Cyril Fradan (1928–1997) was a
South African artist and
designer
A designer is a person who plans the form or structure of something before it is made, by preparing drawings or plans.
In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, products, processes, laws, games, graphics, services, or exp ...
who worked almost exclusively in
acrylic paints
Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. Depe ...
incorporating various
glazing techniques.
Life and work
One of South Africa's foremost painters, Cyril Fradan was born in
Johannesburg
Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...
in 1928. He was educated, and later lectured at the
University of the Witwatersrand
The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...
and held his first one-man show in Johannesburg in 1954. Relocating to
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1960, Fradan exhibited successfully in most
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
and
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
an art centres.
[''ARTLOOK Johannesburg'' (January, 1968) p.11]
Fradan worked almost exclusively in acrylic paints and made extensive use of glazing techniques. Furthermore, he was a successful and skilled exponent of the
Baroque style used in contemporary,
non-figurative terms. What this means is that Fradan blends
illusion
An illusion is a distortion of the senses, which can reveal how the mind normally organizes and interprets sensory stimulation. Although illusions distort the human perception of reality, they are generally shared by most people.
Illusions may oc ...
, light and colour, and a sense of passionate movement, all calculated to overwhelm the viewer by a direct emotional appeal. His use of such effects as the dissolved contour, the rendering of movement through flickering light, allied with his use of glowing colour, brought into being a style that had a profound effect on the South African audiences who saw it.
Fradan rarely titled his paintings, believing that the images evoked in the spectator by the swirling, energetic forms in his canvases were, in fact, the correct ones.
"Each viewer will see in my paintings what he wants to - I don't believe that the artist should interpose with titles, which are often misleading anyway."
As well as painting, Fradan provided costume designs for dramatic productions including the 1955 Margaret Inglis production of
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''. Additionally, he provided costume designs for the 1966
Gordon Crosse
Gordon Crosse (1 December 1937 – 21 November 2021) was an English composer.
Biography
Crosse was born in Bury, Lancashire on 1 December 1937, and in 1961 graduated from St Edmund Hall, Oxford with a first class honours degree in music, where h ...
production of
W. B. Yeats
William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...
's ''
Purgatory
Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...
''.
Fradan was a much-loved and well-respected member of the London arts scene. His annual summer music festivals held at his house at 23 Lower Addison Gardens, were a joy to music lovers and provided an opportunity to view his work. In his later years Fradan eschewed the art gallery scene, preferring his festival-based approach to sales of his increasingly popular paintings. He developed personal relationships with many of his patrons, who met regularly at his home; particularly during the festivals.
Cyril Fradan left for Thailand in 1986, where he died in 1997 after successive operations to remove brain tumours.
Exhibitions
Cyril Fradan exhibited extensively - including at the
Royal Academy, London in 1963. His work is represented in the following public collections:
*South African National Gallery, Cape Town
*Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein
*Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum (King George VI Art Gallery), Port Elizabeth
*Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
*Pietersburg Art Museum, Polokwane
*UNISA, Pretoria
Solo exhibitions
* 1961: Woodstock Gallery, London
* 1962: Galerie d'Eendt, Amsterdam; Galerie Kobenhaven, Copenhagen; Mercury Gallery, London; Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester
* 1964: Mercury Gallery, London
* 1968: Galerie Werkstatt, im Schnoor, Bremen, Germany
* 1965: Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester; Galerie Sothmann, Amsterdam; Ash Barn Gallery, Petersfield
* 1966: Mercury Gallery, London; Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester
* 1967: Plymouth Art Centre, Plymouth
* 1968: Gallery 101, Johannesburg; Wolpe Gallery, Cape Town; Galerie Sothmann, Amsterdam; Galerie Werkstatt, Bremen
* 1969: Tib Lane Gallery, Manchester; York Festival, York; Galerie du Theatre, Geneva
* 1970: Lidchi Gallery Gallery, Johannesburg; Kapian Gallery, Cape Town
* 1971: Galerie Balans, Amsterdam
* 1973: Arts Council Gallery, Belfast; Midland Group Gallery, Nottingham
* 1974: Ansdell Gallery, London
* 1975: Galerie du Theatre, Geneva
* 1976: Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg; Goodman-Wolman Gallery, Cape Town; Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria
* 1977: S.A. Association of Arts, Pretoria; Neil Sack Gallery, Durban
* 1979: and thereafter annual exhibitions and music recitals at his Studio in Holland Park, London
* 1983: Gallery 21, Johannesburg
Notes
References
*Hobbs, P., Rankin, E. ''Printmaking: In a Transforming South Africa'' (Published by New Africa Books, 1997)
*Spalding, F., Collins, J. ''20th Century Painters and Sculptors'' (Published by Antique Collectors' Club, 1991)
*''Contemporary review'' (Published by New York., 1981)
*''Art and Artists'' (Published by Hansom Books, 1973)
*''Artbibliographies Modern'' (Published by Clio Press, 1975)
*''British Humanities Index'' (Published by Library Association, 1982)
*''Shakespeare Quarterly'' (Published by Folger Shakespeare Library, 1955)
*''The Musical Times'' (Published by Musical Times Publications Ltd., 1966)
*''Studio International'' (Published by Studio Trust, 1969)
*''Common Sense'' (Published by Society of Jews and Christians, 1950)
*''Contemporary review: Incorporating The Fortnightly'' (Published by Contemporary Review Co., 1979)
*''The Painter & Sculptor: A Journal of the Visual Arts''
*''Art Index: A Cumulative Author and Subject Index to a Selected List of Fine Arts Periodicals and Museum Bulletins'' (Published by H. W. Wilson, 1982)
*''ARTLOOK Johannesburg'' (January, 1968) p. 11
External links
*http://www.pelmama.org/FRADAN.htm
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fradan, Cyril
White South African people
South African expatriates in the United Kingdom
South African painters
South African male painters
1928 births
1997 deaths