museum
Château Des Tesnières Museum of 20th Century South African Art
An unparalleled collection of art and sculpture, which was set in the beautiful halls of the Orient Boutique Hotel in South Africa has now found its new home at Château Des Tesnières.
An impressive collection of prominent South African artists, carefully curated since the early 1970s to date.
The museum has housed a substantial amount of South African Impressionist art, including the works of the Cape Impressionists – Alexander Rose-Innes, William Timlin, Hugo Naudé, Terrance McCaw, Gwelo Goodman, Gregoire Boonzaier, Cecil Higgs and Nita Spillhouse, as well as older masters such as WH Coetzer, Frans Oerder, and Tinus de Jongh – not forgetting more contemporary artists such as Hennie Niemann, Conrad Theys and Lynn-Marie Eatwell. Various sculptures by Tienie Pritchard and ceramics were on display in the collection.
About the Artist
The urge to paint surfaced early during Pretoria-born Adriaan Boshoff’s childhood. This self-taught painter worked primarily in oil and excelled at portraying landscapes, seascapes, still lifes and figures in everyday life, in his unmistakable impressionistic style. Some of his most memorable works are scenes of the South African veld with cattle grazing and romanticised visions of childhood.
Often referred to as the ‘Renoir’ of South Africa, Boshoff said that he wanted to capture the fleeting moments of life before they are gone forever.
About the collection
While there are a number of large collections of his around the world, we are proud to boast the largest collection of Adriaan Boshoff’s work, the pre-eminent South African Impressionist. With more than 140 paintings spanning the many years of Mr Boshoff’s career, a walk through this collection is akin to a walk through the great man’s career.
About the Artist
South African artist Tienie Pritchard, one of the most prominent South African sculptors, became internationally renowned for his bronze monumental public commissions. His work is represented in private and public collections all over the world. His subject is the human figure, portrayed nude or semi-nude and, although he also sculpts animals, he prefers to incorporate them into his compositions with human figures.
About the collection
Our collection results from a unique alliance between sculptor Tienie Pritchard, our Founder Cobus Du Plessis and Curator, Mari Dartnall. Their contribution to the creation of Tienie’s art goes much further than buying and sponsoring works of art. Tienie’s interest in man’s cultural history is shared and stimulated by Cobus and Mari, and many Pritchard sculptures resulted from that shared passion. Throughout the many years of this collaboration, Tienie had the freedom to create according to the specifications of his muse, using the nude to express a wide range of concepts. Our collection of sculptures is representative of a lifetime of work and the owners’ decision to create a museum displaying the sculptures for the benefit of all art lovers and the legacy of Tienie Pritchard.
