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Karoo Church, 580mm x 450mm, framed acrylic on canvas
Vondeling Station, 590mm x 440mm framed acrylic on canvas
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Verlatenheid, 930mm x 740mm framed acrylic on canvas
Three Eucalyptus Trees, 390mm x 315mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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Seekoegat Hotel, 625mm x 680mm, framed acrylic on canvas
Mount Stewart Church, 630mm x 460mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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The Green Enamel Jug, 520mm x 595mm, framed acrylic on canvas
The Karoo, 820mm x 580mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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Late Afternoon, 750mm x 990mm, framed acrylic on canvas
Karoo Hotel, 930mm x 740mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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Window, 525mm x 690mm, framed acrylic on canvas
Karoo Threshold, 480mm x 580mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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Threshold, 720mm x 940mm, framed acrylic on canvas
Shadows Lengthen, 930mm x 730mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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Blue Door I, framed acrylic on canvas, 410mm x 510mm
Blue Door II, framed acrylic on canvas, 410mm x 510mm
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Filigree, 620mm x 790mm, framed acrylic on canvas
The Journey, 380mm x 500mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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Tankwa Landscape, 1330mm x 970mm, framed acrylic on canvas
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Leeu Gamka Farmhouse, reduction woodcut, framed: 535mm x 390mm, image size: 300mm x 210mm
Warthog, etching, framed: 310mm x 375mm, paper size: 200mm x 265mm, image size: 100mm x 100mm
Garingbome, etching, framed: 310mm x 375mm, Unframed: 200mm x 265mm, image size: 100mm x 50mm
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Verlatenheid, etching, framed size: 440mm x 440mm, paper size: 390mm x 265mm, image size: 210mm x 150mm
Karoo Icon, etching, framed size: 310mm x 375mm, paper size: 200mm x 265mm, image size: 100mm x 50mm
Karoo Farm House, linocut, framed size: 530mm x 480mm paper size: 500mm x 350mm, image size: 300mm x 210mm
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Side-by-side, etching,framed size: 310mm x 375mm, paper size: 200mm x 265mm, image size: 90mm x 75mm
Shady Woodland, etching, framed size: 470mm x 365mm, paper size: 395mm x 265mm, image size: 245mm x 95mm
Winter Filigree, etching, framed size: 580mm x 520mm, paper size: 535mm x 390mm, image size: 295mm x 200mm
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Dearest Rosalina, etching, framed size: 420mm x 525mm, paper size: 265mm x 395mm, image size: 145mm x 210mm,
Forest, etching, framed size: 420mm x 525mm, paper size: 265mm x 395mm, image size: 150mm x 200mm
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Remember, etching, framed size: 420mm x 515mm paper size: 260mm x 395mm, image size: 150mm x 200mm
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“Nostalgia” Diane Johnson-Ackerman. Words by: Wendy Malan The Prince Albert Gallery will be celebra2ng the pain2ngs and prints of Diane Johnson-Ackerman in a solo exhibi2on from 31 March - 2 May 2021. Diane studied under Prof Brian Bradshaw at Rhodes University and exhibited with the Grahamstown Group. She has worked consistently and prolifically since gradua2ng in 1973, par2cipa2ng in many shows, including the Stellenbosch Woordfees, the KKNK and South African Society of Ar2sts exhibi2ons. Diane has completed important commissions including a series of pain2ngs of historical buildings related to the University of Stellenbosch Faculty of AgriSciences Centenary Celebra2ons during 2018. Diane Johnson-Ackerman is a painter and printmaker of extraordinary technical ability and draUsmanship. Her etchings (a notoriously difficult medium) are flawlessly executed. Diane’s work has always a\racted me because of its quiet Roman2cism, its mysterious and some2mes disquie2ng atmosphere. Roman2cism is a label that has oUen been abused because it has been associated with the term sen2mentality. Diane’s is all but sen2mental, and has a quality which is more easily detected in the visual arts than defined. It is not a style but an a_tude of the mind. Roman2cism has to do with the choice of subject ma\er. It reflects a general tenor of feeling and a spiritual engagement. There is an element of nostalgia and yearning, of the passing of 2me and human frailty in these beau2ful works. The uninhabited houses, buildings and empty chairs in Diane’s work evoke a par2cular presence, a past, a life. She creates this mood largely by a masterful use of light and shade. “I love the mystery of shadows within Karoo buildings, contras2ng with the clarity of the light outside”, she always says. “I love simplicity, cleanliness, detail and defini2on, mood is an integral part of my message, done through tonal contrast in light and shade”. Trees are also a favourite theme, once again not merely accurate botanically but reflec2ng her love of trees. This stems from a life2me of living and working in close proximity to nature and in par2cular the forests of the Mpumalanga Escarpment and the Midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. Diane and her husband Pierre live in Somerset West but have a home in Prince Albert where they spend much of their 2me. Diane has a deep love and understanding of the Karoo and captures its unique atmosphere. Diane has been exhibi2ng at the Prince Albert gallery for many years and this solo exhibi2on will be a unique opportunity to see her work. Wendy Malan
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