Gregoire Boonzaier: Self portrait - SOLD
Boonzaier, Gregoire (1909 - 2005)
Self-portrait - 1966
Oil on canvas
41 x 30,5 cm
Signed and dated bottom left
Sold - 2016
In those character studies which are often described as self-portraits (although here not in the sense of realistic or faithful reproduction of facial features), Gregoire’s art reaches a visionary climax. The self-portraits are, in fact, expressive attempts at selfexamination in which the soul is ruthlessly exposed. They are disciplined examples of the painter’s art. Professor Trümpelmann has referred to one such self-portrait done on coarse canvas and in subdued colours which evoked a gloomy response in the viewer: “In a moving way the painting attests to the trials and tribulations of the artist and to his wearisome path through life.”
Martin Bekker, Gregoire Boonzaier, Cape Town, 1990, p 92