Description

Verso:      Signed and inscribed with the title on the verso.

“My aim is to communicate with everybody, not selectively. I feel that art, literature, music, and painting provide spiritual support.

They should move the spirit and make us aware, and in that way I intend my paintings to make statements…

I believe that art is one of the major optimisms, it is a life-support system, an affirmation of life.”  Stanley Pinker

Stanley Pinker’s work has in the past been discussed in the context of the development of abstract art in South Africa. For his part, the painter is unequivocal: “I could never be an abstract artist – the content and information that surrounds us in South Africa are too important for me.” The confusion, if indeed there is any surrounding Pinker’s classification, is really one of definition. Pinker is a figurative painter whose expressive work often makes use of abstracted compositional techniques.

Pinker’s work is strongly influenced by the principles of the European movements with which he came into contact with during his years spent abroad (1954 – 1954). Movements such as Cubism which has instilled in him a respect for the flatness of the canvas and a structured use of form and colour. He employs many Cubist devises in his works and combines these formal elements with his own personal symbols. Although he maintains a loyalty to figurative imagery, Pinker intends to make more profound and enigmatic observations about experiences that can be conveyed in a realistic description of natural appearances. Thus, in his art, he attempts to create a new dimension within his canvases through the distortion of space and recomposition of the elements which are observable in reality, within this new environment.

“Nude under a Bridge” perfectly portrays Pinker’s use of Cubist devices, and the exceptional manner with which he employs these techniques. Along with his striking use of bold colour is what makes him one of South Africa’s leading modern artists.