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Alfred Palmer (1877-1951)


Palmer, Alfred (South African, 1877 - 1951)
Four oil on canvas panels for Manners Mansions Jeppe street
Johannesburg 1937
Signed, unframed and needs restoration
two works 5m62cm x 90cm & two works 4m15cm x 151cm
Alfred Palmer is perhaps best known for his large tempera tondo The Bathers, which was exhibited at
the Royal Academy in 1925. In the same year Palmer relocated from London to Durban, where he taught
art and lived for 15 years. In this time he travelled through the rural areas of South Africa painting both
the landscapes and the people he encountered. In 1937 Palmer was commissioned to paint the murals
for the main entrance foyer of the newly built Art Deco skyscraper 'Manners Mansions' which is situated
on the corner of Jeppe and Joubert Streets in the Johannesburg CBD. The four enormous paintings
depict the city of Johannesburg before World War II; clearly industrial, with its iconic tall skyscrapers
and signature mine dumps. What is striking, however, are the rolling hills and obviously rural space
surrounding the city - space which today is filled with suburban housing and shopping malls. In one
panel, groups of people interact on a grassy hill overlooking the relatively small city, which seems to be
surrounded by a grove of trees. In another, the jagged edges of mine dumps clear in the centre to reveal
a similarly harsh skyline beneath a typical Highveld sky. These important historical records, which are
painted in Palmers typical fluid, painterly style, were fortunately saved by building contractors in 1981
when the Manners Mansions building was refurbished.

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