozi group that sought to work at the intersection of African and European art. He was generous towards, and nurturing of, young artists.

For many years, his Johannesburg home served as an ‘open house’ and hub for artists from different parts of the city and, indeed, the world. In Cape Town, this spirit of creative hospitality continued.

The exhibition therefore offers insight into the country’s creative community of which Skotnes formed such an integral part and highlights the many ways in which he helped shape a vibrant period in South African art history.

Over the years, Skotnes’s work has encompassed many media, most recognisably the large coloured wood-panels that grew out of the making of blocks for relief printing, but also portfolios of prints, murals and public commissions, oil paintings, ceramics, tapestries and sculpture.

The exhibition can be viewed daily from 10:00-17:00, except Mondays. For further information contact Joe Dolby at Tel. 021 467 4682.

Images

Last Image: Cecil Skotnes born 1926. Head 1985. Mixed media on paper.
Other images by Paul Weinberg.

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