Exhibitions in 2021 …

visit/re/visit

Main Gallery 
Schreiner Gallery

Opens Friday 03 December 2021
Closes Sunday 23 January 2022

The visit/re/visit exhibition is the result of a competition run in collaboration with Epworth High School during 2021, as part of the Tatham Art Gallery’s Outreach programme.

The art competition was based on the Tatham Art Gallery collection, and was open to all High School students, regardless of whether they studied art or not. Students were invited to reinterpret a number of pre-selected art works, and create their own original art work as their competition entry. All entries submitted are on display.

Prizes were awarded for first, second and third places and a number of submissions were highly commended. All prizes were generously sponsored by Panda Paints.

Watch the press for details of a talkshop. Also look at the Gallery's Facebook page and Instagram account for more information.

First prize: 
Amahle Buthelezi -The space in between 
Second prize: 
Philasande Gumede -Old Zulu teapot 
Third prize: 
Nqubeko Ndlovu - Meditating Temptation

Highly commended: 
Dominique Bennetts - Threading through Gran’s history 
Rosalind Thae Bournes-Harper - Ashes to Ashes
Anna Beth Dahl - Elysium
Ashley du Toit -Adventures with Ash
Henry Haden -Restoration 
Olivia Margot Henning -Ineffable 
Nokwanda Shongwe -My wêreld is Halfpadrond
Amara Suffla -To drown in air 

FOTAG’S Fabulous Picture Show 2021

Main Exhibition Room
Opens: Sunday 14 November 2021 at 10h00
Viewing hours and silent bidding:
Monday 15 November to Friday 19 November, 10h00 to 16h00

The Friends of Tatham Art Gallery are pleased to confirm that the 2021 Fabulous Picture Show will take place as usual in November. 2020 was too unpredictable to host our annual fundraising auction, but we are confident that this year will be better and we look forward to a bumper show. Art connects, and the process of creating heals, and after a year like the last one, we all need something to bring us together and to look forward to. We hope that you will support the Tatham Art Gallery by making art works, and encouraging your friends and family to participate in the annual Fabulous Picture Show. By participating, you will be joining many others in ensuring the continued growth of our world class art museum. We encourage you to make your voice heard. 

Sacred Spaces: Ker Stanley

Schreiner Gallery
Postponed due to unforeseen circumstances

In moments of death, grief, loss, elation, surrender - sacred spaces are found. These moments are shared collectively just by virtue of our humanity, and yet they are deeply private and intimate for each of us, and hardly, if ever, shared.

The exploration of these inner landscapes takes the form of digitally manipulated, conceptual photography. Photography brings a complete realism, and thus relatability. It captures a scene and a moment exactly as it is. Manipulation merges the ineffable into real, raw human experience, expressing both the spiritual and physical aspects of these spaces.

During the course of the exhibition period, the artist will conduct two workshops and a live demonstration. The workshop will cater to the general public as well as creatives wishing to enhance their photographic and digital manipulation skills. Watch the press and the Gallery’s Facebook page for more information

Enquiries/Bookings
reena.bhoodram@msunduzi.gov.za or 033 392 2823

My Life in Colour: Roy Starke 

Main Gallery 
Open from Sunday 01 August 2021 at 11h00
Closes Sunday 31 October 2021 at 14h00

Roy Starke was born in 1954 and died in 2018 leaving behind a wealth of art quilts - powerful and rich in meaning. 

His art works reflect his perspective of reality or conception of what he regarded as reality. He developed his own personal visual language in colour and composition, and placed the emphasis on design, emotional impact and content. Needle and thread became instruments for the power of ideas. 

Roy drew from the tradition of embroidery, but then painted the surfaces to provide additional texture. 

To him there was no right or wrong in art. It had to be authentic and the vision had to be clear. 

Workshop 

Annette McMaster will be conducting a three day Workshop, in support of this exhibition. The class will explore the use of a domestic sewing machine as a creative tool. Participants will be led through a variety of either freestyle machine embroidery techniques or utilising the sewing machine to build samples for decorating a pre-made paper built vessel. Dates to be confirmed.

Enquiries  reena.bhoodram@msunduzi.gov.za or 033 392 2823

Zakhele Hlatshwayo: Killer Pandemic: Covid 19 

Schreiner Gallery 
Open from Sunday 29 August 2021 at 11h00 
Closes Sunday 10 October 2021 at 14h00 

This exhibition is based on the current COVID-19 pandemic which has affected every single one of our lives since March 2020. Dr Zakhele Moses Hlatshwayo was inspired to document how this killer pandemic has changed our everyday lives. 

