Gallery
GEORGE NEWS - Artist Peter Holdsworth's brushes and paints resemble a still-life artwork, an accidental arrangement on a small table in the Holdsworth couple's lounge in George.
A handful of paintings against the home gallery's walls showcase his last work of this lifetime, where he spent over 50 years creating, moulding and shaping images on canvas.
On 7 September, at the age of 81, Peter passed away following a sickbed of five weeks. His wife, Natalie, is in mourning and slowly trying to get to grips with her new reality - a life without her soulmate.
"The cat knows he's gone," she said during a visit to their gallery last week.
Artist of stature
Peter studied fine arts at the Johannesburg Art School in 1959 and thereafter in London for four-and-a-half years. The Holdsworths moved to George in the 1970s, where they fell in love with the beauty and rustic nature of the town.
As a philosopher and poet, Peter was passionate about nature.
Peter has been described as an artist of stature whose oil paintings grace the walls of homes all over the globe, a veteran of many exhibitions in South Africa, including the Garden Route, and chosen twice to exhibit oversees in the Artists of Fame and Promise Exhibition.
His work has been described as ethereal, with a certain glow and a strong blend of the metaphysical. His paintings are often larger than life, with a strong focus on figures.
Many paintings portray bald, muscular, spiritual-looking men in colourful robes. The positioning and angles of the limbs create interesting perspectives, unlike anything you've seen before, with a close focus on the hands and feet. In his latest works, Peter experimented with compositions that include musical instruments.
"He was a free thinker, open-minded and always searching for truths," said Natalie. One of his favourite sayings was: "Those who speak don't know. Those who know, don't speak."
Back in the days he painted in an old garage on the couple's property, and in later years, in his studio in their home at 13 St John's Street.
Peter's remaining oil paintings, brushes and paints are for sale. To make an appointment to visit the gallery, contact Natalie on 072 382 8340.
She declined to have a photo of herself published in the paper.
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