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FRANS MARTIN CLAERHOUT

Born 1919 Belgium, resided in SA from 1946

He graduated from a seminary in his native Belgium in 1944, was posted to South Africa two years later and served primarily in Bloemfontein, Thabanchu and his beloved Tweespruit mission from which he was retired last year to a house owned by the church in the Free State capital for its ageing priests.
Began painting in 1957, mainly scenes around the mission stations in the Orange Free State. A self-taught painter in oil of landscapes and figures also works in pastel, ink pencil, charcoal. He also produced monotypes, linocuts, several murals and sculptures. His work is a sort of merging of post impressionism with post modernism, characterised by warm colours, impasto and elongated human forms and lately he has taken to using more vivid colours.

Painted a large number of religious scenes and series of pictures, including in 1983 the “Sun catcher” and in 1984 “Christ and other persons”.