His artworks explore the dramatic effect of this invisible air-borne virus, from the Government enforced National Lockdown, to health protocols which include the mandatory wearing of masks, regular washing of hands, avoiding touching our eyes, noses and mouths and maintaining social distancing. Every citizen has had to learn a new way of existing, in line with the health protocols, and we have had to unlearn the ways we used to interact with each other. 

Educational programme

In September Dr Zakhele Hlatshwayo will conduct a number of workshops to explore how ‘cartoons’ can be used to convey messages. Watch the press and the Gallery’s Facebook page for more information. 

Enquiries  pinky.nkabinde@msunduzi.gov.za or 033 392 2811

St John Vision 20/20 Exhibition 

Spotlight on Matric Art Teachers 

Schreiner Gallery 
Opens Tuesday 11 May 2021 at 18h00 
Closes Sunday 04 July 2021 at 14h00 

This exhibition is the result of an enthusiastic response from our local hard-working Matric Art Teachers. Art students have to be challenged, encouraged and nutured. In many cases, the art teacher becomes aware of the student’s personal struggle in life. For these teachers to find free time in order to create their own works is a tough challenge, and we salute their creativity and perseverance. 

Enquiries 
pinky.nkabinde @msunduzi.gov.za or 033 392 2811 
reena.bhoodram@msunduzi.gov.za or 033 392 2823 

KZN Inlands Matric Art Exhibition 2021 

Main Gallery 
Opens Tuesday 11 May 2021 at 18h00 
Closes Sunday 11 July 2021 at 14h00 

This annual exhibition highlights art works created by Matric art students from schools in Pietermaritzburg and further inland. Art students are challenged by the different themes prescribed by the School Examinations Boards, and are encouraged and nurtured by their art teachers to explore different techniques and media. This youthful search for innovation makes a visit to the exhibition an exciting experience. 

An external selector assists the Gallery education staff to select works for this varied and eclectic exhibition. 

Enquiries 
pinky.nkabinde @msunduzi.gov.za or 033 392 2811 or 
reena.bhoodram@msunduzi.gov.za or 033 392 2823

Previously - From the Collection

Migrations:  Time - Place - Culture

This eclectic display of British, French and South African art works spans more than three centuries. Each art work has its own story to tell.

This exhibition of art works selected form the Gallery’s permanent collection is hung together in thematic groupings. Despite differences in origin and influence, unexpected conversations between art works create interesting visual connections and collectively, the art works tell a story through this display.

Still Life with Omega Flowers (1919), by the English artist Roger Fry, was purchased in London for the Gallery’s collection in 1985. This painting extends the Gallery’s collection of British Post-Impressionist art works.

Between 1908 and 1912 the British artist, William Orpen, and his family spent their summers at Howth, a village just north of Dublin in Ireland. Howth Head offers spectacular views over the Irish Sea. A bell tent would be erected for shelter and it was here that Orpen started painting in the open air. He developed a distinctive plein-air style that featured figures composed of touches of colour with no drawn outline, influenced by the French Impressionists. In the Tent, Howth of 1912 is one of a series of paintings from this period.

View fullsize

William Orpen, In the Tent, Howth (1912)

The oldest and largest painting in this exhibition was painted by the Dutch artist, Jan Wijnants,  in about 1670 ((below) Jan Wijnants, Wooded Landscape (c.1670), oil on canvas). The painting migrated back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean a number of times.

In the early twentieth century a Mr Berlein from Johannesburg bought the painting at an auction in Paris for his wife. In about 1970 the painting was sold to Mrs Joice Nicholson. She sent the painting overseas for the December 1978 auction at Christies in London.  It did not realize the expected price, and was sent back to the Nicholsons at St Michaels-on-Sea, Natal. In 1983 Mr Nicholson donated the painting to the Tatham Art Gallery in memory of his deceased wife.

View fullsize

Jan Wijnants, Wooded Landscape (c.1670), oil on canvas

Judith Mason Attwood’s powerful mixed media triptych, From the Tombs of the Pharaohs of Jo’burg (1986), is a recent addition to this exhibition. According to the artist, the subject matter is meant to be neither an anti- capitalist nor pro-industrial monument. The assemblage symbolises a variety of men from Zulu to San who sought work on the Reef, with the gilded Tiger-fish of progress devouring the pastoral buck.

View fullsize

Judith Mason Attwood, From the Tombs of the Pharaohs of Jo’burg (1986), mixed media triptych.

The example below is by a famous Impressionist artist, and the painting has travelled as far as Japan for major exhibitions.

Born in Paris of British parents, Alfred Sisley probably decided to become an artist while living in London from 1857 to 1859. He trained as an artist and worked in France. Here he developed his mature style of varied surface texture by using looser, freer and more rhythmical bush strokes, as seen in this work.

