'I am not sorry today that I have spent so much time and money to restore Grootzeekoegat, because this is timeless peace, something to leave as a heritage for others who may never have known it.'
Johannes Meintjes (shortly before his death)
'I began to read Frontier Family and could not stop. I am astonished by your energy and courage, appreciative of your visual sense, fascinated by your account of the house and its surroundings, and delighted by every detail of your family background and forebears. It is a warm, humane, exuberant book and it has often made me laugh. If I say more you will think I am gushing, but the book has given me much pleasure'.
William Plomer in a letter to Johannes Meintjes (13 December 1955) Dagboek IV, p37.
Grootzeekoegat : William Plomer in Down on the Farm
Under a sky in which the very stars seemed to crackle and gleam like ice, the breathless earth was quickly rendered brittle, and in the mornings one stepped out into a vast clear landscape that gave one the sensation of being in a glass case of infinite dimensions, under whose flawless canopy everything sparkled and shone with newness and freshness and hope. Sounds travelled indefinitely far, tinkling and ringing; every step seemed to be taken on broken glass; while the breath of living creatures rose up comfortably warm and misty in the air too rarified to last.
Dagboek IV (unpublished) Johannes Meintjes p33 28 Nov 1955
SCROLL DOWN FOR SELETED ARCHIVAL MATERIAL ( MORE THAN 250 IMAGES )
Lease Agreement signed between J.P. Meintjes and C.H. Fourie in 1876
Zevefontyn, February 17de 1876
Overeenkomst van huur en verhuur gemaakt en ingegaan tusschen Johannes Petrus Meintjes als verhuurder en en Carel Hendrik Fourie als huurder te weten:
Dat de eerste ondergetekende erken by deze wel en wettig verhuurd te hebben aan den tweede ondergeteekende die erkennen en gehuurd te hebben het helfte van de Plaats Grootzeekoegat voor den tyd van een jaar. Getekend voor de 20ste February 1876 tegen een huurloon van Fyftien Ponden Stg., en de verhuurde land moet de huurder om het helfte zaayen en de verhuurder de land * * * * * om enig inst. de dam af te laat, dam op de Plaats.
De huurder zal het reg behouden na het verkoop van de huur daar zyn Groot en Klein Fee tot * * * * * frai gezaaide af is.
Het jaarlijkssche comitie op erfpacht en my belasting zal door den huurder moeten betaald werd.
Als getuigen
H.W. Rorich
J.P. Meintjes
S.P. Meintjes
C.H. Fourie
£3.10.10 Road Taxes on the farm
Grootzeekoegat (1890)
Meintjes children on Grootzeekoegat
(Johannes Meintjes' father, Ernest Meintjes, seated in front)
Johannes and Ena Meintjes (1926)
Meintjes at age 13 (1936, Riversdale)
The house in Riversdale where Johannes Meintjes grew up (currently the 'De Doornkraal Historic Country House Boutique Hotel' situated at 8 Long Street, Riversdale)
Meintjes at age 19 (1942, Cape Town)
1944 (ca) Portrait of Johannes Meintjes by the artist Piet van Heerden (1917-1991)
Meintjes in his early twenties
(photograph by Anne Fischer in 1945)
Meintjes' first exhibition
Gainsborough Galleries, Johannesburg
( 29 August - 11 September 1944 )
Street Musicians (1485 x 850) one of Meintjes' paintings from this period
(Property of the Hester Rupert Museum, Graaff-Reinet)
'Die Vaderland', 22 August 1944
Gainsborough Galleries, Johannesburg
( 29 August - 11 September 1944 )
Art lecturer at SA College School (1944)
Roland Alexander (left), Peter Clarke (second from the right)
and the model is the actor Bill Curry.
Constantia Gallery, Johannesburg
( 10 - 24 December 1945 )
Meintjes and Camilla Urban (1945)
27 December 1945 : Departure to the UK
Jan Bouws: Muziek in Zuid-Afrika (1946)
Sketch of the South African composer Arnold van Wyk
Photo collage of Arnold van Wyk from 'Nagmusiek'
by Stephanus Muller (2014, Fourthwall Books).
