From a very young age, this man has been creating all kinds of art. Any types of art you can think of, he has done it all and tried it all. He is an amazing South African artist and creator with over 50 years of experience. At a time, he was teaching students how to draw and paint, took some extra lessons himself, but ultimately, his work remained his own private property and ended up framed on the walls of his home, or in storage in his garage.
Born in 1944 and now at the age of 73, this is the first time his work is made public. It would be such a shame if the whole world could not be able to see the work of this man and be able to appreciate the extreme talent that he has been blessed with...
This man, is my father!
Today, I received photographs from my mother of some of the work he has done. These pictures are not professionally taken, as it was sent from her phone to mine, and please keep in mind that some of these paintings are over 50 years old, therefore the images might not be as good as they used to be.
Due to wear and tear from never being framed, this painting unfortunately did not make it without tearing to a point that it could no longer be saved. My father made a scan of the original to keep as a memory. Painted in 1969:
This was a painting he made of 'Gert van den Bergh' (actor, 1920-1968) . He was also the father of South African actor and screenwriter, Regardt van den Berg. A picture of Gert van den Bergh can be seen here.
His next big artwork was a painting that he made of P.du P Kruger, who was at that time, the Managing Director of the company that he worked for.
This picture was then published in the local newspaper.
P. du P Kruger on the left, and my father, Pieta van der Walt, on the right.
You will notice that he signed some of his paintings as "Pieta", some as "P. van der Walt", and some as "Rowan" or "Eric Rowan". I can explain this by referring to an actor or a singer who chooses a 'stage name' for performances. This is exactly what he did. As he was adopted as a small boy, his adoptive parents called him "Pieta", but his biological parents named him Eric Rowan Gillig. He chose this name as his signing signature later on, as it had more meaning to him, sounded better and was just a personal preference as the years gone by.
These are only some of his work that I get to share with you today:
Even though he is a pensioner now, and after having knee- and shoulder replacements, he still keeps himself busy with painting and drawing and I am eagerly waiting to see the paintings of my children that he is currently busy with.