Nel Erasmus (born 1928 in

Bethal Bethal () is a farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The farms in the region produce maize, sunflower seeds, sorghum, rye and potatoes. The town lies east of Johannesburg on the N17 National Route. History The town originated on an old farm ...

, Transvaal Province, South Africa) is a South African artist. Erasmus studied at the

Académie Ranson The Académie Ranson was founded in Paris by the French painter Paul Ranson (1862–1909), who himself studied at the Académie Julian, in 1908.

, École des Beaux Arts, and Sorbonne in Paris in 1953 and exhibited her works for the first time in Paris in 1955. Her first solo exhibition was in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in 1957, and she is one of the earliest South African abstract artists. Erasmus has produced thirty solo exhibitions and taken part in more than seventy group exhibitions, and her writing has been widely published. Her work received critical acclaim as she was the only South African artist to be included in

Michel Seuphor Fernand Berckelaers (10 March 1901, in Borgerhout – 12 February 1999, in Paris), pseudonym Michel Seuphor ( anagram of Orpheus), was a Belgian painter. Seuphor established a literary magazine, ''Het Overzicht'', in Antwerp in 1921. He moved in ...

’s 1964 survey of abstraction, ''Abstract Painting: 50 Years of Accomplishment''. Erasmus spent time in Paris in the early 1950s with other South Africans (

Christo Coetzee Christo Coetzee (24 March 1929 – 12 November 2000) was a South African assemblage and Neo-Baroque artist closely associated with the avant-garde art movements of Europe and Japan during the 1950s and 1960s. Under the influence of art theoris ...

Paul du Toit Paul Johan du Toit (31 October 1965 – 9 January 2014) was a South African artist, working in painting, sculpture, paper and mixed media. His exhibits have been displayed globally. Most notably, three of his sculptures were selected for th ...

, and Eric Loubser) who were inspired by the intuitive processes of post-war abstract painting in Paris.

Abstract Art in Africa

Nel Erasmus was an early proponent of abstract art in South Africa, both as a practice and a principle. She was the director of the

Johannesburg Art Gallery The Johannesburg Art Gallery is an art gallery in Joubert Park in the city centre of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the largest gallery on the continent with a collection that is larger than that of the Iziko South African National Gallery i ...

(1966–1977). Erasmus' paintings feature bright colors and dynamic forms.

Education and influencers

* 1950

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( o ...

, BA in Fine Arts (under Joyce Leonard and Heather Martienssen, with Christo Coetzee, Gordon Vorster, Cecil Skotnes, and Larry Scully) * 1952 National Arts Teacher’s Certificate, Wits Technikon * 1952 Private study under Gina Berndtson * Henry Focillon’s ''La vie des Formes:'' Erasmus has cited Henry Focillon's ''La vie des Formes'' as a significant influence on her work. * Anton Hendriks, Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery when Erasmus started working there, gave her an appreciation of museum discipline and intellectual honesty through his historical and philosophical interests. * 1953–1955 Sorbonne, Ecole des Beaux Arts, and

Académie Ranson The Académie Ranson was founded in Paris by the French painter Paul Ranson (1862–1909), who himself studied at the Académie Julian, in 1908.

, Paris (under Gustave Singier, Selim Turan, and Marcel Fiorini)

Career junctions

Painting periods

* 1960s – formalist/post-cubist abstract period * Early 1970s – emotionally-revealing and expressive * Late 1970s – quiet colour fields fleeting energies give way to slow pushes and pulls * 1980s – calligraphy and objects in flux * 1990s – body as vessel, seed, and germination * 2000s – portraiture, polarity of heart and mind * 2010s – flight * Currently – patterns of sound

Director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) 1966–1977

Nel Erasmus worked at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) from 1957 as a professional officer until her retirement as director in 1977. She contributed to the acquisition of artworks for public and corporate (especially Sanlam and Sasol) collections in South Africa, in particular the international modern and contemporary collection at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG). Erasmus’ notorious acquisition in 1973, the year Picasso died, of

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

’s ''Tête d’Arlequin'' (1971), was made possible by funding from the Friends of the Museum organization. The acquisition of this painting of a clown met with resistance from conservative, censored, isolated, apartheid-era South Africa and provoked Erasmus to write a paper about why the acquisition was made.''Nel Erasmus – Review'' by Marelize van Zyl (editor), Deon Viljoen, Antoinette Glatthaar-Theron, Linda Stupart, Elza Miles. Stellenbosch Modern and Contemporary (SMAC) Art Gallery exhibition catalogue, 2011. Erasmus explained that it was the policy of other art museums in South Africa to make collections of South African art, but JAG had a policy to focus on international art.''Emerging Johannesburg'' by Richard Tomlinson, Robert Beauregard, Lindsay Bremmer, Xolela Mangcu. Routledge, 2014.
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Current work

Nel Erasmus is in her 80s and still paints daily. The most recent exhibitions she has participated in were solo exhibitions in 2009 at the Dawid Ras Art Gallery (Johannesburg) and in 2015 at the Dawid Ras Gallery (Cape Town), and since then various group exhibitions.

Awards and honors

* 1991 Helgaard Steyn Award for Best South African Painting for ''Jazz Baby/Spent Autumn'' (1991)

Selected exhibitions

* 1955 Galerie Bogroff, Paris * 1955 10th Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in the Musée d'Art Modern, Paris * 1957 Henri Lidchi Art Gallery, Johannesburg (first solo exhibition) * 1957 Galerie Creuze and Musée d'Art Modern, Paris * 1965 Second Biennale de Paris, Paris, and year appointed at Johannesburg Art Gallery as Professional Officer) * 1965 São Paulo Biennale, São Paulo * 1982–1991 Cassirer Fine Art Gallery, Johannesburg

Selected collections and works

* Anglo-American * Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town – ''Sketch for the Great Cellist'' (1963), ''The Great Cellist'' (1963) * Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg – ''Whirlpool in a Human Matrix'' (1974) * Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein - ''Jazz Baby/Spent Autumn'' (1991) * Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria – ''Space Dance No. 5'' (1984); ''Bold Swimmer'' (1986) * Rand Merchant Bank * Rembrandt Art Foundation – ''Lamps'' (1964) * Sasol Collection * Sanlam Art Collection – ''6th Day of Creation'' (1995) * Telkom * University of Stellenbosch, Stellenbosch – ''Hands Off'' (1989) * University of the Witwatersrand Art Museum, Johannesburg

References

SMAC Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erasmus, Nel 1928 births Living people South African artists University of the Witwatersrand alumni