Cilliers-Barnard, Bettie

Bobbie Burgers is a contemporary Canadian painter. Her lush and Expressionistic depictions of flowers teeter on the verge of abstraction, bursting with bright color and laden with thickly applied, textural paint. “Flowers, to me, are the opposite of still,” the artist has explained. “Changing from minute to minute, they are perfect symbols for life, death, yearning, and beauty. My brushstrokes are layered with my own internal charges, depicting anger, frustration, softness, wanting, and more.” Born in 1973 in Vancouver, Canada, she studied Art History at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. Her work has been exhibited widely at home and abroad, notably including Art Market San Francisco and Equinox Gallery. Today, her works are in the collections of the Berost Corporation in Toronto and the Royal Bank of Canada, among others. Burgers lives and works in Vancouver, Canada.

Cilliers-Barnard, Bettie

Born: 1914 Rustenburg, Transvaal

A painter and graphic artist of portraits, still life, genre, figures and abstracts. Works in oil, watercolour, acrylic, mixed media, collaged canvas and in various graphic media.

Studies: 1935-37 Pretoria Teachers Training College where obtained a Transvaal Teachers Diploma; 1938-39 evening classes under Phyllis Gardner (qv), art evaluation under Dr Maria Stein-Lessing (1915-79); 1941-44 under the guidance of Madame Stradiot-Bougnet; 1948 Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten en de Hogere Instituten, Belgium (Opsomer School) and in Paris under Andre Lhote (1885-1962); 1956 in Paris under Stanley William Hayter (b.1901) and graphic art under Jean Pons (b.1913).

Profile: From 1949 a member, and from 1968 an Honorary Life Member of the SAAA; from 1974 National Vice President of the SAAA; from 1978 Chairman of the Art Section of the SA Women’s Bureaus. 1939-43 an art lecturer at the Pretoria Teachers Training College; 1940-43 a part time art teacher at the Children’s Art Centre, Pretoria. 1969 “Symbols,” a portfolio of 10 lithographs published by the Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg. A designer of tapestries. 1948 lived in Belgium and Paris, returned to Paris in 1956, 1960 when studied the art of tapestry, 1964, 1971, 1981 and 1985. 1964 made a study tour of Portugal and Spain. Visited the USA in 1981 and 1985.

Exhibitions: 1946 MacFadyen Hall, Pretoria, first of over 50 solo exhibitions held in SA and in London and Paris; she has participated in group exhibitions from 1949 in SA, Zimbabwe, Italy, Switzerland, Brazil, The Netherlands, West Germany, Yugoslavia, Belgium, the USA, Portugal, Austria, Israel, Australia, Peru, Bolivia and Monaco; 1960 and 1964 Quadrennial Exhibitions; 1966 Pretoria Art Museum, joint exhibition with Joan Clare (qv); 1972 Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, joint exhibition of tapestries with Cecil Skotnes (qv); 1974 SAAA Gallery, Pretoria, Prestige Exhibition; 1978 Van Wouw House, Pretoria, Retrospective Exhibition; 1981 Republic Festival exhibition; 1984 University of Pretoria, Retrospective Exhibition; 1987 Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan, Prestige Exhibition.

Awards: 1966 Gold Medal, Transvaal Academy; 1977 Merit Award, 21st Grand Prix International d’Art Contemporain, Monte Carlo; 1978 Medal of Honour for Painting, jointly with Leo Theron (qv), SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns; 1983 Decoration for Meritorious Services by the State President; 1985 Chancellor’s Medal, University of Pretoria.

Represented: Ann Bryant Art Gallery, East London; Hester Rupert Art Museum, Graaff-Reinet; King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth; National Museum, Bloemfontein; Potchefstroom Museum; Potchefstroom University for CHE; Pretoria Art Museum; Randfontein Municipal Collection; Sandton Municipal Collection; SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns; SA National Gallery, Cape Town; University of Natal; University of the Orange Free State; University of Pretoria; University of South Africa; University of Stellenbosch; University of the Witwatersrand; Willem Annandale Art Gallery, Lichtenburg; William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley.
Public Commissions: 1963 tapestry, Transvaal Provincial Administration Building, Pretoria; 1969 mural, Orange Free State Provincial Administration Building, Bloemfontein; 1972 mural, Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg; 1973 tapestry, Women’s Residence, University of Pretoria; 1983 tapestry, the State Theatre, Pretoria.
References: Our Art 2; Art SA; SAA; 20C SA Art; SAP&S; SAP&D; SESA; SSAP; BSAK 1 & 2; SA Art; Oxford Companion to 20C Art (under SA); 3Cs; AASA; LSAA; Fontein vol 1 no3, 1960; South Africana 4 May 1961; SA Panorama April 1964, November 1971, June 1983, January 1984 and March 1984; Artlook March 1967, April 1967, October 1967, October 1970 & October/November 1974; SA Art Calendar October/November 1981 & March 1983; De Kat May 1987.