Artist Database

Marcella de Boom was a South African artist who worked primarily in acrylic and watercolour. When speaking about her paintings she said, "I look upon my watercolours as poems – smaller works (landscapes or nudes) done quickly on the spot. The acrylics are like novels – bigger, worked on for a longer period of time, layered. Here I usually explore a poetic or mythological theme". She also worked in ciment fondu and ceramics. She grew up in Pretoria and studied at Cornel University in the USA, followed by the University of Pretoria where she was mentored by Gunther van der Reis and obtained a BA in Fine Art. Her works have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in South Africa, including the 1981 Republic Festival Exhibition. She also exhibited in Namibia and Germany. Her last exhibition was held in her cob-house Gallery in Cullinan in May 2009, and a retrospective of her work was held in Australia in 2013. Marcella de Boom is represented in the University of Pretoria collection, and The Dance, consisting of ten life-size dancing figures, can be found in the veld on a farm near Loxton in the Northern Cape.

Image courtesy J. H. Strydom