View fullsize

Alfred Sisley (1839 – 1899), The Orchard, oil on canvas

Edward Wolfe, although regarded as a British artist, was born in Johannesburg. He moved to London in 1916 where he studied at the Slade School of Art. In 1917 he was invited by Roger Fry to join the Omega Workshop, an arts and craft design studio. It was here that he came under the influence of the controversial Bloomsbury group. Gabrielle Soene, a French dressmaker, was an assistant at Fry’s Omega Workshop and exhibited her costumes there. Both Fry and Wolfe painted her portrait during the same sitting in 1919, a hundred years ago. Fry’s portrait is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Wolfe altered his painting, replacing the Bloomsbury interior with a landscape background.

View fullsize

Edward Wolfe (1897-1982), Portrait of Gabrielle Soene, oil on canvas

This painting by John Northcote Nash, the brother of artist Paul Nash, is an example of early English Modernism. The dry application of paint is due to John Nash’s association with Harold Gilman at 19 Fitzroy Street, London, the rendezvous of a number of artists. Gilman warned Nash against mixing paint with oil. “There’s enough oil in the paint anyhow,” he said, “without adding more to the treacherous stuff.”

View fullsize

John Nash (1893-1977), Still Life, oil on canvas

Each of the varied European and South African art works on this display has its own story to tell. Preller’s painting, Still Life with Pomegranates (1951), is a typical assembly of objets trouvé used by the artist in his still life paintings. The patterned vase, fruit and wooden fruiterer’s box are all talismans to which he frequently turned for artistic inspiration. The patterned Persian vase becomes a central object. This vase, given to him as a boy by his mother, was cherished and was often referred to by Preller as one of his 'household gods', a collection of modest but important objects that were to inspire works throughout his lifetime.

View fullsize

Alexis Preller, Still Life with Pomegranates, oil on canvas

A brass plaque on the base of the frame is engraved; “Jan Hofmeyer Memorial trophy for public speaking, presented by Alan Paton”. This painting was used as floating trophy and presented to the winner of the Jan Hofmeyer Speech Contest which was held annually, until it was purchased by the Tatham Art Gallery.

Brendan Bell’s art work, Meditation: Avalon Springs (below) is a gouache work on paper, with elements of collage. It was created after a family holiday at a holiday resort. Viewers are invited to make their own interpretations of this complex work, which is structured like a medieval altar piece, by considering texture, water, landscape, religious icons, multicultural figures and even furniture.

View fullsize

Brendan Bell, Meditation: Avalon Springs, gouache & collage

Exhibitions from the Collection

Making Conversation

This eclectic display of British, French and South African art works spans more than three centuries. Each art work has its own story to tell.

This exhibition of art works selected form the Gallery’s permanent collection is hung together in thematic groupings. Despite differences in origin and influence, unexpected conversations between art works create interesting visual connections and collectively, the art works tell a story through this display.

Still Life with Omega Flowers (1919), by the English artist Roger Fry, was purchased in London for the Gallery’s collection in 1985. This painting extends the Gallery’s collection of British Post-Impressionist art works.

Between 1908 and 1912 the British artist, William Orpen, and his family spent their summers at Howth, a village just north of Dublin in Ireland. Howth Head offers spectacular views over the Irish Sea. A bell tent would be erected for shelter and it was here that Orpen started painting in the open air. He developed a distinctive plein-air style that featured figures composed of touches of colour with no drawn outline, influenced by the French Impressionists. In the Tent, Howth of 1912 is one of a series of paintings from this period.

The oldest and largest painting in this exhibition was painted by the Dutch artist, Jan Wijnants,  in about 1670 ((below) Jan Wijnants, Wooded Landscape (c.1670), oil on canvas). The painting migrated back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean a number of times.

In the early twentieth century a Mr Berlein from Johannesburg bought the painting at an auction in Paris for his wife. In about 1970 the painting was sold to Mrs Joice Nicholson. She sent the painting overseas for the December 1978 auction at Christies in London.  It did not realize the expected price, and was sent back to the Nicholsons at St Michaels-on-Sea, Natal. In 1983 Mr Nicholson donated the painting to the Tatham Art Gallery in memory of his deceased wife.

Judith Mason Attwood’s powerful mixed media triptych, From the Tombs of the Pharaohs of Jo’burg (1986), is a recent addition to this exhibition. According to the artist, the subject matter is meant to be neither an anti- capitalist nor pro-industrial monument. The assemblage symbolises a variety of men from Zulu to San who sought work on the Reef, with the gilded Tiger-fish of progress devouring the pastoral buck.

