Obituary: Adriaan van Zyl
by Sanell Aggenbach
Prolific artist and lecturer Adriaan van Zyl passed away in September 2006. Adriaan will best be remembered for his analytical approach to painting and his melancholic interpretation of South African landscapes, often barren but always devoid of human presence. His last body of work featured a series of paintings depicting stills from the interior of Tygerberg Hospital, the sterile institution often juxtaposed with foreboding imagery of the ocean.
I met Adriaan in 1996 when he was my drawing lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch. He was a gentle, humorous and intensely private man. We were both nocturnal painters at the time and we remained friends after I graduated.
Fellow artist and friend J.P. Meyer wrote this obituary:
'The artist, Adriaan van Zyl died at Stellenbosch on the 27th of September 2006, exactly one week after his 49th birthday. Although he had a real interest and understanding of more contemporary forms of artistic expression, he always remained committed to his passion for painting.
'Adriaan started drawing at a very young age and took private art classes at school, showing a keen interest in the work of Cézanne. After matriculating from Vredenburg High School he registered at Stellenbosch for a BA in Fine Art, where he also received an Honours Degree in the early 1980s. He loved Paris and once spent almost three years as a resident artist at the Cité Internationale des Arts. In 1992 he settled in Stellenbosch. Except for short periods as a lecturer at Wits and the US, painting always remained his full-time occupation.
'Since his diagnosis with cancer more than 10 years ago, Adriaan has produced some of his strongest work. The three major operations and many hours of chemotherapy which resulted from his illness informed his last series of paintings which was exhibited at the AVA in Cape Town in 2005 under the title of 'Hospitaaltyd'. The Stillewes series of 2000 to 2002 depicts mainly weathered gravestones and porcelain wreaths in a desolate, arid landscape.
'In a time when the narration of meaning has become so frivolous, it is such an honour to have known an artist with the dedication and integrity of Adriaan van Zyl. He will be missed.'
