Gregoire Johannes Boonzaier (South African, 1909-2005)


Self-portrait signed and dated 'Gregoire/ 1929' (lower left)oil on canvas31 x 27cm (12 3/16 x 10 5/8in).
|ProvenancePurchased by a private collector in South Africa, circa 1960s.By direct descent.Like the Dutch master Rembrandt, Boonzaier used himself as a tool for artistic development and experimentation. The self-portraits that he painted throughout his career were primarily for his own enjoyment, although they were frequently well-received by the public. Following a successful exhibition at the University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein, in 1981, he commented that he had been struck by the enthusiasm for his "less typical or unusual works, particularly those which I had made for my own enjoyment: drawings and watercolours of Venice, self-portraits, paintings of farm labourers, fishermen, fish heads, shoes and so on".The experimental nature of Boonzaier's self-portraits becomes evident when one compares them. They are painted in a variety of media - oil, watercolour and pastel - and employ a full range of colours and textures. The compositions are not repetitive; they are sensitive variations that attempt to work towards the essence of the subject.The art historian, Martin Bekker, claimed that the driving impulse behind these self-portraits was the desire for "perfect characterisation":"In those character studies which are often described as self-portraits (although here not in the sense of a realistic or faithful reproduction of facial features), Gregoire's art reaches a visionary climax. The self-portraits are, in fact, expressive attempts at self-examination in which the soul is ruthlessly exposed. They are disciplined examples of the painter's art."BibliographyM.Bekker, Gregoire, (Cape Town, 1990), pp.82-83, 91-92.