South African artists influenced by African and indigenous art forms - Walter Battiss Flashcards
What year was Walter Battiss born in?
1906
What year did Walter Battiss die in?
1982
Where was Walter Battiss born?
Somerset-East in the Eastern Cape.
What was Walter Battiss interested in?
He had an abiding interest in the rock art of the San people.
How did Walter Battisse earn a living?
He was the art teacher at Pretoria Boys’ High School for over 30 years. From 1965-1971 he was a professor of fine arts at UNISA.
Which group was Walter Battisse a founding member of?
The New Group.
What were Walter Battisse’s main influences?
San Rock Art and Africa.
How was Battisse known by the public?
The Bushmen Painter.
What did Walter Battisse’s interest in San Rock Art lead to?
His break with naturalism and movement to symbolic simplification and schematic portrayals without perspective or shadows.
Which parts of Walter Battiss’s work stems from Africa?
The themes, content and symbolism.
What is Battiss’s work about?
His work is about an idea or theme, rather than a representation of something.
How does Battiss’s work relate to African art?
He uses symbols and they are more important, similar to African art where art is always a symbol of something.
What are the common characteristics of Battiss’s artworks?
Flights of the imagination; exotic fantasies; use of rich colour and fascinating themes.
What emotion is associated with Battiss’s work?
His work is always joyful.
Does Battisse focus on literal or figurative art works?
Figurative works.
What are the main stylistic characteristics of Battiss’s art?
Strong, bright colours; eliminated space; flat surfaces; simplified shapes; eliminated chiaroscuro and anatomical detail.
What did Battisse take over from San art?
The use of large, flat colour planes with little perspective or modelling from San art. The elimination of detail and the use of elongated figures that are an African symbol of man.
Why is Battisse considered an important SA artist?
He created unique SA art using the mystique of Africa’s past as inspiration in his work. He mixed Africa and Europe together and incorporated styles like Pop Art.
What was Fook?
A playful alternative world from his imagination.
When did Walter Battiss paint “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
1955
What medium did Walter Battisse use for “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
Oil on canvas.
Describe the subject of “Fishermen Drawing Nets”.
A naturalistic scene of the daily task of a group of African people. He likely witnessed the scene and recreated it in an expressive style.
What style of work was “Fishermen Drawing Nets” done in?
Expressionistic
What does Battiss’s choice of subject matter connect to?
His interest in cultures other than his own as can be seen in many of his more realistic works.
What does the art works of Walter Battiss focus our attention on?
The responsibilities of daily living and, like the San, he shows the bigger picture of the community, from a distance.
How are people shown in “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
People are shown as black schemes and not in detail.
What did Battiss base the imaginative composition of “Fishermen Drawing Nets” on?
The motifs of San rock art.
What typical elements of his works did Battiss include in “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
He doesn’t try to show depth; Action takes place on a relatively flat area; Subjects fill the whole canvas; Nets are orange half-moons and fish are symbolically shown.
How is “Fishermen Drawing Nets” related to Fauvists?
In the sense that he used bright contrasting colours and loose brush strokes. The Fauvist decorative composition can also be seen in the rhythmic spread of the figures.
How is movement reflected in “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
The body postures of the simplified figures reflect the movement of their labour.
How are people represented in “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
Anonymous silhouettes with thin elongated figures which is the African symbol of man. This was adopted from the San Rock art.
How did Battiss choose to apply the paint to “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
With crudeness and rudeness and directness.
How is a feeling of movement created in “Fishermen Drawing Nets”?
Loose brushstrokes create the feeling of the movement of the water and the abundance of fish caught in nets.
What does the background of Battiss’s work “Fishermen Drawing Nets” have in common with San Rock Paintings?
His painting reveals no background despite being filled with busy characters; the San did not use backgrounds either.
Discuss the use of colour in “Fishermen Drawing Nets”.
The contrasting reds and oranges used for the nets in combination with the variety of blues that were used to depict the water, creates a feeling of 3 dimensional depth.
How did European art influence his negation of space in his artworks?
The modernist tradition emphasised the painting as a 2 dimensional surface as in Abstract Expressionism.
When did Walter Battiss Paint “Symbols of Life”?
It is undated so we don’t know.
What medium did Walter Battisse use to paint “Symbols of Life”?
Oil on canvas.
What style of work was “Symbols of Life” painted in?
Stylised Abstract
What technique did Walter Battisse use in”Symbols of Life”?
Neat, smooth finish and the lack of tonal values.
What story does the title “Symbols of Life” tell?
The title of the work tells the story behind the work. It also celebrates life and pays homage to the heritage of our first artists.
How does “Symbols of Life” demonstrate Battiss’s conceptual interpretations of what he learnt from rock art?
In it he did not copy rock art, but created a personalised symbolic system that tells about his ideas of life and spirituality.
In what ways is “Symbols of Life” a typical work by Battiss?
In its mystery and symbolism.
What does “Symbols of Life” consist of?
Pictographs and abstract shapes that cover the whole surface.
Describe the figures in “Symbols of Life”.
It is a very linear work where figures representing people, reptiles and termites are stylised into simplified and original shapes.
Discuss the first meaning that could be attributed to “Symbols of Life”.
A river divides the painting in 2. It is the symbolic story of the river and the varied life that it sustains. The river is the magical or godlike power.
Discuss the second meaning that could be attributed to “Symbols of Life”.
The middle shape could also be seen as a cross-section of an anthill or the scales of reptiles.
What was Battisse very interested in at the time of painting “Symbols of Life”?
He was very interested in Middle Eastern calligraphy and the shapes in the painting become free interpretations of this.
Discuss the use of colour and shape in “Symbols of Life”?
The work is flat, decorative and the shapes are red-brown on a cream background, while the river is in ochre and brown.
What is spread all over the white picture plane in “Symbols of Life”?
Silhouetted symbolic motifs.
Discuss the arrangement of the silhouetted symbolic motifs on the picture plane.
The arrangement of the shapes is very controlled with even spacing. A quarter from the bottom of the canvas a bold horizontal organic shape divides the evenly arranged creatures that are recognisable.
What do the symbolic motifs in “Symbols of Life” represent?
The motifs represent an organic version of some living being: people, jackals, elephants, insect, butterflies and antelope are some of the recognisable creatures.
What gives “Symbols of Life” an organic feeling?
The fact that things aren’t geometrically placed, which is a similarity to rock art.
How do the colours used in “Symbols of Life” reinforce the connection with Rock Art?
He uses earthy colours that are similar to the colours used in Rock Art.