16 November 1946
(Arnold van Wyk's Five Elegies for String Quartet : Presentation copy to Meintjes)
'Die Burger', 18 June 1947
Argus Gallery, Cape Town
( 16 - 28 June 1947 )
The portrait of Arnold van Wyk was donated to the University of Stellenbosch in 1947
and is believed to be stolen
Ursula Wood and her husband, composer Vaughan Williams
Two of the art works referred to in Ursula Wood’s poem below
TO JOHANNES MEINTJES (A POEM BY URSULA WOOD)
A boy dreams of birds
till they float above his head,
wings canopy his bed,
brush his fingers and knees,
garlanding trees
grown between dark and light
where horizons of morning spread
to receive their flight,
While he kneels by a pool
where swans with folded wings
listen as he sings,
curved necks bent to his hand
outflowering from land
fingers curved to a shell.
Here he can understand
all he must tell.
Cold symetric wings,
warm breast, my silver dove
never flutter or move
from hand or dream ;
dark room, still seem
my wing leaved grove
by a swan shadowed stream,
no day cage my birds.
Ursula Wood, London
(Reprinted in Meintjes' 1947 (Argus Gallery) catalogue from Ursula Wood's
'No Need for Speech' with permission of Basil Blackwell, Oxford)
Argus Gallery, Cape Town
( 16 - 28 June 1947 )
Studio in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town
Studio in Tamboerskloof, Cape Town
'Self Portrait with Flowers and Birds' (825 x 600)
one of Meintjes' paintings from this period
Studio in Buitengracht street, Cape Town
Clifton Beach (Spring 1947) : Pieter Marincowitz, Johannes Meintjes, Suzanne Swart (left to right)
and Dr Johan Mostert, Barnie Toerien, Dirk La Cock, Arnold van Wyk (bottom to top)
Studio in Buitengracht street, Cape Town
Christi's Art Gallery, Pretoria
( 19 September - 4 October 1947 )
Inspired during the restoration process of Meintjes' 'Street Crossing in the Rain' (1948; left),
art restorer Anastasia Nikolsky completed her painting
'Street Crossing in the Rain - A Tribute to Johannes Meintjes' (770x920) in 2009
Johannes Meintjes and his three sisters
on Mrs. Ena (Meintjes) Fourie's wedding day (29 September 1949)
'Die Vaderland' 25 August 1950
Schweickerdt Art Gallery, Pretoria
( 18 - 31 August 1950 )
1950's : Meintjes with Joe Garmeson and friends at
Bachelors Cove, Cape Town
Johannes Meintjes (1950)
Grootzeekoegat in the 1950's
Sketch published in Frontier Family (1955)
Grootzeekoegat in the 1950's
Dining Room, Grootzeekoegat 1951
Early 1950's : view from veranda at Grootzeekoegat; Johannes Meintjes in the veld
Views from the region (2011)
Views from the region (2011)
Filmed by Dr Geoff Lombard
(permission to display on this website obtained in 2009)
Filmed by Dr Geoff Lombard
(permission to display on this website obtained in 2009)
4 September 1951
Letter from the Secretary for Education, Art and Science,
confirming that Meintjes and Uys Krige share the prize in
Tercentenary Van Riebeeck Festival
Young Lovers (1949)
485 x 475
Johannes Meintjes about a possible exhibition in Port Elizabeth
'The Evening Post', 26 July 1952
Art Hall, Port Elizabeth
( 21 - 26 July 1952 )
Meintjes in his study (1952)
Meintjes (1953)
Guitarist on the Beach (1956)
550 x 750
'The Star', 20 July 1957
Lidchi Art Galleries, Johannesburg
( 16 - 27 July 1957 )
Johannes Meintjes and his sister,
Mrs Ernestine (Meintjes) Keyser
Invitation to exhibition at Helen de Leeuw Gallery (1958)
'Allgemeine Zeitung', 22 May 1958
Helen de Leeuw Gallery, Johannesburg
( 13 - 24 May 1958 )
Sketch for 'The Bird Seller' (1958)
'The Rand Daily Mail', 10 February 1959
D.S. Vorster Gallery, Pretoria
( 3 - 13 February 1959 )
