Notes

Wilfred Delporte was born in Kimberley in 1937. He trained originally as a woodwork teacher but after moving to Johannesburg in the 1960s, began working for his uncle, who was a plumber. Delporte studied under Cecil Skotnes at the Polly Street Art Centre and produced sculpture in wood and metal. He participated in a number of exhibitions in South Africa and abroad, and his works 'Magnificent Flight' and 'Birdman' won awards at the Weld Art exhibition in Johannesburg in 1973, and the Afrox MetalArt exhibition in Durban in 1976, respectively. As a result of this success, Delporte received a scholarship to study at the Cardiff College of Fine Arts in Wales in 1976. A large sculpture, 'Peace and Justice' was commissioned for the Green Point Community Square in Kimberley. Delporte's work depicts growth forms and flight as metaphors for freedom. His work is represented in numerous private and public collections, including the William Humphreys Art Museum, Kimberley, the University of South Africa, Pretoria, and the University of Cardiff. Wilfred Delporte now lives in Cape Town.

Provenance

Purchased circa 1994 by the current owner.

Literature

Elizabeth Rankin (1994). Images of Metal: Post-War Sculptures and Assemblages in South Africa, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press. A similar example is illustrated on page 36.

Muller Ballot (1994). Bettie Cilliers-Barnard: Towards Infinity, Pretoria: University of South Africa Press. A similar example is illustrated on page 145.