Isaac HLATSHWAYO (b. mid-1920s)
Township
1993
watercolour
63 x 96.5 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Isaac Hlatshwayo lived in Mofolo Village, Soweto, and was taught by Gideon Uys at the famous Polly Street Art Centre before Cecil Skotnes took over in 1950. Sydney Kumalo was also at the Centre at the time. Hlatshwayo was part of Durant Sihlali’s artists group, which gathered for working sessions on weekends and outdoor painting excursions. Other members of the group were Ephraim Ngatane and Louis Maqubela. They all rose to prominence on the South African art scene in the 1960s. They developed an iconography of everyday life in the townships and in the peri-urban areas, their spectrum of styles stretching from realist to impressionist, mostly in watercolours, gouache and graphic media on paper.
Influenced by his environment and past experiences, Hlatshwayo painted township life as well as rural scenes – mostly in vivid watercolours. He held exhibitions at the South African Association of Arts; Carlton Centre Gallery, Johannesburg and the American Community Centre, Pretoria, among other spaces. After that, his works were exhibited in many major centres in South Africa and abroad.
Monthly open air exhibitions were his main outlet for selling his work. He was a realistic man, totally committed to providing affordable art to support his immediate and extended family.