Title: Springtime in Namaqualand
Medium: Oil on board
Signed
Unframed: 29cm x 43.5cm
Framed: 46cm x 61cm
To really appreciate Hugo Naudé’s paintings you must know about his caravan. His caravan was custom-made and according to Adéle Naudé (1974:17) had “an external cupboard for tea-making equipment, tank of water, etc. In the caravan itself long seats doubled up as sleeping bunks.” On his caravan expeditions he would drove off in search of the perfect landscape to paint which he did on the spot fully geared to stay for as long as it takes to capture what he set out to find in the countryside. After a few close encounters driving himself he appointed Gawie Cupido who doubled up as his gardener when back home.
These expeditions were not for painting alone. It was also an important mission to collect seeds of South Africa’s indigenous flora. Naude was a pioneer in their cultivation at the Cape, which lead to him being commissioned to create The Garden of Remembrance on Church Square in Worchester (Naudé 1974:18).
Naude’s small paintings as explained by Adéle (Naudé 1974:17) “captured spontaneously and retained the radiance of that huge Namaqualand scene.”
