Cape Town Harbour 1958

Gregoire Boonzaier captured this scene of Cape Town Harbour in thick, tactile strokes of oil paint. You can almost feel him, standing there, squinting in the bright South African light, trying to make sense of all the buildings and boats. The color palette is muted, mostly blues and grays, but there are touches of red in the rooftops, which provide little sparks of warmth in the otherwise cool tones. I wonder if, when he painted this, Boonzaier was trying to convey the feeling of the port, rather than the exact specifics of the scene. Look at how he defines the edges of the buildings – those slightly jagged, uneven lines. It is like he is less interested in precision and more interested in capturing a sensory impression. Painters are always in conversation with each other, across time and space. Boonzaier’s Cape Town Harbour, with its thick paint and emphasis on light and atmosphere, makes me think of some of the early Impressionists like Pissarro. Painting is a place for trying things out. It’s where we leave room for happy accidents, unexpected encounters, and multiple possibilities.