Lettie GARDINER (b. 1937)
Brothers I
2009
oil on canvas
44 x 58 cm
Mother and Son
2009
oil on canvas
80 x 100 cm
BIOGRAPHY
Lettie Gardiner was born in Heilbron, Free State and studied Fine Art at the University of Natal (now the University of KwaZulu-Natal) before moving to Johannesburg. She held her first solo exhibition in Johannesburg at Gallery 101 in 1971 and since then has participated in numerous group shows and has held a number of solo exhibitions.
Gardiner was closely associated with the Johannesburg the Art Foundation; Bill Ainslie frequently invited her to participate in exhibitions at the Foundation and the Ainslies were good house friends. Her paintings reflect the inspiration she drew from frequent travels throughout the country and abroad, especially to the Netherlands.
One of her portrait paintings was accepted for the Art in the City project in 2002. It was the head of a young boy, which was enlarged and displayed on a billboard outside the Oriental Plaza. The next year there was another competition, and her submission was again accepted.
Her paintings are held several prominent South African collections, including the Rand Merchant Bank and the Mobil Collection, as well as in many private collections.