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% * THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANDSCAPE in Painting ^nd literature Diaaortation pri.-atinted for the Decree of Master of Arts in the University of the Witwatcrornnd by Frieda Ham son. July, 1958. ^ONTENTS: Introduction: 1: L'i n a sc ape in printing and literature: oouth African heritage: ?! The sea: 3: The Cape: Flowers in the landscape: 4: Natal: ?! Veld and farm: The animals in the landscape; The Karroo: 6: Symbol of Africa: Conclusion: : App ndix i : Extracts from literature: Appendix 3: ihotographs: Between pages Index: Bibliography: 1: Ref. renee: 2: Lit' nature: List of collections and • xhibitions of paintings: Not s on th< photographs: Li»t uf on«; 1. ^>Cr, toiler: Seuscnpe. 2. Cecil Higgs: S-ildanha (V,e.:t). 3. C oil Higi a: Rising Tide. 4. Cc-il Higgs: 3t Bird;;. 5. Ii t, r Wanning: Caju ,1 t s . 6. 7. 'r gvirc Buonr-vii r: .’in.: rm r; . 8. 9. Jean olz• Brandvlei. 1C. 11. r nning: Gum Tn s. .* u ;z • Br tr. it - rg< . • Hugo . udJ: .)} !'int t ir in V . ;u 1 .nd. 14. Gero . itl : Hi-ht C .ctus. 15. 2'• kki "1 ff: ; .no in. r.-u s. 16. Gt rda it l : S uth C< .at R< i. Cl r.t Sen qu : Vili-.y ,f • Th> u. nd Hill. Fr ncois Frige : h nut ; itoro. • Le Roux Smith Lo P.oux: He it Hizo. • • . J.F. Ii rn Cum^ sitiun. Frans Otrdvr: View of the Rand in th- E-• rly Days 23. - '.It-, r I- . M i .a • Et ■ n . ' lac . • . 26. J ;n Volschtnek: Kirroo. • J.H. l it rn* f: Farr o. 28. M iurice v n Es. cn : . r . Alexis t r< il< r: Re d Fi.-;ur . a ! xia Pro lit r: Hi ratic Aaa n. 31. itl xia i relit r: rim v r . 32. Alexia Pr- Her: Thr Figures. 33. M ■ g-;i > Liuba* r: j-' rv ;it im . 34. I rn.'. St • rn. -v : ? ,i Gin 1; ■. 35. N rin: L* smunu ■ Tl - Goat Girl. 36. Maggi Laubavr: Ducks . INTRODUCTION: "For the right understanding of the South African people and their problem, the first re~ quip te is a clear comprehension of their land" A: ' ^Vc Schreiner in 1 8 9 1 (1 ), b'>t to a large c. nt this statement may still be accepted as valxd today. The South African landscape has hud and s t i l l has a profound influence on tha people. This is well illustrated in Die Stem by C.J. Lungunhovtn. The poem is almost entirely a des­ cription of the landscape, and a d dication not primarily to the people, the history or the traditions or ideal a of the land, but to the land its e lf. It is the J .nu-icape which has formed the p.-ople and their history, their traditions and customs, and to a consi i r hi extent their language. The voca­ bulary, rh;» a , and idiom in both English and Af. ikn.ns may in several Inst nc* s be s vn as a reflection of the ■ nvironm.nt. The varied South nfric »n landscape in which "there is nothing m asur. i, small nor petty" (. ) seems to have an almost hypnotic influence ver its inhabitai . and will almist invariably bring them buck if ev r they should lc- ivc. Tnvy can hardly explain their return other than: "There is no room there ( Europe), you know. I t ’s so fro- h r ." (j). Olive Schrein r tri. s to form an an-logy to give some explanation for this str mge fascination the country has for it.; people: "South Afric-. is like • ■ f i r s t time wond r it th pow r x■ raises, and those who cone close to her fall und r it :nd n< v r leave her for anything smaller, b- ceuei at a lib r- atcs them." (4). It is no wond1 r then, th it th Uouth Af: leans should oxpre-su the-m8v.lves in to mi of the ir land­ scape, and thi t for a long time landiicaj ■ ind rural life should be practically the only subject matter for the painter, the po t md the novelist. If an experience was expressed through landscape it ’./as likely / 1 ). Olive Schreiner: Thoughts on South Africa: pg 30. 