Pieter Van Der Westhuizen

1931 - 2008

 

Pieter van der Westhuizen discovered at a very young age that "the world I found myself in was not a comfortable one... At around the age of four I decided that this life was not for me. I began creating another world for myself - in pictures..."

Pieter van der Westhuizen, was born in Pretoria, South Africa, in 1931.

He studied art at Unisa under Sakkie Eloff, Leo Theron, Robert Hodgins and others.

In 1960 he worked under Alfred Krentz and in 1971 under Erik Laubscher.

During 1979-80 he attended the Nationale Hoger Institute voor Schone Kunst at the Royal Academy for Fine arts in Belgium.

In 1982 and 1985 he continued his studies at the Stedelijke Akademie in Ghent and the Ryks Centrum voor Grafiek in Kasterlee, Belgium.

During 1983 and 1985 he studied wood-block printing in Japan.

His work comprises mainly landscapes portraits, still life, figures and abstract pictures and he works in pastel, oil, watercolour, ink, pencil, charcoal and in various graphic media.

Pieter van der Westhuizen has had many one-man and group exhibitions and in 1988 and 1989 exhibited with Marc Chagall, Yaacov Agam, Ben Avram, inter alia, in Madrid, Spain.

His recent exhibitions on the occasion of his 65th birthday were the biggest and most successful ever held in South Africa. He is widely regarded as the most popular artist in South Africa today.

Pieter van der Westhuizen's works are today found in private and state collections in South Africa, Britain, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, China, Japan and Israel.