Smith Le Roux met wandschilderingen voor Jagersfontein, 1949

Le Roux Smith Le Roux (1914–1963), sometimes rendered LeRoux Smith LeRoux, was a South African artist, actor, broadcaster, art critic and art dealer, considered to be the most distinguished specialist muralist the country has produced. Le Roux was infamous for his involvement in the Great Tate Affair.

Early life and career

Le Roux Smith Le Roux was born in Cape Town, the son of Johannes Anthonie Smith (1886–1954), journalist, painter and art critic, who had joined the Ossewabrandwag, a pro-Nazi movement, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and became its leader in the Cape Province. Le Roux's brother Anthonie Smith, was an architect, primarily of

Dutch Reformed Church The Dutch Reformed Church (, abbreviated NHK) was the largest Christian denomination in the Netherlands from the onset of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century until 1930. It was the original denomination of the Dutch Royal Family and ...

buildings. They collaborated when Le Roux did paintings for one of the churches in Ladismith in 1942. In 1930 Le Roux matriculating from a prominent Afrikaans school in Cape Town, Jan van Riebeeck High School. Le Roux displayed precocious talent, completing his degree at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...

Michaelis School under John Wheatley at the age of 17. He received a government bursary to study mural-painting in Italy and was commissioned in 1938, with fellow student Eleanor Esmonde-White, to create murals for the

South Africa House South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

Mural Room. Later in that year, the two artists received a commission to provide murals for the Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth. On his return to South Africa, he joined the

New Group The New Group was a group of young South African artists who, starting in 1937, began to question and oppose the conservatism of the South African Society of Artists. Its founding chairperson was Gregoire Boonzaier; other founding members were Lip ...

of artists and busied himself with several large commissions in

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

and

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 Demo ...

, most notably the murals of the Mutual Building in Darling Street, Cape Town, completed in 1942. His versatility was also on display in his illustrations of ''Die vlammende Fez'', a book by

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

poet I.D. du Plessis (1900–1981) published in 1944. Between 1943 and 1949 he was Director of the Pretoria Art Center and curator of the Pretoria Art Collection. He served on the War Art Advisory Committee and was a member of the International Art Club, South Africa.

The Great Tate Gallery Affair

John Rothenstein Sir John Knewstub Maurice Rothenstein (11 July 1901 – 27 February 1992) was a British arts administrator and art historian. Biography John Rothenstein was born in London in 1901, the son of Sir William Rothenstein. The family was connec ...

was appointed Director of the

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

in 1938. He was challenged to find curators willing to work for the low salary of £300. While on a trip to South Africa in 1950, he met Le Roux Smith Le Roux. Le Roux convinced Rothenstein that he held views on race that were out of place in the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

state, and that he would suffer for these. Already charmed by the young South African, Rothenstein offered him the position of Deputy Keeper at the Tate. Le Roux Smith Le Roux immediately embarked on a campaign to effect the ouster of Rothenstein as Director. He used his access to archival material to find and leak information that would put the director in a bad light, among other misdemeanours, allowing the sale of a Renoir from the Courtauld Fund without proper procedures being followed. It was, however, his neglect of important European art movements like

Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

Futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

and

Surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

that raised the ire of collectors like Douglas Cooper, an art historian and collector of Cubist works. Cooper's close friend Graham Sutherland, the painter, was a Trustee of the Tate and supported Le Roux. Le Roux found another ally in Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, whose newspapers,

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

and

Daily Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...

published his leaks. As a public servant, Rothenstein was unable to comment on the press reports. With allegations left unanswered, Le Roux's campaign gained support from scholars ( Denis Mahon), art critics (

Denys Sutton Denys Miller Sutton (10 August 1917 – 30 January 1991) was a British art critic and historian known for his focus on European artists before 1800 ( Old Masters) and Asian art. He was art critic for the ''Financial Times'' and editor of ''Apollo' ...

of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''), members of parliament, and the press ( Kingsley Martin of the

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

). The sensationalised resignation of Graham Sutherland from the board of trustees and venomous public letters from Douglas Cooper eventually gave the critics pause. Then, at the opening of

Richard Buckle (Christopher) Richard Sandford Buckle CBE (6 August 1916 – 12 October 2001), was a lifelong English devotee of ballet, and a well-known ballet critic. He founded the magazine ''Ballet'' in 1939. Early life Buckle was the only son of Lieute ...

's Diaghilev exhibition, an exasperated Rothenstein, taunted by Cooper, lashed out and knocked the man's glasses off. The incident might have been a crisis for Rothenstein (he was nearly dismissed), but persuaded critics that the matter had gone too far. Le Roux's leaks attracted scrutiny and he was dismissed in 1954. Questions were asked of Rothenstein in the House of Lords however he would remain Director until 1964.

After the Tate

Le Roux was employed by Lord Beaverbrook, sitting on a panel of judges of the Daily Express exhibition of pictures in 1955. Fellow judges were Graham Sutherland, art philosopher

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

and

Anthony Blunt Anthony Frederick Blunt (26 September 1907 – 26 March 1983), styled Sir Anthony Blunt KCVO from 1956 to November 1979, was a leading British art historian and Soviet spy. Blunt was professor of art history at the University of London, dire ...

, later identified as a member of the Cambridge Five.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Le Roux, Le Roux Smith 1914 births 1963 deaths Afrikaner people South African art critics South African art dealers Muralists Artists from Cape Town Michaelis School of Fine Art alumni People associated with the Tate galleries 20th-century South African painters 20th-century male artists Alumni of Hoërskool Jan van Riebeeck South African male painters