Watermelon Eater
Exhibited : The Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria, Walter Battiss Comprehensive Exhibition, 1979-80, catalogue number 39
Notes : In Karin Skawran’s introduction to Walter Battiss (1985) she writes: “It is abundantly clear to anyone who knew the artist that his life and art were inextricably interwoven.”1
In 1938 Walter Battiss journeyed to France. While there he made copies of Gauguin’s work and travelled to Arles out of admiration of Van Gogh. Despite a deep appreciation for French art, he consciously shunned their influence and instead turned to rock art saying: “This belongs to us. This is our beginning. This is where we move from.”2
In 1949, more than ten years after his first trip to Europe, Battiss went abroad again. This time however he was responsible for taking a collection of South African work to Turin, Italy where the paintings were due to be shown at an exhibition hosted by the International Art Club. It was here that he met Pablo Picasso for the first time.3
Watermelon Eater was painted around the time of this encounter. The bold planes of colour that give form to both the figure and the landscape are deceptively simple. These are not flat outlined shapes but are subtly modulated by brushstroke and tonal variations. Much like Picasso’s 1930 work titled The Acrobat, Battiss’ figure sits central to the composition.4 Impossibly twisted, he holds a slice of watermelon aloft. The visual play on the contortions of the acrobat coupled with Battiss’s entrenched humour and fresh palette results in a balancing act that is a “gentle mockery of life’s absurdities”.5
1 Skawran, K., Macnamara, M. (1985) Walter Battiss, Craighall, AD Donker, page 11
2 Alexander, L. , Bedford, E., Cohen, E.,Paris and South African Artists: 1850-1965, South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 1988, page 91
3 Berman, Esmé (1994). Art & Artists of South Africa, Halfway House, Southern Book Publishers, page 56
4 In the collection of the Musée Picasso, Paris, France
5 Skawran, K., Macnamara, M. (1985) Walter Battiss, Craighall, AD Donker, page 12
