Obituary: Pieter van der Westhuizen 1931 - 2008 SA’s most popular artist painted a better world for himself Steve Kretzmann Probably every adult in the country has seen Pieter van der Westhuizen’s work. At the very least, a greeting card, print or calendar displaying his work can be found in almost every South African home. But there will be no new artworks to be produced by this prolific artist, for his life ended on the night of 30th December 2008, after some months of ill-health. After 77 years, most of it spent producing paintings and drawings in a wide variety of mediums, he has left South Africa with a wealth of artwork which have vast popular appeal. So popular, in fact, that his agent of 12 years, Leonard Schneider, is adamant that he is the most sold South African artist to date. Van der Westhuizen’s 65th birthday exhibition, which Schneider said was the largest solo exhibition to be held in the country, was sold out. And while many of the “hoi polloi” did not consider him a “great artist” or a “collectable item”, said Schneider, van der Westhuizen, like Tretchikoff, has proving his critics wrong. Works which sold for about R15 000 12 years ago are now being sold for over R100 000, said Schneider. Even Irma Stern’s work, he said, did not escalate as rapidly in value. He said van der Westhuizen’s works, which “had no angst in them”, held universal appeal and had sold to people from all corners of the globe. In fact, van der Westhuizen’s work is held in private and corporate collections in 17 different countries. His slightly naïve, lyrical portraits and landscapes, were described by former president FW de Klerk, as conveying “love and compassion and a common humanity”. Those who knew him well say he enjoyed what he did, and he was not surprised that others enjoyed it too. But neither was he apparently much bothered by his critics. After all, galleries were hungry for every piece of work he produced.
His work was “comforting rather than confrontational” said de Klerk, whose wife Marike was an ardent admirer of van der Westhuizen’s work. Van der Westhuizen himself admitted that he used art to escape, rather than confront, this world. In one of the few references to his childhood, he said: “…[T]he world I found myself in was not a comfortable one... At around the age of four I decided that this life was not for me. I began creating another world for myself - in pictures.” Born in Pretoria on March 22, 1931, his mother died when he was three and his father put him in the care if his maternal grandparents. While van der Westhuizen said his grandmother bestowed on him all the love she could muster, they were archetypal poor Afrikaaners and she was a “battle-axe” shaped by trying circumstances. Leaving school after standard eight to begin an apprenticeship at Iscor – a common feature of working class Afrikaanerdom – van der Westhuizen said he continued to feel out of place. But he managed to eventually get his matric, moved up to a white-collar job at Iscor and settled in Cape Town’s southern suburbs with his attractive wife Lettie. His day job limited his painting, but once his son Jan finished his education, van der Westhuizen resigned and moved to Rawsonville, where he worked full-time as an artist. They were happy years, writes his friend Prof Jan van Arkel in the book Pieter van der Westhuizen, and in 1979 he got the opportunity to study at the Nationale Hoger Instituut voor Schone Kunster in Belgium. But not long after they returned, Lettie died, suddenly and unexpectedly. Van Arkel said van der Westhuizen “was devastated”, and spent days sitting under the tree in the front yard, doing nothing. Escaping his memories, he left Rawsonville for Hout Bay and spent long periods of time overseas.
He would often make unplanned trips to Europe, seemingly coming and going on a whim. Van Arkel said there was an occasion when his son Jan wanted to know how he could get hold of his father. Van Arkel had to say that he did not know where he was nor when he would be back. He studied again in ’82 and ’85 at the Stedelijke Akademie in Ghent and the Ryks Centrum voor Grafiek in Kasterlee, Belgium. In ’83 and ’85 he travelled to Japan and studied wood-block printing. In 1984 he married a young Israeli girl named Ofra, whom he had initially employed to produce prints for him. The Israeli connection led to trips there and an exhibition with Marc Chagall, Yaacov Agam and Ben Avram in Madrid in ’88. A Chagallian influence can be seen in some of his work thereafter. But his marriage to Ofra ended in divorce after seven years. While it was a major blow to him, his second marriage gave him the gift of his daughter Ma’ayan. He enjoyed a close relationship with her, attending her wedding just ten days before his death. But cupid had not exhausted his quiver. In 1993 he married Zebeth van Heerden, a teacher in the small town of Philadelphia, where he had settled on the edge of the Swartland. Although Pieter suffered a heart attack and subsequent bouts of ill-health in what was to be the final phase of his life, the overall impression gathered is that despite what Rev Jan Mostert described as his “sophistication”, he also possessed an “utter simplicity” which did not fetter him with the melancholy which often troubles creative minds. He loved what he did, he was successful at it, at the end of his days he shared love with a woman who provided stability and companionship, and he could look over far horizons every day. It seems that after an inauspicious start, he finally found a comfortable place in this world.
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Pieter van der Westhuizen
Photo:Thabo Stegman
Celebration
Girl with red chicken
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NAUDE, PIETER HUGO (SA 1868 - 1941) “Washerwomen, Ceres” Oil on panel (23.5 x 28.5cm)
SOUTH AFRICAN ART, AFRICANA & ART REFERENCE BOOKS, NUMISMATICS COLLECTION MONDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2009 1271 Church Street East, Hatfield, Pretoria Wolfe Street • Chelsea • Wynberg • Tel: 021 761 2816 + Buitengracht Street • Cape Town • Tel: 021 423 2090 E-mail: gallery@infinart.co.za • web www.infinart.co.za
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