Alexis Preller (6 September 1911 – 13 December 1975) was a South African painter. He trained at the

Westminster School of Art The Westminster School of Art was an art school in Westminster, London. History The Westminster School of Art was located at 18 Tufton Street, Deans Yard, Westminster, and was part of the old Royal Architectural Museum. H. M. Bateman described ...

from which he graduated in 1934 and later at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acad� ...

in Paris (1937). He was especially influenced by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

and

Paul Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...

and visited European galleries and museums to study these artists' works. Elements of Gauguin can be seen in his paintings on South African subjects such as the ''Garden of Eden'' (1937). Over time, he developed his own style and his works showed an array of elements from nature, African masks and other African art. One finds this overlay of his personal style on African themes most illuminatingly expressed in works such as ''Basuto Allegory'' (1947). Travels in Europe and North Africa gave further expression to his output which became influenced by the frescoes of

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca i ...

and Egyptian murals. One sees this influence in works such as ''Hieratic Women'' (1956). Preller's later unique style isolated him from the artistic movements of the 20th century, nor did he fit into any conventional style of the old school. Although highly regarded in his native Pretoria, this was not initially the case elsewhere in South Africa – an exhibition of his works in Cape Town in the late 1960s was coolly received by art critics there.''Cape Argus'' (1969) Recognition for his work has grown since then, and the opening of the most recent major exhibition, Africa, the Sun and the Shadows of his works at Johannesburg's Standard Bank Gallery on 13 October 2009 was strongly attended.

References

External links

Alexis Preller at ARTPRICE

Revisions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preller, Alexis 1911 births 1975 deaths Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière 20th-century South African painters 20th-century male artists South African male painters