DEKAT DIGITAL 2019 - 2020

MARI DARTNALL. PHOTOGRAPHER: LISA HNATOWICZ
In the first of the wings now open to the public, visitors will find the exhibition dedicated entirely to Adriaan Boshoff’s
150 paintings – grouped according to themes. His landscape paintings come first, followed by his popular farm
scenes. Next are the figure paintings that Boshoff drew in the early 2000s using charcoal and acrylic washes.
These scenes portray various topics, such as people playing musical instruments, and women preparing for a romantic
date or drinking coffee at a café. These are followed by his flower studies and still-life works, opening to an extended
hallway displaying his much-loved thematic oeuvre of mother and daughter.
It is the final section that is the most poignant, replicating his studio at the time of his death in April 2007, with two
easels, paintbrushes and three canvases, including The Streets of my Youth.
Visitors to the gallery will be in awe of the diverse range of work done by this giant in the South African art world and
his unique kind of Romantic Impressionism, which represented both his African heritage and environment.
Since opening the first wing to the public earlier this year, The Orient team has created a space for numerous
Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century by adding an
extra wing. This glorious museum now houses close to 300 works by Cape Impressionists, including Alexander Rose-
Innes, Hugo Naudé, Terence McCaw, Robert Gwelo Goodman, Gregoire Boonzaier, Cecil Higgs and Nita Spilhaus.
Dartnall and her team are putting the final touches to the curation of another section featuring older masters such as WH
Coetzer, Frans Oerder, Tinus de Jongh and many other artists of this period, while the latest addition to the museum is
a space that houses more contemporary artists such as Hennie Niemann Snr, Conrad Theys and Lynne-Marie Eatwell.
Guests staying overnight at The Orient Private Hotel or dining at award-winning Chef Chantel Dartnall’s acclaimed
Restaurant Mosaic will have the exclusive opportunity to stroll through this world-class museum at their own leisurely
pace, enjoying a glass of French Champagne while feasting their eyes and senses on fabulous art. It is open to the
public once a month, or by prior arrangement.
246