Title: Primavera
Medium: Oil on canvas 56
Unframed: 101.5cm x 86.3xm
In 1956 the South African government agreed to sponsor South Africa’s entry to the Venice Biennale for the first time in history. The minister of Education, Arts and Science appointed the South African Association of Arts to curate the exhibition. It was meant to be the most impressive South African exhibit yet. The board under the leadership of Matthys Bokhorst chose twelve of Preller’s paintings including the work Primavera for the exhibition. Preller was also commissioned to design the catalogue that accompanied the exhibition and he decided to create a line drawing of the African figure on the right of this iconic painting for the cover (Berman 2009:184).
During this period Preller was interested in the timelessness of all great art. The artist was contemplating the relationship between light and space and was trying to incorporate the clarity of form he noticed in Renaissance painting. All these elements can be observed in Primavera and the painting that took centre stage at the South African Biennale exhibition that year (Berman 2009:149).
