B. 1941 

 

In 2021, Art Curator Jeanne Hugo vd Merwe stumbled upon a handful of an artist’s works in a private collection. She was enchanted by it and determined to discover more of this unsung master’s work, only to find him still alive and living mere blocks away from her own home. What she found was an illuminated collection of paintings made over decades of confinement. 

 

Born 1941 in Cape Town, South Africa artist André Wilhelm Groenewald has been painting ethereal scenes for over six decades. His first solo painting exhibition at the age of 17 was held at the prestigious ‘Hollywood Furnishers’ on Long Street. Due to the success of this sell-out show Groenewald managed to raise enough funds to attend the Michaelis school of Fine Arts in 1959. 

 

This is where he studied with and under the likes of Lippy Lipshitz, Carl Buchner and Maurice van Essche. 

 

Groenewald was the principle of the Parow Art Centre for over a decade and taught at the P.J. Olivier Art School in Stellenbosch. 

 

Groenewald has been a prolific painter for over six decades, with a focussed subject matter of imaginary tranquil scenes and still lives. An ever present palette of phthalo and prussian greens, cobalt, turquoise and viridian dominates his work. 

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In January 2023, a solo presentation of over 50 of Groenewald's oil paintings, pastels and water colours were shown at the Hugo Modern Art Gallery in Welgemoed, Bellville.