Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.
Search
Close this search box.

Modern Painting and Sculpture

Modernism is not easy to define, but refers roughly to a period dating from the 1860s through to the 1970s, and is used to describe the styles and ideologies of art produced during that era.

Image: The Kraal (1948) Alexis Preller 1911-1975. Oil on canvas on cardboard. Iziko South African National Gallery.

 

Modernism is not easy to define, but refers roughly to a period dating from the 1860s through to the 1970s, and is used to describe the styles and ideologies of art produced during that era.

Born of great cosmopolitan centres, it flourished in Germany and Holland, as well as in Moscow, Paris, London and New York.

Broadly speaking, Modernists had a utopian desire to create a better world: they believed in technology as the key means to achieve social improvement and in the machine as a symbol of this aspiration.

All of these principles were frequently combined with social and political beliefs (largely left-leaning) which held that design and art could, and should, transform society.

Modernism assumes local characters in different countries and, in South Africa, often reflects shifts in socio-political concerns. It is demonstrated in a great diversity of style and technique, ranging from landscapes to abstract art, engagement with the current trends that were burgeoning in Europe, to an intensely local sense of what it meant to be an artist in this country during the 20th Century.

The Modern Painting and Sculpture Collection contains excellent examples of many leading South African artists of the early and mid-20th Century, such as Gerard Sekoto, Alexis Preller, Irma Stern and Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef, all of whose artworks are very much in demand today.

Well-known and familiar works include The Kraal (1949) by Preller, the Golden Shawl (1945) by Stern, Street Scene (1939) by Sekoto and N’tabeni (1930) by Pieneef.

Works by the following ‘Modern’ artists are also represented in the South African National Gallery’s Permanent Collection: Bill Ainslie, Walter Battiss, Kenneth Bakker, May Hillhouse, Bertha Everard, Maggie Laubser, Cecil Higgs, Florence Zerffi, Wolf Kibel, Edward Roworth, Paul du Toit, John Dronsfield, Christo Coetzee, Trevor Coleman, Nel Erasmus,  Sydney Goldblatt, Sydney Kumalo, Erik Laubscher, Louis Maqhubela, Ephraim Ngatane, Cecil Skotnes, Herman van Nazareth, Edoardo Villa, Helmut Starcke, Lionel Abrams, Walter Battiss, Carl Buchner, Nils Burwitz, Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, Gregoire Boonzaier, Stanley Pinker, Douglas Portway, Fred Schimmel, Larry Scully, Cecily Sash, George Pemba, Moses Kottler, Solly Disner, Lippy Lipshitz and many others.

Image: The Golden Shawl (1945) Irma Stern 1894-1966. Oil on canvas. Iziko South African National Gallery.

Exhibitions & Events

Tap to select the previous period
Next
Search
Close this search box.

Visit

Exhibitions & Events

Inside Iziko

Iziko Museums

About

Dear Visitor,

Please be advised that all Iziko Museums will be closed on

Workers’ Day, Thursday, 1 May 2025.

Apologies for any inconvenience.

Iziko Management.

Dear Visitors,

Please be advised that all Iziko Museums of South Africa sites will close at 13:00 on Monday, 10 March 2025, for a staff activation for the The bicentenary of the South African Museum – a reflection on 200 years of ISAM’s existence.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Iziko Management

Iziko South African National Gallery

Dear Visitor

Please be advised that the Iziko South African National Gallery, will open at 12:30 on Saturday, 22 February 2025.

We look forward to welcoming you to experience the exhibition:
Sue Williamson: There’s something I must tell you, a retrospective.

Regards
Iziko Museums of South Africa

Dear Visitors,

 

Please note that all Iziko Museums will be closed on Christmas Day, Wednesday, 25 December 2024 and

will reopen to the public on Thursday, 26 December 2024.

 

Additionally,  Iziko Bertram House and Iziko Koopmans De Wet will remain closed on Thursday,   

26 December 2024.

 

Wishing you peace and joy over the festive season.

 

Thank you

Iziko Management 

Dear Visitor

Please be advised that the Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum will be closed on Thursday, 01 August 2024 due to a power maintenance affecting the entire area.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Iziko Management

Dear Visitor 

 

Iziko Museums’ Winter Operating Hours Update. 

 

Please be advised that the weekend(SAT and SUN) operating hours have been adjusted. 

The museums will open operate from 08h30 to 16h00 on weekends during winter.

 

Saturdays from 08h30 to 16h00

Iziko South African Museum and Planetarium, Iziko South African National Gallery, 

Iziko Bo-Kaap Museum and Iziko Slave Lodge. 

 

Sundays from 08h30 to 16h00

Iziko South African Museum and Planetarium and Iziko South African National Gallery. 

 

By order 

Iziko Management. 

 
Iziko South African National Gallery

Dear Visitor

Please be advised that the Iziko South African National Gallery, will open at 12:30 on Saturday, 22 February 2025.

We look forward to welcoming you to experience the exhibition:
Sue Williamson: There’s something I must tell you, a retrospective.

Regards
Iziko Museums of South Africa