Frans Claerhout and the People, Places and Faith That Shaped His Art
Frans Claerhout did not come to South Africa to become a famous artist. He came as a Catholic missionary. He arrived from Belgium in 1946 after completing his priestly training, carrying with him a European upbringing, an interest in art and a faith that would remain central to his life. Over the next six decades, South Africa became much more than the country where he worked. It became the place that transformed the way he painted. Claerhout developed one of the most recognizable styles in South African art. His elongated figures, thickly worked surfaces, bright colors, donkeys, children, flowers, and rural scenes have a quality that makes them identifiable almost immediately. Yet calling his work simply "colorful" or "expressionist" misses what makes it interesting. His paintings grew from a particular combination of places and experiences: rural Belgium, Catholic missionary work, the communities around Bloemfontein and Thaba 'Nchu, the Free State landscape, C...
