Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi - Mantini waLanga Fine Arts

It has been quite a while that I haven't shown my work to the general public. I am proud to now to say - at last, I have a platform to show my work. Please enjoy looking at it

Friday, July 15, 2022

Eric Mbatha - the Shiyane Maboneng Rorkes Drift etching print master fine artist

Eric Mbatha
1948 - 2012
Eric Mbatha had a longer relationship with Rorke’s Drift than most artists, being associated with the centre for most of the 1970s. He was part of the second intake of artists who commenced classes in 1971. The early 1970s saw a greater emphasis on intaglio printmaking at the centre, and this included etching, aquatint, drypoint and even mezzotint. Students were also encouraged to experiment by printing etchings in colour, as opposed to colouring prints by hand. Mbatha’s African queens (plate 211) is seen in the Campbell Smith Collection in a black and white version. The same image is an example of an etching and aquatint that was also printed sensitively in colour and where the colour actually enhanced the completed print. In other versions Mbatha selectively inked various sections of the plate in brown, green and black. In this work one can also discern a similar approach to subject matter adopted by Mbatha’s contemporaries at Rorke’s Drift such as Dan Rakgoathe (qv.) and Cyprian Shilakoe (qv.).

Credit: Joe Dolby - ReVisions

Go to Gallery

Born Soweto, 1948. Training 1971: Evangelical Lutheran Art and Craft Centre at Rorke`s Drift. Exhibitions 1976: Black South Africa: Contemporary Graphics, Brooklyn Museum, New York. 1976: Visiting artist at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, USA. Collections Iziko South African National Galllery, Cape Town; De Beers Centenary Art Gallery, University of Fort Hare, Alice.

Photograph of Eric Mbatha. Source: Prince Dube.

__________________________________________________

Eric Mbatha’s etchings Young ones and the Gods (1971) (plate 34) and Family IV (1970) (plate 35) augment this artist’s African Queens (now dated c.1971) in the Campbell Smith Collection (see ReVisions pp. 230-231, (plate 211) These are all prints dating from the beginning of Mbatha’s involvement with the Evangelical Lutheran Art and Craft Centre at Rorke’s Drift. As has been previously noted, Mbatha was one artist who had an exceptionally long relationship with the Centre. It is now known that he had some training at the Polly Street Art Centre in Johannesburg under Cecil Skotnes in the 1960s, and that he was part of the second intake of students at Rorke’s Drift in 1971. However, prints by him dating from 1970 such as Family IV, suggest that he may have even started informally at Rorke’s Drift before this.1

Although formal similarities with the more mystical works of Mbatha’s associates Dan Rakgoathe (qv.) and Cyprian Shilakoe (qv.) can be observed, Mbatha’s own etchings by comparison seem rooted in the anecdotal present. In Family IV, he initially started by drawing with an etching needle into a plate wholly covered in stop-out varnish. The plate was then placed in the acid bath to establish the lines. It was then thoroughly cleaned. More stop-out varnish was applied with a small hard brush in certain areas. The plate was then gently heated and exposed to resin dust and acid baths to obtain varying degrees of aquatint effect. Young Ones and the Gods shows use of similar etching techniques, but with much less use of intaglio line. Although the title suggests a mystical dimension, this is not altogether evident.

Principal Otto Lundbohm gave his etching press to Cyprian Shilakoe (qv.) when he left Rorke’s Drift. When Shilakoe died, he left it to Eric Mbatha who later gave it to Dumisani Mabaso. In 1982 Mabaso established the Squzu Studio in Soweto, where he installed it. The Squzu Studio still operates in Bertrams, Johannesburg.

  1. See Elizabeth Rankin and Philippa Hobbs. 2003. Rorke’s Drift: Empowering Prints, Double Storey Press, Cape Town, p 217-218.
Credit: Hayden Proud - ReVisions
Eric Mbatha Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Eric Mbatha Art Value Price GuideEric Mbatha Paintings & Artwork for Sale | Eric Mbatha Art Value Price Guide

  • Image source

    Synopsis:
    Painter
    First Name:
    Eric
    Last Name:
    Mbatha
    Date of Birth:
    02-April-1948
    Location of Birth:
    Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa
    Gender:
    Male

