The Art of ALEXANDER ROSE-INNES

1991. Large hard cover with dust cover, 120 pages. Very good condition. Tightly bound, neat and clean. The front endpaper is not perfectly smooth - see image. Over 1kg.

Rose-Innes had his first solo exhibition in 1958, having previously participated only in group shows in the Eastern Province. In 1962 he exhibited in a group exhibition at the South African Association of Arts Gallery together with Ruth Prowse, David Botha, Gregoire Boonzaier, Carl Büchner, Nerine Desmond and Frank Spears.

He went on to have several solo exhibitions in South Africa and Belgium, and his work was included in numerous national and international exhibitions. In 1986, he was honoured by the University of Pretoria with a retrospective exhibition of his work and a medal for his contribution to the arts in South Africa.

Rose-Innes was a painter of “everyday situations like women selling flowers, people sitting in pubs and girls chatting”. He had particular interest in the scenes of the Cape Malay Quarter and District Six, figures and portraits of common people such as blacksmiths and fishermen, as well as the simplicity of still life compositions, Cape landscapes and domestic interiors. The absence of strong colour notes, together with the use of close-up views, contributes to a sense of intimacy in his work.