Bettie Cilliers-Barnard
Encyclopedia
Bettie Cillers-Barnard was a South African abstract
artist
, generally known for her large canvases of birds in flight.
She was also the mother of well-known South African actress Jana Cilliers.
Cilliers-Barnarnd was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal
on November 18, 1914. She started painting in the late 1930s and over the years kept experimenting with colour, lines, abstraction
and figurative abstractions. In the 1970s, birds unexpectedly started appearing in her work – which could be described as part of her earthly symbolism
. She referred to this work as her "flights of the spirit". Since 1946 Dr Ciliers-Barnard’s works have been shown in seventy solo exhibitions in South Africa as well as in Paris
(paintings 1956), London
(graphic art 1971), and at the Prestiges Invitation Exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts museum in Taiwan
(painting and graphic art 1987).
Her South African graphic art exhibitions abroad have included Austria, Germany, Spain, Greece and Israel to name a few. Her tapestries, paintings, and murals in oils have been commissioned both for public collections and for museum- and private collections in South Africa and abroad. Most recently in 1992 she painted "Vision" for the Pretoria Eye Institute and some of her other commissions including the painting "Flight" for South African Airways
, 1983, the tapestry "Guardian Angel of the Arts" for t he State Theatre
of Pretoria
, 1981, and her mural in oils "Mensa sana corpore sano" for the Department of Health in Pretoria
, 1980.
Two retrospective exhibitions of her work followed: Pretoria Art Museum
1995 and the SASOL
Art Museum 1996.
A book on the life and work of Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, by the art historian Prof Muller Ballot, was launched in 1996. In 2004, she exhibited new work for the last time at Colour as Language, an exhibition which also included older work (1937 to 1961) from her family’s private collection.
Ballot says the following about her work:
'The artist’s current period of consolidated themes stems from the principle of joining and linking all kinds of existing and new motifs. In this way new contexts and new content are created. There is at l east one central message which appears in the works of this period. This is certainly related to the artist’s serious search for a reconciliation of earthly and transcendental perspectives on human existence. Her reaching out to esoteric horizons, to the boundaries of time and space, which have fascinated her from an early stage, still seeks fulfillment in the symbolic values of the human figure. Sometimes these occur with, for example, strange alien beings, primeval animal forms, arrows and sharp triangular shapes.'
Stephan Welz, art expert and executive director of Strauss & Co, believes Cilliers-Barnard's work doesn’t fetch very high prices currently "because she is part of the forgotten generation who experienced the worst of the cultural isolation during apartheid."
Cilliers-Barnard worked especially at night – "because the night doesn't have shadows", she maintained.
in the early hours of 15 September 2010.
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
, generally known for her large canvases of birds in flight.
She was also the mother of well-known South African actress Jana Cilliers.
Cilliers-Barnarnd was born in Rustenburg, Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
on November 18, 1914. She started painting in the late 1930s and over the years kept experimenting with colour, lines, abstraction
Abstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
and figurative abstractions. In the 1970s, birds unexpectedly started appearing in her work – which could be described as part of her earthly symbolism
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
. She referred to this work as her "flights of the spirit". Since 1946 Dr Ciliers-Barnard’s works have been shown in seventy solo exhibitions in South Africa as well as in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
(paintings 1956), London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
(graphic art 1971), and at the Prestiges Invitation Exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts museum in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
(painting and graphic art 1987).
Her South African graphic art exhibitions abroad have included Austria, Germany, Spain, Greece and Israel to name a few. Her tapestries, paintings, and murals in oils have been commissioned both for public collections and for museum- and private collections in South Africa and abroad. Most recently in 1992 she painted "Vision" for the Pretoria Eye Institute and some of her other commissions including the painting "Flight" for South African Airways
South African Airways
South African Airways is the national flag carrier and largest airline of South Africa, with headquarters in Airways Park on the grounds of OR Tambo International Airport in Kempton Park, Ekurhuleni, Gauteng. The airline flies to 36 destinations worldwide from its hub at OR Tambo International...
, 1983, the tapestry "Guardian Angel of the Arts" for t he State Theatre
State Theatre
- Australia :* State Theatre , Australia* State Theatre , Australia- Romania :* State Jewish Theater , a theater specializing in Jewish-related plays in Bucharest, Romania- United States :...
of Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, 1981, and her mural in oils "Mensa sana corpore sano" for the Department of Health in Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
, 1980.
Two retrospective exhibitions of her work followed: Pretoria Art Museum
Pretoria Art Museum
The Pretoria Art Museum is an art gallery located in Arcadia, Pretoria in South Africa. The museum in Arcadia Park occupies an entire city block bounded by Park, Wessels, Schoeman and Johann Streets....
1995 and the SASOL
Sasol
Sasol Ltd. is a South African company involved in mining, energy, chemicals and synfuels. In particular, they produce petrol and diesel profitably from coal and natural gas using Fischer-Tropsch process...
Art Museum 1996.
A book on the life and work of Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, by the art historian Prof Muller Ballot, was launched in 1996. In 2004, she exhibited new work for the last time at Colour as Language, an exhibition which also included older work (1937 to 1961) from her family’s private collection.
Ballot says the following about her work:
'The artist’s current period of consolidated themes stems from the principle of joining and linking all kinds of existing and new motifs. In this way new contexts and new content are created. There is at l east one central message which appears in the works of this period. This is certainly related to the artist’s serious search for a reconciliation of earthly and transcendental perspectives on human existence. Her reaching out to esoteric horizons, to the boundaries of time and space, which have fascinated her from an early stage, still seeks fulfillment in the symbolic values of the human figure. Sometimes these occur with, for example, strange alien beings, primeval animal forms, arrows and sharp triangular shapes.'
Stephan Welz, art expert and executive director of Strauss & Co, believes Cilliers-Barnard's work doesn’t fetch very high prices currently "because she is part of the forgotten generation who experienced the worst of the cultural isolation during apartheid."
Cilliers-Barnard worked especially at night – "because the night doesn't have shadows", she maintained.
Death
Cilliers-Barnard died in her home in Menlo Park, PretoriaMenlo Park, Pretoria
Menlo Park is a suburb in the city of Pretoria, South Africa. It borders other upmarket areas Waterkloof, Brooklyn and Lynnwood. When it was first established between the 1950s and 1970s, it was the most eastern suburb of Pretoria, but the city has since considerably expanded eastwards...
in the early hours of 15 September 2010.