Walter Battiss
Encyclopedia
Walter Whall Battiss (January 6, 1906 – August 20, 1982) was a South African artist
, generally considered the foremost South African abstract
painter and known as the creator of the quirky "Fook Island" concept.
Born into English
Methodist family in the Karoo
town of Somerset East, Battiss first became interested in archaeology
and primitive art as a young boy after moving to Koffiefontein
in 1917. In 1919 the Battiss family settled in Fauresmith
where he completed his education, matriculating in 1923. In 1924 he became a clerk in the Magistrates Court in Rustenburg. His formal art studies started in 1929 at the Witwatersrand Technical College (drawing and painting), followed by the Johannesburg Training College (a Teacher’s Diploma) and etching lessons. Battiss continued his studies while working as a magistrate’s clerk, and finally obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at University of South Africa
at the age of 35.
for the first time. The following year in 1939 he published his first book, "The Amazing Bushman". His interest in primitive rock art had a very profound impact on his ideas, regarding San
painting as an important art form. He was also influenced by African cultural Ndebele
beadwork and generally by pre-Islamic cultures and calligraphy.
In 1949 he befriended Picasso
who would have an influence on his already quirky style.
He visited Greece
in 1966-1968 and the Seychelles
in 1972, which inspired his make-believe Fook Island.
Battiss published nine books, wrote many articles and founded the periodical "De Arte". He taught art at Pretoria Boys High School
from 1936 for most of the next 30 years and at the Pretoria Art Centre, of which was the principal from 1953-58. He also taught at UNISA where he became Professor of Fine Art in 1964 and retired in 1971. In 1973 he was awarded a D. Litt et Phil (honoris causa) from UNISA.
In 1981 he donated all his work to the newly opened "Walter Battiss Museum" in his birthplace of Somerset East.
Walter Battiss died in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal
of a heart attack on 20 August 1982.
, the Seychelles
, Madagascar
, Fiji
, Hawaii
, Samoa
, the Greek
Isles and the Comores – blended together in his customary imaginative fashion. In Battiss's words, "It is something that does not exist. I thought that I would take an island - the island that is inside all of us. I would turn this island into a real thing … I would give it a name".
Fook was a result of his fertile imagination as well as his opposition to the Conceptualist Art movement of the 1960s and 70's, in Europe
and America
. The movement espoused that the construction of art was confined to the 'moment' in which it was created. He believed on the contrary that all art exists in the now and this he argued to represent with Fook Island, which was always in the now and always an essential part of reality.
South Africans such as actress Janet Suzman
, artist (and Battiss protégé) Norman Catherine
, writer Esmé Berman and many others embraced the philosophy of Fook Island. The journalist Jani Allan
interviewed Battiss in 1982 and also agreed to his request of becoming a 'resident' of the imaginary island.
Battiss' Fookian Driver's License was accepted in America and the colourful pages of his Fookian Passport has official stamps from Australia
, Britain and Germany
. A Fookian banknote was also exchanged at a Rome
airport for $10.
In 1973 Walter Battiss received a Hon D Litt et Phil from UNISA for germination of the concept of Fook Island.
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 considered the foremost South African abstract
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...
painter and known as the creator of the quirky "Fook Island" concept.
Born into English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
Methodist family in the Karoo
Karoo
The Karoo is a semi-desert region of South Africa. It has two main sub-regions - the Great Karoo in the north and the Little Karoo in the south. The 'High' Karoo is one of the distinct physiographic provinces of the larger South African Platform division.-Great Karoo:The Great Karoo has an area of...
town of Somerset East, Battiss first became interested in archaeology
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and primitive art as a young boy after moving to Koffiefontein
Koffiefontein
Koffiefontein is a small farming town in the Free State province of South Africa. Farming in the district focuses on cattle and sheep farming with lucerne, potatoes and ground nuts being the main crops sown. There are also a cheese factory and vineyards in the town...
in 1917. In 1919 the Battiss family settled in Fauresmith
Fauresmith
Fauresmith is located 130 km south west of Bloemfontein. The town, named after Rev Phillip Faure and Sir Harry Smith, is the second oldest town in the Free State....
where he completed his education, matriculating in 1923. In 1924 he became a clerk in the Magistrates Court in Rustenburg. His formal art studies started in 1929 at the Witwatersrand Technical College (drawing and painting), followed by the Johannesburg Training College (a Teacher’s Diploma) and etching lessons. Battiss continued his studies while working as a magistrate’s clerk, and finally obtained his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts at University of South Africa
University of South Africa
The University of South Africa is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities.-History:...
at the age of 35.
