Notes

Gregoire Boonzaier was a prolific artist and proponent of Cape Impressionism. While he is perhaps most recognisable for his scenes depicting the Bo-Kaap and District Six, his abundant output also contained charming still lifes, including traditional compositions of various flowers in vases such as those in lots 111 and 112. The earliest of the two, Zinnias in a Blue Vase (lot 111), was painted in 1935 and is very reminiscent of the still lifes with flowers in vases that Vincent
van Gogh painted between 1888 and 1890.

Boonzaier employed van Gogh’s short, staccato brushstrokes to beautifully render full-bloom zinnias with lush dark green leaves against a simple yellow/green tonal background. The later work, Peonies in a Chinese Vase (lot 112), was painted in 1937 and still bears influences from van Gogh and the other Post-Impressionists. This work is more painterly, with looser, softer brushstrokes which capture these exquisite over-bloomed peonies. The presence of the Chinese vase and Asian illustration in the background might reference the Post-Impressionists, who were very inspired by Japonisme, but could also be a nod to Boonzaier’s father, DC, who was an avid collector of Asian art. In 1935, Boonzaier left South Africa to study at the Heatherley School of Art in London, and it would have been here that he was exposed to and impacted by these European artists and movements. He returned home in 1937, and these two lots, therefore, perfectly bookend his time abroad.