Contact Artefacts
please if you have any comments or more information regarding this record.
Menu
HomeUpfront
Now Up
Books
Towns
Structures
People
Firms
Lexicon
Iziko South African National Gallery
Cape Town, Western Cape
 |  |  |  |  |
Contact Artefacts | MenuHomeUpfront Now Up Books Towns Structures People Firms Lexicon | Iziko South African National Gallery | | ||||||
| |||||||||
Click to view map Coordinates: | Now the Iziko South African National Gallery. Before 2002 it was known as the South African National Gallery. While the divergences in South African architecture at [the time the building was designed] … were profound, the gallery building is an excellent example of the congruences, the overlaps, shifts and affinities that were possible. That the building has stood the test of time architecturally is due to its superb exterior proportions and details, and the interior spaces that vary in size and (before the closure of some rooms for storage) provided for perfect circulation. The gallery faces Government Avenue and the Delville Wood Memorial that had recently been erected. The foundations are of Paarl granite, all external walls are of cavity construction to protect against damp and the cornices and roof are of Italian tiles. The impressive classical portico, defined by Doric columns, is flanked by symmetrical walls and crowned with urns. While the white-walled façade appears austere at first glance, it is carefully articulated with setbacks, columns and niches of different sizes. Blinds protect the windows against the sun, and the influence of the Arts and Crafts movement is evident in the domestic scale of the wings. Eva Meyerowitz … executed the plaster bas-relief over the main entrance in 1939. According to Van Niekerk [previous Director of the Museum], CLELAND and the PWD jointly commissioned this work: In 1930 the gallery was composed of six galleries: one centre, four ends, the Liberman Room, as well as the "miniature room" the oval space connecting two end galleries. The foyer opened into a grand exhibition space with a top-lit barrel-vaulted ceiling terminated by semi-circular panels, which were decorated by Wheatley and his wife, Grace. Executed in distemper on canvas, the Wheatleys created an Arcadian scheme populated with figures and the flora and fauna of South Africa; the ceiling was embellished with animals and floral strips. … . All the galleries had hidden artificial lighting behind the cornices and recessed picture rails. The east and west galleries have double-barrel ceilings with a central colonnade. The rolling teak doors between the spaces slide into cavity walls and all the floors are in teak parquetry laid out in a herringbone pattern. In addition to the Liberman doors, Herbert Meyerowitz was responsible for the carved relief panels above the doors in every gallery [Extracted and edited from Martin 2019:27-29]. Transcription of English foundation stone:
SOUTH AFRICAN Visit their website. (SAB Feb 1933::11, 13) All truncated references not fully cited below are those of Joanna Walker's original text and cited in full in the 'Bibliography' entry of the Lexicon. Books and articles that reference Iziko South African National Gallery
|
|
