Alexis Preller (South African, 1911-1975) The Offering
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Notes : Illustrated:A.C. Bouman, Painters of South Africa (Cape Town, 1951), pg. 99."In The Offering we become strongly aware of the influence of Gauguin and Irma Stern. The method of painting does not seem very attractive with its somehow coarse treatment of the paint. Yet it may well be that this use of coarse canvas and method of letting its texture appear through the thin surface is intentional. The figure as well as the arid landscape seems to point to poverty. The offering itself becomes the more touching, like that of the poor widow in the Bible. Although the technique does not reveal much painstaking searching whilst the artist was actually at work, yet it is clear that a good deal of study and observation lie behind this picture, in spite of its great simplicity. This is most apparent in the hands, seemingly awkward, yet playing their sensitive part very well." (Ibid. pgs 97-98)
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