Nicolaas Maritz - artist
Nicolaas Gysbert Jacobus Maritz (born 9 July 1959) is a Southern African artist. His artistic roots are deeply embedded in the South African landscape. Drawing inspiration from its shapes, its colours and its creatures, he has, over the past fifty years, created a unique body of work, instantly recognizable by virtue of the idiosyncrasy of his vision and the immediacy of the manner in which it is realized. Curious juxtapositions – of the real and the fantastical, the natural and the artificial, the simple and the complex, the humorous and the sinister – are a defining characteristic of Maritz’s art. Many writers have commented on this aspect of his work, and on the creative friction generated by this interplay of contradictory elements, which extends also to his stylistic usage and artistic aims. In describing his paintings, Hilary Prendini-Toffoli writes, “though deceptively naive, in a retro technique evocative of the ‘30s and ‘40s, these multi-levelled paintings manage at the same time to be both meaningful and decorative.”
Maritz is a prolific artist, but seems to possess an almost boundless ability to reinvent his aesthetic approach. He is particularly known for his paintings of the Southern African landscape, especially for his singular portrayals of Table Mountain, but his extensive oeuvre is by no means limited to this genre. It includes a large body of paintings, as well as drawings and prints, with occasional excursions into graphic and design, ceramics, sculpture, digital and other media.
Maritz was born into an artistic family, his father an architect and his mother a ceramic artist. Early influences which were to inform his work, were derived from his parents, his grandmother, and two aunts. Their watercolours, graphic work, ceramics, drawings and illustrations inspired the young Maritz and helped to form his precocious artistic sensibility, long before he reached art school. Art books and reproductions featuring the work of the Fauvists, Matisse and the Post-Impressionists also played an important part in his formative years, and were supplemented by encounters with Walter Battiss’s playful artistic exuberance and the dark and colloquial surrealist approach of Fred Page.
DIGITAL ART ALBUMS
RHINO STOMPER, 2015. [[1]] DIGITAL SKETCHBOOK, 2015. [[2]] PROVINCIAL SNAKE JAZZ, 2015. [[3]] MEMEOLAS, Volume 1, 2015. [[4]] MEMEOLAS, Volume 2, 2015. [[5]] MEMEOLAS, Volume 3, 2015. [[6]] LOVE TOKEN, 2016. [[7]]
ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS
1976 GRAFIESE WERK / GRAPHICS, Eastern Province Society of Fine Arts Gallery, Port Elizabeth.
1984 DRAWINGS, 22 Lime Grove, London. AKRIELE EN TEKENINGE / ACRYLICS AND DRAWINGS, Eastern Province Society of Fine Arts Gallery, Port Elizabeth.
1985 NICOLAAS MARITZ, EIGHT NEW WORKS, Pretoria Art Museum, Pretoria.
1986 ONLANGSE SKILDERYE / RECENT PAINTINGS, Beuster-Skolimowski Gallery, Pretoria.
1987 PICTURES, The Conglomerate Gallery, Cape Town. RECENT PAINTINGS, Michaelis School of Fine Art Gallery, University of Cape Town.
1988 SKILDERYE / PAINTINGS, Western Province Arts Association Gallery, Cape Town.
1989 LAND & CITYSCAPES, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg. RECENT PAINTINGS, Club Idols, Cape Town. SKILDERYE / PAINTINGS, Western Province Association of Art Gallery, Cape Town.
1990 RECENT WORKS, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg. ARTIST IN RESIDENCE, South African National Gallery, Cape Town. NEW MONOPRINTS / NUWE MONODRUKKE, Western Province Arts Association Gallery, Cape Town.
1992 A DEPICTION OF TODAY’S ECOLOGICAL ISSUES IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN LANDSCAPE, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg. FIRST STUDIO EXHIBITION, Old Mission Church, Darling.
1993 SECOND STUDIO EXHIBITION, Old Mission Church, Darling.
1994 PAINTINGS, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg. ARTWORKS / KUNSWERKE, BMW Auto Atlantic / Gallery Tendenz, Cape Town. RECENT PAINTINGS, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
1995 NEW PAINTINGS, Peter Visser & Gallery, Cape Town. RECENT PAINTINGS, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg. NEW PAINTINGS / NUWE SKILDERYE, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling. CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATIONS, UCT Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town. SKILDERYE / PAINTINGS, The Guild Gallery, Pretoria.
1996 NUWE SKILDERYE EN BEELDHOUWERKE / NEW PAINTINGS AND SCULPTURES, Maritz Studio Gallery, Darling. CAPE PAINTINGS, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg. ONLANGSE SKILDERYE / RECENT PAINTINGS, The Guild Gallery, Pretoria.
1997 RECENT PAINTINGS, The Labia Gallery, Cape Town. NUWE SKILDERYE / NEW PAINTINGS, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
1998 VASES & VESSELS, David Champion Ltd., London. NUWE SKILDERYE EN DRAADWERK / NEW PAINTINGS AND WIRE MOBILES, Maritz Studio Gallery, Darling.
1999 PAINTINGS, Harris Fine Art, Cape Town. ‘1999’, Karen McKerron Gallery, Johannesburg. RECENT PAINTINGS / ONLANGSE SKILDERYE, Association of Arts Gallery, Pretoria.