Career
Battiss was a founding member of the New Group a loose friendship of recognised contemporary European and American artists. He was unique among them, in the sense that he was from what were then regarded as the colonies, and also in that he had not studied in either Europe or North America. In fact in 1938 he visited EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for the first time. The following year in 1939 he published his first book, "The Amazing Bushman". His interest in primitive rock art had a very profound impact on his ideas, regarding San
Bushmen
The indigenous people of Southern Africa, whose territory spans most areas of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Mozambique, Swaziland, Botswana, Namibia, and Angola, are variously referred to as Bushmen, San, Sho, Barwa, Kung, or Khwe...
painting as an important art form. He was also influenced by African cultural Ndebele
Ndebele
- Ethnic groups :*South Ndebele people, located in the South Africa*Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe, and Botswana- Languages :*Southern Ndebele language, the language of the South Ndebele...
beadwork and generally by pre-Islamic cultures and calligraphy.
In 1949 he befriended Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
who would have an influence on his already quirky style.
He visited Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
in 1966-1968 and the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
in 1972, which inspired his make-believe Fook Island.
Battiss published nine books, wrote many articles and founded the periodical "De Arte". He taught art at Pretoria Boys High School
Pretoria Boys High School
Pretoria Boys High School, also known as Boys High or PBHS, is a public, fee charging, English medium high school for boys located in Brooklyn, Pretoria, in the Gauteng province of South Africa....
from 1936 for most of the next 30 years and at the Pretoria Art Centre, of which was the principal from 1953-58. He also taught at UNISA where he became Professor of Fine Art in 1964 and retired in 1971. In 1973 he was awarded a D. Litt et Phil (honoris causa) from UNISA.
In 1981 he donated all his work to the newly opened "Walter Battiss Museum" in his birthplace of Somerset East.
Walter Battiss died in Port Shepstone, KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
of a heart attack on 20 August 1982.
Influence
Walter Battiss' long career as an artist has been devoted to the study of man in his environment; first in the context of Africa and rock art, then, later, in the interpretation of this concept in its broadest sense. His versatility and influence as in innovator, and the incentive he has provided for many aspiring artists, have secured him a special place among leading South African artists.Fook Island
This "island of the imagination" was a materialisation of Battiss' philosophy for which he created a map, imaginary people, plants, animals, a history as well as a set of postage stamps, currency, passports and driver's licences. He created a Fookian language with a full alphabet as well. This utopian ‘island’ was a composite of the many islands he visited – which included ZanzibarZanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
, the Seychelles
Seychelles
Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....
, Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
, Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
, the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Isles and the Comores – blended together in his customary imaginative fashion. In Battiss's words, "It is something that does not exist. I thought that I would take an island - the island that is inside all of us. I would turn this island into a real thing … I would give it a name".
Fook was a result of his fertile imagination as well as his opposition to the Conceptualist Art movement of the 1960s and 70's, in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The movement espoused that the construction of art was confined to the 'moment' in which it was created. He believed on the contrary that all art exists in the now and this he argued to represent with Fook Island, which was always in the now and always an essential part of reality.
South Africans such as actress Janet Suzman
Janet Suzman
Dame Janet Suzman, DBE is a South African-born-British actress and director.-Early life:Janet Suzman was born in Johannesburg to a Jewish family, the daughter of Betty and Saul Suzman, a wealthy importer of tobacco....
, artist (and Battiss protégé) Norman Catherine
Norman Catherine
Norman Catherine in East London, South Africa is a South African artist whose œuvre spans painting, sculpture, printmaking and mixed media...
, writer Esmé Berman and many others embraced the philosophy of Fook Island. The journalist Jani Allan
Jani Allan
Jani Allan is a South African columnist and radio commentator. She became a household name as a columnist for the Sunday Times where she worked between 1979-90. She is also known for her alleged affair with an interviewee, the late right-wing political leader Eugène Terre'Blanche...
interviewed Battiss in 1982 and also agreed to his request of becoming a 'resident' of the imaginary island.
Battiss' Fookian Driver's License was accepted in America and the colourful pages of his Fookian Passport has official stamps from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Britain and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. A Fookian banknote was also exchanged at a Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
airport for $10.
In 1973 Walter Battiss received a Hon D Litt et Phil from UNISA for germination of the concept of Fook Island.