This painting by John Northcote Nash, the brother of artist Paul Nash, is an example of early English Modernism. The dry application of paint is due to John Nash’s association with Harold Gilman at 19 Fitzroy Street, London, the rendezvous of a number of artists. Gilman warned Nash against mixing paint with oil. “There’s enough oil in the paint anyhow,” he said, “without adding more to the treacherous stuff.”

Each of the varied European and South African art works on this display has its own story to tell. Preller’s painting, Still Life with Pomegranates (1951), is a typical assembly of objets trouvé used by the artist in his still life paintings. The patterned vase, fruit and wooden fruiterer’s box are all talismans to which he frequently turned for artistic inspiration. The patterned Persian vase becomes a central object. This vase, given to him as a boy by his mother, was cherished and was often referred to by Preller as one of his 'household gods', a collection of modest but important objects that were to inspire works throughout his lifetime.

A brass plaque on the base of the frame is engraved; “Jan Hofmeyer Memorial trophy for public speaking, presented by Alan Paton”. This painting was used as floating trophy and presented to the winner of the Jan Hofmeyer Speech Contest which was held annually, until it was purchased by the Tatham Art Gallery.

Brendan Bell’s art work, Meditation: Avalon Springs (below) is a gouache work on paper, with elements of collage. It was created after a family holiday at a holiday resort. Viewers are invited to make their own interpretations of this complex work, which is structured like a medieval altar piece, by considering texture, water, landscape, religious icons, multicultural figures and even furniture.

• Perimeter Gallery

The South African Landscape

This display, selected from the Gallery’s permanent collection, features landscape paintings by South African artists.  Any two or more paintings in this display invite comparison and discussion.

South African art legend and pioneer of township art, David Ntuthu Koloane, was born in 1938 and died in 2019.

Koloane is well known for his focus on promoting previously marginalised black artists from the townships, and for his role in establishing the Bag Factory Studio in Johannesburg. Koloane’s own paintings, drawings and collages explore the socio-political landscape in South Africa.

In this painting, Moonlight and Roses, Koloane has created what appears to be an idyllic scene. The title of the work suggests that romance is in the air as a couple stroll in the foreground and the moon rises over the city skyline behind them. But all is not what it appears to be. Koloane regularly includes stray dogs in his paintings, which represent vulnerability and stand as a metaphor or commentary on city life. It is not clear if the dogs are scavenging, fighting or playing, but their presence is an ominous suggestion that there is more to city life than meets the eye.

The paintings are as varied as the South African Landscape, and show many different ways in which artists engage with their environment.  To a greater or lesser degree, all of them deal with abstraction. Some images are easily readable as particular places while others merely suggest space.  All retain an abiding respect for the two-dimensionality of the painted surface.

Landscape is used as a springboard for diverse personal exploration.  There are challenges of suggesting spaces with marks and colour; engaging the viewer in experiencing particular weather conditions and landscape formations; and inviting consideration of environmental issues.  Many of the paintings depict people, sometimes starkly visible and at other times almost dissolved in the landscape.

Human figures are often completely absent from landscape paintings. When they do appear, they are often dominated by their surroundings. Figures can play various roles to enforce the artist’s view of the rural or urban environment. Images can range from detailed observation to simplification or even distortion, often to enhance a mood or express feelings. You are invited to ponder the depiction of figures in the paintings in the display.

The Diamond Bozas painting of the sugarcane lands of Zululand (above) is a rich source for such exploration.

Edith Picking Flowers was possibly painted in Kent. Valerie Leigh, a previous Director of the Tatham Art Gallery, wrote, “The prominent feature in this painting is the cliff. The inclusion of Edith in this painting has a special poignancy. The small figure is placed near the cliff which provides a sunny, flower-filled setting, emphasizing the figure’s femininity, vulnerability and mortality.”

This English landscape forms part of this exhibition for a special reason. It was painted by well known South African artist Bertha King Everard. Bertha and her sister Edith King were both born in South Africa but lived and studied art in England before their return to South Africa early in the 20th Century.

Landscapes by South African artists can stir up different associations with the land for different viewers, such as elements of memory and place.

In his landscape, Mist at kwaMenyezwayo (below) , Mduduzi Xakaza depicts the richness of the mountains and hills of his birth place in Maphumulo, KwaZulu-Natal.

This was also the home of artist Vuminkosi Zulu.

When the piece was painted, Xakaza was meditating deeply about the late Vuminkosi Zulu's work, whose life was often affected by bloody skirmishes between two communities within the amaBomvu Tribal Authority of kwaMenyezwayo. At some point, in the late 1980s, Zulu had to flee his home due to such conflicts.

