Interior 1978

Gregoire Boonzaier created this oil on canvas called Interior. You can tell by the visible brushstrokes and the thickness of the paint that it has been applied with energy and enthusiasm, one small section at a time. I can imagine Boonzaier, brush in hand, stepping back and forth, studying the objects, the composition and the light in this room, trying to capture it all on canvas. His thick, almost clotted application of paint gives the objects weight and presence. The green lampshade, for example, feels like a solid, tangible thing, built up from layers of brushstrokes. Boonzaier has looked at the French post-impressionists like Bonnard or Vuillard, and also seems to share a creative conversation with other South African painters such as Irma Stern. What’s wonderful here is the intimacy. Interior is not just a depiction of a space; it’s an invitation to dwell in the artist’s world, to see as he saw, and to feel the quiet pulse of a lived-in room.