Eric Mbatha was born in Soweto, 1948. He obtained training in art in 1971 at Evangelical Lutheran Art and Craft Centre at Rorke`s Drift. He had a longer relationship with Rorke’s Drift than most artists, being associated with the centre for most of the 1970s. He was part of the second intake of artists who commenced classes in 1971. The early 1970s saw a greater emphasis on intaglio printmaking at the centre, and this included etching, aquatint, drypoint and even mezzotint. Students were also encouraged to experiment by printing etchings in colour, as opposed to colouring prints by hand. Mbatha’s African queens is seen in the Campbell Smith Collection in a black and white version. The same image is an example of an etching and aquatint that was also printed sensitively in colour and where the colour actually enhanced the completed print. In other versions Mbatha selectively inked various sections of the plate in brown, green and black. In this work one can also discern a similar approach to subject matter adopted by Mbatha’s contemporaries at Rorke’s Drift such as Dan Rakgoathe and Cyprian Shilakoe.

Exhibitions:

1976: Black South Africa: Contemporary Graphics, Brooklyn Museum, New York.
1976: Visiting artist at Augsburg College, Minneapolis, USA. Collections Iziko South African National Galllery, Cape Town; De Beers Centenary Art Gallery, University of Fort Hare, Alice.

Credit: South African History Online (SAHO)


at July 15, 2022
Email ThisBlogThis!Share to XShare to FacebookShare to Pinterest

No comments:

Post a Comment

Newer Post Older Post Home
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Zanele Mashinini - the greatness that would not yelp in pain but soldier on

Written by Sipho Mabaso SUNDAYINDEPENDENT NEWS Published Jun 6, 2022 Johannesburg - Zanele Mashinini (1962-2021) was a polymath. He pain...

  • Comrades in the Arts and Culture - four decades ago
    Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi:  Illustrator, graphic designer, photographer and teacher   “Art is the greatest weapon against any tyrant regime. A...
  • Zanele Mashinini
    G enius N eeds M oney – H ow do you think A rt gets created ?      Credit: James Sanders     Zanele Mashinini is that rare thing – a tow...
  • Fikile Patrick Magadlela
    Fikile Patrick Magadlela St Aidan’s Anglican Church, Yeoville 06 September 2003 December 13, 1952  Fikile Patrick Magadlela of 105 Muller St...

Search This Blog

  • Home

About Me

My photo
Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi
Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi b. 1954, Johannesburg, South Africa; lives in Johannesburg. Muziwakhe Nhlabatsi is a graphic artist and illustrator, best known for his representations of political themes, published in progressive media in the 1970s and 1980s. Flexible across drawing and print media, Nhlabatsi’s images have accompanied works by Es’kia Mphahlele, Chabani Manganyi and others, have appeared in texts by Black publishing House Skotaville, and have featured multiple times in anti-apartheid publication Staffrider. The artist currently runs a digital art studio in Soweto.
View my complete profile

Blog Archive

  • ►  2024 (7)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  April (6)
  • ▼  2022 (16)
    • ▼  July (15)
      • Zanele Mashinini
      • Zanele Mashinini
      • Eric Mbatha - the Shiyane Maboneng Rorkes Drift et...
      • Eli Kobeli - 'Chagall of Soweto’
      • Benjamin Mzimkulu Macala, SA artist, is born
      • Protest Fine Artist - Lucas Thusho Seage
      • Sonja Ferlov Mancoba
      • Global South African artist - Ernest Methuen Mancoba
      • OBITUARIES 
      • Sililo Abraham Maseko - a life time Colleague 3
      • South African arti...
      •  Dumisani Abraham ...
      • Ode to Chris Van Wyk – by Zanele Mashinini
      • Duke Ketye (1943 - 2002)
      • Orbituary: Hamba Kahle Duke Ketye (1943 - 2002)
    • ►  June (1)
  • ►  2021 (5)
    • ►  November (1)
    • ►  April (4)
  • ►  2018 (1)
    • ►  May (1)
  • ►  2016 (2)
    • ►  April (2)
  • ►  2015 (2)
    • ►  April (1)
    • ►  February (1)
  • ►  2010 (2)
    • ►  May (1)
    • ►  January (1)
  • ►  2009 (21)
    • ►  December (21)

Followers

Report Abuse

Simple theme. Theme images by luoman. Powered by Blogger.