2000 RECENT PAINTINGS, Studio Exhibition, in association with Harris Fine Arts, Maritz Studio Gallery, Darling.
2001 NEW PAINTINGS, UCT Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town.
2002 PAINTINGS / SKILDERYE, Elsie Balt Art Gallery, Evita se Perron, Darling. NEW PAINTINGS & PRINTS, The Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch. SKILDERYE EN AFDRUKKE / PAINTINGS AND PRINTS, F. Van Schalkwyk Fine Art Consultants, Old Arts Gallery, University of Pretoria. NUWE PRENTE, Darling Wijnhuis, Vyge Valley, Darling. ROCK POOLS AND OTHER PICTURE / ROTSPOELE EN ANDER PRENTE, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling. MALE NUDES & OTHER PICTURES, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
2003 ROCK POOLS, INSECTS AND OTHER PAINTINGS, UCT Irma Stem Museum, Cape Town.
2004 INSECTS, ROCK POOLS & OTHER PAINTINGS, Franchise, Johannesburg. CAPE VIEWS, INSECTS & OTHER PAINTINGS, Art.b, Bellville Arts Association Gallery, Cape Town. RECENT PAINTINGS, Chelsea on 34 Gallery, Darling.
2005 AN EXHIBITION OF ‘ITALIAN’ PAINTINGS, Dorp Street Gallery, Stellenbosch. RECENT PAINTINGS / ONLANGSE SKILDERYE, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling. 30 NEW PAINTINGS / 30 NUWE SKILDERYE, UCT Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town. RECENT PAINTINGS, Chelsea on 34 Gallery, Darling.
2007 ART FETISH GALA, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
2008 PAINTINGS & PRINTS, Penny Dobbie Gallery, Cape Town. UNMENTIONABLES / ONNOEMBAARHEDE, UCT Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town. SELF-PORTRAIT AS BABOON & OTHER PAINTINGS, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling. RECENT NAMIBIAN LANDSCAPES, Omba Gallery, Windhoek.
2009 ONLANGSE SKILDERYE / RECENT PAINTINGS, The Gallery at Grande Provence, Franschhoek. PAINTINGS & PRINTS BY NICOLAAS MARITZ, Kalk Bay Modern Art Gallery, Cape Town.
2010 OF MERMAIDS AND MOTHS, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
2011 MERMAIDS & MOUNTAINS, Kalk Bay Modern Art Gallery, Cape Town. PARADISE, Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town. THE LUCKY PACKET EXHIBITION No.1, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
2012 THE LUCKY PACKET EXHIBITION No.2, Kalk Bay Modern Art Gallery, Cape Town. BLUE LEMON SNAKE / BLOU SUURLEMOEN-SLANG, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
2013 STILL LIFE WITH CAT & OTHER PAINTINGS, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling. [[8]]
2014 STILL LIFE, Kalk Bay Modern Art Gallery, Cape Town. [[9]] PAINTINGS 2011 - 2014, Dawid Ras Gallery, Johannesburg. [[10]] STILL LIFE, LANDSCAPE & APPARITION, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling. [[11]]
2016 RECENT APPARITIONS & OTHER PAINTINGS, Dawid Ras Gallery, Johannesburg. [[12]] LANDSCAPE & STAR, Moor Gallery, Franschhoek. [[13]] 40 YEARS / 40 FACES, A GALLERY OF PORTRAITS, Kalk Bay Modern Art Gallery, Cape Town. [[14]] ABOUT FACE, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling. [[15]]
2017 SORTILEGIUM, UCT Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town. [[16]] THE EYE OF THE PARTRIDGE / DIGITAL PRINTS, The Toffee Gallery, Darling. [[17]] ANNUAL STUDIO EXHIBITION, Maritz Studio & Gallery, Darling.
COLLECTIONS Pretoria Art Museum Johannesburg Art Gallery Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth Durban Art Gallery South African National Gallery, Cape Town Toyoko International Collection, Yokohama Standard Bank Art Collection, Johannesburg. ABSA Bank Art Collection, Pretoria. Volkskas Bank Art Collection, Pretoria. Telkom SA Art Collection, Pretoria. Rand Merchant Bank Art Collection, Johannesburg. Akasia Clinic Art Collection, Pretoria. Department of National Education, Pretoria. Board of Financial Services, Pretoria. University of Cape Town Art Collection. Stellenbosch University Sasol Art Collection. SASOL Art Collection, Johannesburg. Buffalo and Erie Public Library, Buffalo, New York. Sanlam Art Collection, Cape Town. Groote Post Wine Estate, Darling. The Arabella Sheraton Hotel Art Collection, Cape Town. Didata Art Collection, Johannesburg. Anglo-American Art Collection, Johannesburg. E.Oppenheimer & Sons Art Collection, Johannesburg. Thelema Wine Estate Art Collection, Stellenbosch. The Melrose Arch Hotel, Johannesburg. Meerlust Collection, Stellenbosch. National Art Gallery of Namibia, Windhoek. Carnegie Art Gallery, Newcastle, Natal. Iziko Museums Collection, Cape Town.