Fleur FERRI (1929 – 2004)
Prof W Mouton
1985
oil painting
90.3 x 80.2 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Fleur Ferri was a South African post-war and contemporary artist, who produced landscapes, portraits and still lifes in a gentle, illuminated, naturalistic style. She drew inspiration from nature and people in equal measure, paying special attention to the play of light. Some of her works have a mythical aspect. Her desert landscapes of the Namibian and Kalahari deserts are among her most striking works.
She was commissioned to paint a portrait of progressive parliamentarian Helen Suzman, which was allegedly disappeared by the ANC from the walls of Parliament. Suzman represented a series of liberal and centre-left opposition parties during her 36-year tenure in the whites-only, National Party-controlled House of Assembly at the height of apartheid. Following Suzman’s resignation from Parliament in 1989, her long-time friend and colleague, the Democratic Party (DP) MP Colin Eglin, raised funds from friends and colleagues to commission a portrait of Suzman by Ferri. Parliament’s rules committee unanimously agreed that the portrait could be hung in the corridors of the house – an honour previously reserved for former governors-general, prime ministers, presidents, speakers and cabinet ministers. But it went missing from that position. Eventually, the portrait was handed back to Suzman and the DP. In June 2000, it was hung for a second time in Parliament – this time in the DP’s caucus room in the Marks Building, which was also named after Suzman on the occasion.
Ferri also painted official portraits of Sir Richard Luyt (UCT Art Collection) and Dr Anton Edward Rupert (Rupert Museum).