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- Franklin Sirmans of view the 17th century couLd be considered a "GoLden Age", from other viewpoints the same circumstances wouLd be considered in far more ominous and Less ceLebratory terms. The exhibition perpetuates and induLges the chauvinist Dutch worLd view, thus preserving their vaLue systems and ideoLogies. The art historicaL vaLue of induLging such myths is acknowLedged, but it is clearLy apparent that such a position was written by European historians who naturalLy want to protect their own interests and for whom the "GoLden Age" in question was unprob,lematic. From a South African point of view however this same "GoLden Age" in question has an entirely different resonance . The painting Portrait of a Negro (Winter), a portrait of an anonymous bLack subject who was probabLy soLd as a slave, has been hung among other "Ordinary and Exotic" items rather than in the portrait section. The brochure acknowLedges that at the time "some of the greatest paintings of western art were made by the artists Rembrandt, HaLs, and Vermeer." Yet with the exception of one rather mediocre portrait by HaLs, paintings by these artists are entireLy absent from the exhibition . Instead we are presented with good exampLes of the type of work that proLiferated as a resuLt of the economic boom, the type of work that every home was accordingLy abLe to afford as a direct resuLt of bLoody coloniaL conquests. It is common knowLedge that the Johannesburg Art GaLLery is on the brink of a compLete coLLapse. This is in part symptomatic of the moraL and economic coLLapse sweeping through the country as a whoLe. I wouLd however argue that the coLLapse is due more to the fact that the gaLLery is clutching to an antiquated beLief and conception of art that has its origins preciseLy in the 17th century paintings on exhibit. "Pictures From a GoLden Age" is attempt to return to a historicaL period in which the architecture, infra-structure and poLicies of the Johannesburg Art GaLLery can still make sense. In reality it has Lost touch with the course of both internationaL art history as weLL as the needs of the LocaL communities for whom bronze scuLpture by David Brown JOHANNESBURG ART GALLERY PIcruRES FROM A GOLDEN AGE The term "GoLden Age" describes a period in a nation's history during which it reaLized its greatest economic prosperity and highest artistic achievement. The two are intricateLy connected as the Latter is unavoidabLy dependent on the former. In 17th century HoLLand for instance successfuL trade with the East Indies made it the weaLthiest country in Europe and aLmost every househoLd couLd as a result afford to purchase works of art. This created the necessary support and infrastructure out of which a cuLturaL renaissance was abLe to grow. This "GoLden Age" was however not without its price. Around 1652 Jan van Riebeeck was sent to the Cape of Good Hope to set up a coLony that couLd provide both rest and suppLies for the ships en route between HoLLand and the East Indies. The Dutch coLonists considered themseLves to be God's chosen race and as such were free to commit any number of atrocities against the native inhabitants to ensure the economic success of their fatherLand . This phiLosophy provided the foundations for what Later became known as Apartheid. WhiLe the inter-reLatedness between Dutch 17th century painting and South Africa is alluded to in the educationaL brochure aimed at schooL chiLdren , the exhibition as a whoLe perpetuated the classicaL European myth that art and Life are unconnected. In The Man-O'War Amsterdam and Other Dutch Ships in TabLe Bay for instance, an armada of ships aLL heaviLy armed, predates van Riebeeck's arrivaL by aLmost two decades and must therefore have been one of the reconnaissance missions sent to estabLish the viabiLity of a coLony in the Cape, to test the resistance and resiLience of the natives. The socio-poLiticaL impLications of this mission are compLeteLy overLooked by the work's banaL dispLay amongst other works that have coLLectiveLy been defined as "Foreign Lands". WhiLe from the Dutch point ,,.. (Invitation) U(t~Troths, 1986.CourtewQf LubainaHimid. '''''' (Catalogue coveq FiVe Black Women, 1983. Courtesy of lutminn Hlmld...

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