Pretoria Art Museum
Encyclopedia
The Pretoria Art Museum is an art gallery
located in Arcadia, Pretoria
in South Africa
. The museum in Arcadia Park occupies an entire city block
bounded by Park, Wessels, Schoeman and Johann Streets.
The Pretoria Art Museum was established to house the City Council of Pretoria's Art Collection, built up since the 1930s. The collection received an early windfall in 1932 when Lady Michaelis bequeathed a large number of artworks to the city council after the death of her husband, Sir Max Michaelis
. The collection consisted mainly of 17th-century work of the "North Dutch school"
,The Pretoria Art Museum appears to be the only institution that uses this phrase to describe the "Dutch Masters".. South African works included pieces by Henk Pierneef
, Pieter Wenning, Frans Oerder
, Anton van Wouw
and Irma Stern
. The collection was originally housed in the Town Hall. As South African museums in Cape Town and Johannesburg already had good collections of 17th, 18th and 19th century European art, it was decided to focus on compiling a representative collection of South African art.
Aside from these artists, work by Hugo Naude, Maggie Loubser and others was acquired. The purchase of international work was focused on more affordable graphics prints from Europe and USA. More recently there was greater emphasis on contemporary South African art and building a more representative historical collection also traditional arts and new-media. After the death of the sculptor Lucas Sithole 1994, half of his unfinished work by Haenggi Foundation was donated to the museum after documented by art historian Elza Miles. The South African collection now includes work by Gerard Sekota and Judith Mason. Since the mid 1990s, the New Signatures competition is also held at the Pretoria Art Museum.
Building began on 26 January 1962 and the cornerstone was laid on 19 October 1962 by the then Prime Minister Dr HF Verwoerd and the mayor of Pretoria, Councillor E. Smith. The building of concrete and glass was completed over 18 months at a cost of R400,000. The design in the modern International Style design and technical innovations feasible at that time were used. The museum was officially inaugurated on 20 May 1964 by the new mayor of Pretoria, Dr PJ van der Walt. The first curator of the new Pretoria Art Museum, Dr. Albert Werth, was appointed early in 1963 and until his retirement in 1991 was director of the art museum.
Additional exhibit space was created in 1975 with the creation of secretion of an open area between the entrance and the East Gallery. It was constructed in 1988 and again in 1999 upgraded. In the latter case in preparation for the international exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci: scientist, inventor, artist. An image Garden is also on the stage to the museum added.
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
located in Arcadia, Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. The museum in Arcadia Park occupies an entire city block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
bounded by Park, Wessels, Schoeman and Johann Streets.
The Pretoria Art Museum was established to house the City Council of Pretoria's Art Collection, built up since the 1930s. The collection received an early windfall in 1932 when Lady Michaelis bequeathed a large number of artworks to the city council after the death of her husband, Sir Max Michaelis
Max Michaelis
Sir Maximilian Michaelis was a South African financier, mining magnate, benefactor and patron of the arts....
. The collection consisted mainly of 17th-century work of the "North Dutch school"
Dutch Golden Age painting
Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history generally spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years War for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republic was the most prosperous nation in Europe, and led European trade,...
,The Pretoria Art Museum appears to be the only institution that uses this phrase to describe the "Dutch Masters".. South African works included pieces by Henk Pierneef
Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef
Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef Pretoria, was a South African landscape artist, generally considered to be one of the best of the old South African masters...
, Pieter Wenning, Frans Oerder
Frans Oerder
Frans David Oerder was a Dutch-born South African landscape and portrait painter, etcher and lithographer.Frans was the youngest of seven children born to a municipal employee...
, Anton van Wouw
Anton Van Wouw
Anton van Wouw was a Dutch-born sculptor regarded as the father of South African sculpture.-Biography:...
and Irma Stern
Irma Stern
Irma Stern was a major South African artist who achieved national and international recognition in her lifetime.-Life:...
. The collection was originally housed in the Town Hall. As South African museums in Cape Town and Johannesburg already had good collections of 17th, 18th and 19th century European art, it was decided to focus on compiling a representative collection of South African art.
Aside from these artists, work by Hugo Naude, Maggie Loubser and others was acquired. The purchase of international work was focused on more affordable graphics prints from Europe and USA. More recently there was greater emphasis on contemporary South African art and building a more representative historical collection also traditional arts and new-media. After the death of the sculptor Lucas Sithole 1994, half of his unfinished work by Haenggi Foundation was donated to the museum after documented by art historian Elza Miles. The South African collection now includes work by Gerard Sekota and Judith Mason. Since the mid 1990s, the New Signatures competition is also held at the Pretoria Art Museum.
History
The Pretoria City Council in 1954 decided that a building was needed to house the art collection. The firm of architects Burg, Lodge and Burg and W.G. McIntosh and the builder J. Zylstra (Pty) Ltd was appointed. The curator of the Johannesburg Art Museum, Anton Hendriks in an advisory capacity, and the city clerk of Pretoria, Henry Preiss, was the driving force behind the project; in 1956 he was on holiday in Europe on tour, where he studied art museums studied.Building began on 26 January 1962 and the cornerstone was laid on 19 October 1962 by the then Prime Minister Dr HF Verwoerd and the mayor of Pretoria, Councillor E. Smith. The building of concrete and glass was completed over 18 months at a cost of R400,000. The design in the modern International Style design and technical innovations feasible at that time were used. The museum was officially inaugurated on 20 May 1964 by the new mayor of Pretoria, Dr PJ van der Walt. The first curator of the new Pretoria Art Museum, Dr. Albert Werth, was appointed early in 1963 and until his retirement in 1991 was director of the art museum.
Additional exhibit space was created in 1975 with the creation of secretion of an open area between the entrance and the East Gallery. It was constructed in 1988 and again in 1999 upgraded. In the latter case in preparation for the international exhibition, Leonardo da Vinci: scientist, inventor, artist. An image Garden is also on the stage to the museum added.