NICOLAAS

MARITZ

Paintings

2011 - 2014

M. Dawid Ras Gallery

JOHANNESBURG

NICOLAAS MARITZ

Paintings: 2011 - 2014

2 - 30 August 2014

M. Dawid Ras Gallery

18 Silvela Road Sandown Estate, Sandton

Johannesburg SOUTH AFRICA

www.dawidras.com

Nicolaas Maritz’s artistic roots are deeply embedded in the Southern African landscape. Drawing inspiration from its shapes, its colours and its creatures, he has, over the past thirty years, created a unique body of work, instantly recogniz-able by virtue of the idiosyncrasy of his vision and the immedi-acy of the manner in which it is realized. Curious juxtapositions – of the real and the fantastical, the natural and the artificial, the simple and the complex, the humorous and the sinister – are a defining characteristic of Maritz’s art.

Many writers have commented on this aspect of his work, and on the creative friction generated by this interplay of contradic-tory elements, which extends also to his stylistic usage and artistic aims. In describing his paintings, Hilary Prendini Toffoli comments, “though deceptively naive, in a retro technique evocative of the 30’s and 40’s, these multi-levelled paintings manage at the same time to be both meaningful and decora-tive.”

Maritz is a prolific artist, but possesses an almost boundless ability to reinvent his aesthetic approach. He is particularly known for his paintings of the South African and Namibian landscape, especially for his singular portrayals of Table Mountain, but his extensive oeuvre is by no means limited to this genre. It includes a large body of paintings, as well as drawings and prints, with occasional excursions into graphic, textile and interior design, illustration, ceramics, sculpture and works in other media.

Maritz was born into an artistic Pretoria family, his father an archi-tect and his mother a ceramic artist. Early influences which were to inform his work, were derived from his parents, his grand-mother, and two aunts. Their watercolours, graphic work, ceram-ics, drawings and illustrations inspired the young Maritz and helped to form his precocious artistic sensibility, long before he reached art school. Art books and reproductions featuring the work of the Fauvists, Matisse and the Post-Impressionists also played an important part in his formative years. Momentous en-counters with Walter Battiss’s playful artistic exuberance, the dark and colloquial surrealist approach of Fred Page, and the sometimes garishly coloured and highly stylized works of Jacob Hendrik Pierneef, left lasting impressions.

Since his first one man exhibition of graphic works at the Eastern Cape Association of Arts in 1976, Maritz has established himself as a significant South African painter and artistic personality. His works are collected widely, and now appear regularly on the local auction house circuit, a reliable indicator of established success.

This exhibition aims to give a concise overview of Maritz’s recent landscape, still life and other paintings, and broadly chronicle the artist’s subject-matter and working methods between 2011 and 2014.

NICOLAAS MARITZ

Paintings: 2011 - 2014

Opposite: Portrait of the artist in his Darling studio

2. FOUR BLUE LEMONS 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 590 x 490mm

2. VIER BLOU SUURLEMOENE 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 590 x 490mm

1. BLUE PLATE WITH LEMONS 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 590 x 490mm

1. BLOU BORD MET SUURLEMOENE 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 590 x 490mm

3. BLACK AND YELLOW LEMONS 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 295 x 392mm 3. SWART EN GEEL SUURLEMOENE 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 295 x 392mm

4. SPOOKY LEMONS 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 295 x 420mm 4. SPOKERIGE SUURLEMOENE 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 295 x 420mm

6. TWO GAYS WITH THE SAME TASTE 2011 Enamel Paint on Board 560 x 620mm 6. TWEE GAYS MET DIESELFDE SMAAK 2011 Emaljeverf op Bord 560 x 620mm

5. ART FEVER 2011 Enamel Paint on Board 507 x 555mm 5. KUNSKOORS 2011 Emaljeverf op Bord 507 x 555mm

7. ONE AND A HALF ART COLLECTOR 2011 Enamel Paint on Board 555 x 620mm 7. EEN EN ‘N HALF KUNSVERSAME-LAAR 2011 Emaljeverf op Bord 555 x 620mm

8. FENNEL AND MANGO VIEW 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 880 x 880mm 8. VINKEL EN MANGO-UITSIG 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 880 x 880mm

9. BLUE EGG-PLANT VIEW 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 680 x 590mm 9. BLOU EIERPLANT-UITSIG 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 680 x 590mm

10. LIEFIE IN THE GARDEN 2013, Enamel Paint on Board, 590 x 830mm

10. LIEFIE IN DIE TUIN 2013, Emaljeverf op Bord, 590 x 830mm

11. BLUE GARDEN CAT 2013, Enamel Paint on Board, 590 x 830mm

11. BLOU TUINKAT 2013, Emaljeverf op Bord, 590 x 830mm

12. TWO TROPHY HUNTERS 2011 Enamel Paint on Board 610 x 610mm 12. TWEE TROFEEJAGTERS 2011 Emaljeverf op Bord 610 x 610mm

13. ELEPHANT FETISH 2011 Enamel Paint on Board 620 x 510mm 13. OLIFANT FETISJ 2011 Emaljeverf op Bord 620 x 510mm

14. SMALL YELLOW JUG VIEW 2014 Enamel Paint on Board, 680 x 590mm 14. KLEIN GEEL BEKER-UITSIG 2014 Emaljeverf op Bord, 680 x 590mm

15. PINK BOWL ON STRIPED CLOTH 2014, Enamel Paint on Board, 720 x 1200mm

15. PIENK SKOTTEL OP STREEPLAP 2014, Emaljeverf op Bord, 720 x 1200mm

16. CAPE KOPPIE I 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 580 x 730mm 16. KAAPSE KOPPIE I 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 580 x 730mm

17. NAMIBIAN HILLS 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 590 x 725mm 17. NAMIBIESE HEUWELS 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 590 x 725mm

18. RED TABLECLOTH VIEW 2014 Enamel Paint on Board, 620 x 485mm

18. ROOI TAFELDOEK UITSIG 2014 Emaljeverf op Bord, 620 x 485mm

19. RED LEMON 2013 Enamel Paint on Board, 295 x 420mm 19. ROOI SUURLEMOEN 2013 Emaljeverf op Bord, 295 x 420mm

20. YELLOW JUG AND PINK PLATE VIEW 2012, Enamel Paint on Board, 575 x 980mm

20. GEEL KRUIK EN PIENK BORD UITSIG 2012, Emaljeverf op Bord, 575 x 980mm

NICOLAAS MARITZ Paintings, Drawings & Prints

A new full colour, 100 page monograph with artist’s notes. Includes comprehensive Introduction, Biography, Exhibitions List,

Collections and Bibliography.

Shelf price: R250 incl.VAT

Mail order: R250 + postage Available from:

Penny Dobbie Gallery, Cape Town: 021 424 8349 / denarius@mweb.co.za Kalk Bay Modern, Cape Town: 021 788 6571 / kbm@iafrica.com Clarke’s Bookshop, Cape Town: 021 423 5739 / books@clarkesbooks.co.za Book League, Darling: 022 492 2667 / bookleague@telkomsa.net Dawid Ras, Johannesburg: 082 492 9777 / mdawidr@iafrica.com Nicolaas Maritz, Darling: 022 492 3202 / 078 419 7093 / maritzstudio@telkomsa.net