A painter and graphic
artist of wildlife, Zakkie Eloff worked in oil, watercolour, ink, wash,
monotype and etching. He studied at Pretoria Boys High School under Walter
Battiss (qv) and at Witwatersrand Technical College, under Maurice van
Essche (qv), James Gardner (qv) and Phyllis Gardner (qv). In 1957 Zakkie
Eloff studied graphic techniques at the Central School of Art, London;
etching under Dolf Rieser (qv).
Between 1958 and 1962 Zakkie taught at Pretoria Techinical
College and from 1961 until 1962 he taught at University of Pretoria.
He has illustrated various books. Between 1962 and 1968 Zakkie worked
as a Game Ranger in the Etosha Game Reserve, Namibia. From 1969 he has
lived and worked in the Eastern Transvaal Lowveld.
The following is an extract from: Berman’s Art
and Artists of South Africa by Esmé Berman (Southern Book Publishers
: 1993)
A man of the veld, at his most comfortable in wide-open
spaces. 1958-61 lecturer in painting at Pretoria Tech; married art student
René van Zyl. 1962: escaped from the city to become a gamewarden
at Etosha Pan, Namibia; the content of his paintings and etchings reflects
his absorption in wild-life and veld; minute observations of animal appearance
and habit recorded in thousands of sketches. Many dramatic experiences
in Namibia, including loss of home and possessions in a devastating fire.
1969: moved with wife and three small children to White River, Eastern
Gauteng, adjoining Kruger National Park; frequent visits to that and other
game reserves. 1972: wild-life panels for VIP rooms at O.R. Tambo Airport
in Johannesburg. 1975: invited to work in the experimental medium of ‘resin
engraving’.
Public Collections: Pretoria Art Museum; Ann Bryant Gallery,
East London; Hester Rupert Art Museum, Germany; William Humphreys Gallery,
Kimberly; UNISA.
The work of Zakkie Eloff was not often seen on exhibition
during his seven-year retreat into the Namibian bush, but even during
the decade following his first show his output of painting was receding
before his increased interest in the graphic techniques. Where his canvases
presented boldly-stated views of animals and plants within the landscape,
in his etchings and aquatints he tended to concentrate on a single motif.
His style in these is linear –minimal – conveying the stance,
the character and movement of the particular beast portrayed.
During 1961 Eloff was authorized to pull the post-humous
limited edition of linocut prints from JH Pierneef’s blocks, for
archive purposes. Thereafter the blocks were destroyed.
The change in environment and lifestyle occasioned by
his move to the Eastern Transvaal brought about a gradual change in Zakkie
Eloff’s work. Although his acutely sensitive linear etching and
pen drawing remained the most impressive area of his achievement, his
painting benefited from subtle adjustments of technique which introduced
a lighter and more graceful touch. The paintings of the Seventies were
carried out in fresh, chromatic colour applied with short broken brushstrokes.
The resultant lively impressionistic surfaces contrasted favourably with
the more stolid forms and harsher colouring of earlier canvases.
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Artist: ZAKKIE ELOFF
Title: Cheetahs
Size: 31 x 45 cm
Media: Pen & wash
ID: 27478
Price: R 6 000 Framed
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