The title of the painting Absence/Presence by Virginia MacKenny raises more questions than answers. The composition is strange with the focal point being a draped green cloth on the left side which dominates the painting. There is absence of water in the dry dam with the jetty standing exposed in the middle section  of the composition. A post with a sign only known by the artist is facing away from the viewer. Three boats lie abandoned on the sand.

This display, selected from the Gallery’s permanent collection, focuses on landscape painting by South African artists, but makes room for some exceptions. To a greater or lesser degree, all these artworks deal with abstraction.

Andrew Verster’s Storm Colour could suggest the climatic changes that are taking place and affecting our weather patterns which in many cases have become unpredictable and intense.

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef (1886-1957) is considered the iconic painter of the South African Landscape. Of Dutch parentage, he was born in South Africa but also spent time living in Europe, where he came into contact with broader contemporary ideas about art making. The work of Dutch artist and theorist Willem van Konijnenburg inspired Pierneef to greater abstraction of nature.

Pierneef spent most of his life in the Transvaal, but travelled widely around South Africa and Namibia. In 1951 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Natal.

Lola Frost’s enigmatic Between Here and There depicts an unspecified forest in which the trees appear to spew out like volcanic lava whilst also drawing the eye into and beyond. This spatial tension creates a sense of unease. Is the viewer invited in or cautioned not to enter this faintly menacing landscape? 

For concert goers they have become a serene background to the world-class music performed in this room. While listening, the audience could focus on a painting and ponder on the meaning of land from different perspectives. One could ask: Who painted this landscape? How has the scene changed over the years? What impact did the changes have on people’s lives?

• Lorna Ferguson Room

Vessels and Containers

Part of the current display is a historic overview of 20th century South African commercial potteries. These potteries, of which few still operate, played an important part in South African society between the two World Wars. Viewers interested in the history of design will find a fascinating fusion of European and African influences. 

On the right hand side as you enter, ceramics from a number of historical South African commercial studios are displayed in chronological order. Information about these studios is posted on the inner walls of the cabinets. Look out for indigenous imagery that contextualizes these South African ceramics.

On the left hand side of the room you will see hand-made ceramic vessels by well-known individual South African artists. Note that some male potters were influenced by traditional female Zulu potters.

• Ceramics Room

Containers for Liquid

Ceramics Room
Opens Thursday 01 March 2018

This display is a juxtaposition of liquid-holding containers from the Gallery’s permanent collection, which represents different cultures, purposes, designs and materials.

The artists have used materials as diverse as earthenware, stoneware, porcelain, glass, wood and metal.

The designs vary according to the liquids they are meant to hold, such as water, milk, beer, wine, tea, or coffee.

Can you distinguish South African vessels from Oriental and European ones?

There are a number of earthenware vessels. Some are high fired, but the bulk are low fired and burnished. The vessel by Maggie Mikula has been embellished with a beaded design, rendering the vessel more sculptural and decorative than functional.

Porcelain originated in the East and has been widely used to hold hot liquids. René Lalique (1860-1945) was a famous French designer of glass containers, often used as vases. The Nala and Magwaza families are renowned for their exquisitely decorated burnished earthenware forms, based on traditional Zulu beer vessels.

On show are vessels made from materials as diverse as earthenware, porcelain, glass, wood, and bronze. We challenge you as the viewer to compare the various forms and functions.

The vessel by Hendrik Stroebel (above) is too large for a cabinet and is mounted on a free standing wrought-iron stand. The design represents different cultures and religions, and is a surprizing combination of metal, clay and embroidery.

The delicate Limoges cups and saucers arrived at the Tatham Art Gallery between 1923 and 1926 as part of the valuable Whitwell collection. This French town is famous for its fine 19th Century porcelain.

Look out for unique vessels produced at the famous Rorke’s Drift Art Centre near Dundee.

The two coffee pots on the exhibition are both examples of early South African studio pottery. See if you can find all ten teapots on display including the large Ardmore teapot (below).

• Ceramics Room

Making Conversation 

Perimeter Gallery 

The art works in this display are drawn from the Gallery’s European and South African collections. Conversations are created by juxtaposing art works created in different places, at different times, but which have interesting visual connections. 

This display also invites the viewer to make other comparisons, whether functional, stylistic or symbolic, or the original intentions of the artists. 

The painting of lemons by Dorothy Browne remains pertinent today with many local home-made remedies created to boost immunity against the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Paintings on display by Siyabonga Sikosana and Thami Jali consider South African township life. The artisits’ use of materials and differences in style and observation, make for an interesting dialogue.