2 ). I bid. pg (oO. 3). Ibid. pg hO. 4). Ibid. pg 50 - 51- i iv. likely to be understood by all for it would then become a definition of o common exj't.rj nee. It would .ipjutr, however, that no scholarly study has been made concerning the influence of the landscape on the emotional and artistic exjression of the South Africans. Mention h s be n mode of it frequently in essays and belles lott "os such as the usoty by Olive hchrciner from which has bo n quoted above, the essay by Willem van dor Berg: Die asya .1 ou 1aroo and the "le tte r" describing the North west by Elisabeth Ver- meulen. Laurence Gre.n in his nuin rouo informative books on Africa indicate ’ in hla anocdotos about the people i.o has met tl at ho is aware of the grasp that the landscajo his on these people, but he dots not go further to investigate if this may have been reflected in their artistic exp r sol on. P ractically a ll parts of th land have been used as sufcj ct matter to conv y a ..ood, to express an emotion, to leditatf or to id alise. Some parts have inapir d ,ior. work th in others. The Karroo, fur ( xa ..pit , has a quite inexplicable power to m.kc a r tis ts produce th e ir most moving work, nd so any hav ttcmptod to depict it that one might v nture to s :y th .t .11 have • has insp ir d almost no work < f ny :nif ic nc . The following chapters each d< .1 with : c rt in asjvct of th-: subj- ct m attrr, viz: th< . uuth African l.nuac .p, , and an attv ipt is ie to show how th v.riuus i .rts of the country h-ve bt n iai loyi d by r tis ts of the various ja riods in th- ir tls tic ch v 1opm nt in South Africa. V.ithin th ch .ptors th< mo< Ivas an att, .apt is made, wherev r p-osaiblo, to p-r<on nt th n> cond nd more import mt divi.iion, viz: tin thr distinct stag s of development in .rt in this country from th- be­ ginning of the c.ntury up to up vroxii ut-ly 1940 - r'0. (' ) This division is more or less repetitive throughout the essay / 5). Reference is made to the most recent work of veil-known artists - l.o . work published or exhibited after 1959 - but th< sc xrtists had already taken a leading position in either liter­ ature or ]minting before 1950. (In the case of the poets most had contribut :d valuable work in the thirties). Only in . f-w cas s has the work of younger artists, whose work was introduced during the forties, been r ferred to in order to compare or to comp-1 t( ■ section. V. essay, but the pattern is r< vualod as one unit in the /'hole or final ircsentution. It will be seen that the re alists and impressionists worked mainly in the Cape - and are therefore considered near the beginning of the essay; the semi-realists - or a mbor.j of the group of the so-called "middle period" - concentrated largely on the ■farm and void theme, and the "symbolists" give the all- embracing expression of Africa us a whole. It was necessary to select severely throughout. The choiC' of r t i s t s and work was determined mainly by the divisions into chapters; in oth r words by the subject matt* r. Therefore in some cases the work discussed may be of inferior quality, „nd some 1 .ser rtists may be included while so ne be tto r known names ar omitt d. This was very often necessary tv illustrate a joint, to form a p a ra lle l or to giva a continuity and som form of com- 1 1ctr ness tc the whole. More ti.-v. and sj tc hfi3 been d votvd to the Afrikaans contribution to Jcath African lit r ture than th Eng­ lish , m .inly b c ust. it is th< Afrikaner in particular who has that strong nostilgic longing fur th- open spaces which drives him to express hlms*; If in t nns of the land­ scape and the . lea nt.i within it. B, aides, th* Afrik .ns community larg ly has t ru ril b .ckground .» oj j os d to the. g« ncrally aor c ity-brcd English South African, nd therefore th Afrikaner in m my c ses has a more intimate knowledge of the countrys Id* . S condly th r* 1 - aor literature h re* in Afrik . ms than in English. Th. English speaking memb rs of tr* community did not , xg ri nee such a strong incentive to writ . They had no victory to win. Their language was firmly ust iblished with a hi; tory nd a v-st lit* r turo to support it (6). Th* Afrik .n* t had to • v/riters have, however, ccntri but i v* ry v ■ luabl* work and hold an important position in thi d* Vi lopr:.

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