Notes

In Hugo Naudé's house, where the Welz family lived from 1943, Jean Welz created a studio upstairs, where both art lessons and musical evenings were held. Considering that Welz himself played the violin and that his violin was one of his most prized possessions, it is not surprising that his portrayals of musicians would be sympathetic. Elza Miles, in her monograph of the artist, notes, "when the woman picks up the instrument, the emotional side of her identifies with the sound that it makes. The moment of creative union between artist and instrument was consolidated by Welz in drawings, sketches, a painting (which he destroyed with numerous over-paintings) and a spontaneous oil on paper, Clarinet player. Miles: page 50.

In the year in which he painted this work, Welz was awarded the Silver Medal of the South African Academy as official reciognition for his art.

Literature

Elza Miles, (1997) The World of Jean Welz, Stellenbosch: Fernwood Press. Page 50 and illustrated in colour on page 82, figure I.