Woman Wearing a Headscarf

Notes

Maurice van Essche arrived in South Africa in 1940, having travelled from his native Antwerp in Belgium, through the Belgian Congo, to the Western Cape. Says Carl Büchner “The arrival … marks the beginning of a new phase in the artist’s production, but also of a period of consolidation. The emphasis shifts to the elements of his new environment; in his painting of the arid plains of the Karoo, the harbour-life of the cape, portraits, such as the present lot, Woman Wearing a Headscarf, nudes, still lifes and clowns, van Essche reflects the richness as well as the sobriety of his European heritage. A deep-rooted appreciation of the Flemish Primitives may be seen in his statuesque compositions, together with a predilection for the glowing colours of Rubens and Breughel, a compassion for the peasant and the fisherman, and a sympathetic grasp of the strange world of Ensor’s masquerade; yet his work breathes “Africa”. A clear mystical element pervades his work, suggesting a poetic introspection, an ever-deepening nostalgia, drawing him to the magical atmosphere of his visionary world.”¹ In van Essche’s own words: “What do you expect of a painting? That it should give itself to you. What do you expect of a painter That he should surrender his secret and invite you to penetrate his inner life, that he should guide you along the paths of his universe inhabited by his dreams.”²

^1. Carl Büchner (1967) Van Essche. Cape Town: Tafelberg, unpaginated.

^2. Maurice van Essche, quoted by Carl Büchner (1974) Maurice van Essche: Retrospective Exhibition. Cape Town: South African National Gallery, unpaginated.