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26 JULY 2016
ART
The benevolent palette of Hennie Niemann Snr With his 75th birthday just around the corner, Hennie Niemann Snr shows no sign of slowing down or retreating into the shadows of old age. His home in Vermont is a welcoming space where people constantly drop in and out, his phone rings frequently and his inbox is flooded with emails. Several rooms are taken up by his art and there are canvases, works in progress, completed paintings, framed originals and piles of fine art prints everywhere. “When death comes to tap me on the shoulder, I’ll probably say ‘not now, I’m busy!’” he quips. As one of South Africa’s most highly regarded artists, Hennie’s humble spirit and down-toearth generosity is integral to his life and work. As founder and core donor of the Nika Trust in Hermanus, he is as devoted to the protection and support of the poor and vulnerable in our community as he is to his art. The list of Nika’s beneficiaries is growing by the day and Hennie’s dedication to improving the lives of those less fortunate, especially women and children, has become a big part of his life. With this willingness to share his time, attention and means with others, it seems miraculous that Hennie is able to continue producing art at such a prolific rate. “I don’t mind the interruptions,” he says good-humouredly. “I’ve always been able to pick up where I left off.” An early riser, even in the dead of winter, I suspect Hennie gets a day’s work done before the rest of us have even woken up.
continued to paint in his free time. It was only in 1983 that he decided to follow his true calling and pursue a full-time career as an artist. He remembers his mother saying to him: “Boet, how can you do that? You’re a family man with responsibilities.” Hennie was encouraged in his decision by the late artist Gregoire Boonzaaier, who was an early supporter of his work. He moved with his now ex-wife Magriet and two young children to Vermont, where he built a house on a plot right across the road from Gregoire’s home and studio. While Hennie admits that the early years were difficult, he never looked back. The children attended school in Hermanus and today his son, Hennie Niemann Jnr, a celebrated artist in his own right, lives in Onrus with his winemaker wife Marelise, while his daughter Louise, who studied for her MBA qualification at the London School of Business, lives in Ireland with her family. As a self-taught artist, Hennie found inspiration in the works of the French Impressionists and later the Flemish and German Expressionists, and the Fauves. Closer to home, his development as an artist was influenced by the mentorship of Gregoire Boonzaaier as well as Father Claerhout, who became a close friend when Hennie was teaching at Tweespruit Agricultural School.
Born in Bloemfontein in 1941, Hennie was the second of five children and the only boy in the family. During his school years, his intense interest in art saw him pouring over art books from the library, browsing art galleries and experimenting with different media. Preferring sketching, drawing and painting to games and schoolwork, Hennie’s talent was recognised at a young age when his work was selected for an exhibition alongside an impressive group of leading South African artists when he was only 12 years old.
Working mainly in oils, Hennie developed his own iconic style of expressionist painting, often depicting scenes from the local environment. He enjoyed observing people in their working environment and some of his most well-known works are of farm labourers harvesting wheat, fynbos pickers collecting bunches of indigenous flowers and fisher folk sorting their catch. These works capture the fluent rhythm and flow of the worker’s movements, depicted in bold strokes of rich primary colours that express the vibrant African landscape.
Hennie studied at the University of the Free State and qualified as a teacher in 1964. While teaching at various schools for 17 years, he
There is an air of serene simplicity and innocence to these works that pays tribute to Hennie’s sincere and compassionate
Hennie Niemann Snr on the deck of his home in Vermont (above) and working in his studio (right). approach to his subject matter. While celebrating the beauty of nature and the bounty of life, his works also capture a sense of vulnerability, tenderness and even sorrow, especially in his portraits. Rich in pathos and wisdom, they express the fragility and mystery of the human life. Among his favourite subjects are harlequins, but Hennie’s portraits differ from the traditional clown. The eyes, specifically, express a wide range of emotions universal to all people. Hennie explains, “Both the onlooker and the clown attempt to understand each other’s emotions, thereby establishing mutual empathy, the one becoming the other.” As an artist, Hennie continues to evolve and explore different styles and genres. “I don’t want to stagnate and continue producing work in the same vein,” he says. “I’m more interested now in the abstract – in things that don’t really exist except in our imagination and subconscious.” His later works include figures inhabiting a dream landscape and he is currently working on a series of paintings based on N P van Wyk Louw’s epic poem Raka, attempting to capture both the good and evil sides that co-exist in human beings and humanity. Another new departure are
abstract compositions in dark shades of predominantly black, brown and grey that explore archeologic themes. Numbering among the country’s most revered artists, Hennie’s art is highly prized by galleries and auction houses, and he is represented in private collections world-wide. His works can be viewed at the Niemann Snr Gallery on the corner of Van Blommenstein Street and Lagoon Drive in Onrus. A solo exhibition of his work will be opened at The Stellenbosch Art Gallery on Saturday 30 July, where Hennie’s new book ‘Niemann – Creative Spirit’ will also be launched in celebration of his remarkable artistic career spanning five decades. The exhibition will run until 5 August. Contact Stellenbosch Art Gallery on 021 887 8343. - Hedda Mittner