'SA Panorama', April 1959
Women in Stormy Landscape (1957), 375 x 525 (SAMRO Art Collection)
and
The Bird Seller (1958), 600 x 425 (University Stellenbosch Art Collection)
Lidchi Art Galleries, Johannesburg
( 6 - 18 July 1959 )
Young Man with Jug (1959)
800 x 600
'The Argus', 21 August 1959
SA Association of Arts, Cape Town
( 18 - 29 August 1959 )
The Direction Seeker (1959)
900 x 600
'Die Vaderland', 17 March 1960
Schweickerdt Art Gallery, Pretoria
( 15 - 26 March 1960 )
'SA Panorama', September 1960
'Sunday Times', 5 March 1961
'The Cape Argus', 28 October 1961
Regency Gallery, Cape Town
( 24 October - 7 November 1961 )
'The Cape Argus', 31 October 1961
Regency Gallery, Cape Town
( 24 October - 7 November 1961 )
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 10 - 21 July 1962 )
'Die Transvaler', 12 July 1962
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 10 - 21 July 1962 )
Johannes and Ronell Meintjes with Baroness Z von Reibnitz (left) who opened the exhibition
DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION OF 'DIE TRANSVALER', 12 JULY 1962 (271 KB)
'Die Burger', 23 October 1962
Regency Gallery, Cape Town
( 9 - 23 October 1962 )
2 February 1964 (Source unknown)
Child Artist (1962) 575 x 400
( Private Collection London, UK )
21 March 1964 : Premiere performance of 'Die Blanke Stilte'
in the Johannesburg City Hall
Oranges on a Window Sill (1964)
500 x 400
Exhibition in Molteno
( 12 - 14 March 1964 )
'Die Burger', 21 April 1965
SA Art Association, Cape Town
( 12 - 24 April 1965 )
Interior of Our Flat in Johannesburg (1965)
600 x 450
'Natal Mercury', 3 February 1966
Boy with Kitten (1966) 500 x 400
( Private collection Utah, USA )
'Rand Daily Mail, 25 March 1966
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 14 - 25 March 1966 )
Lovers with Apple (1965)
900 x 650
'Die Vaderland', 17 October 1966
Wolmaransstad, details unknown
Memory of Waenhuiskrans (1968)
750 x 550
'Rand Daily Mail', 20 February 1967
Waiting Woman (1967) 750 x 600
'Rand Daily Mail', 30 September 1967
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 25 September - 6 October 1967 )
Flat-Roofed Lovers (1968) 625 x 500
This is a self-portrait with Johannes Meintjes’ Molteno townhouse in the background (currently 'Olive's Cottage' Guesthouse situated at 10 Dale Street, Molteno)
Johannes Meintjes' Molteno townhouse in the early 1970's
Johannes Meintjes' Molteno townhouse ('dorpshuis') in 2011
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 10 - 21 March 1969 )
'Sarie Marais', 12 December 1969
'Sunday Times' (London), 7 June 1970
Review by Sir William Plomer
Letter from Sir William Plomer
7 June 1970
Plans for intended changes at Grootzeekoegat (early 1970's)
'Artlook', March 1971
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 22 March 1971 - 2 April 1971 )
Meintjes is accompanied by Dr Hermien McCaul-Dommisse
'Rand Daily Mail', 27 March 1971
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 22 March 1971 - 2 April 1971 )
Gallery 101, Johannesburg
( 5 - 17 March 1973 )
Celebrating Meintjes' fiftieth birthday
'SA Panorama', 1974
'Het Parool' (Amsterdam)
20 December 1978
Lounge, Grootzeekoegat : late 1970's
These chairs from the lounge at Grootzeekoegat are now housed in
the entrance hall of the Drostdy Hotel in Graaff-Reinet
Three Persons in Landscape (1979)
610 x 460
Programme of the official opening of the Meintjes Room
on 11 April 1986 (Molteno High School, Molteno, Eastern Cape)
The Meintjes Room at Molteno High School (Molteno, Eastern Cape)
'Culna', December 1986
(Mrs Ronell Meintjes and Mr Willie Steyn)
A view of the Johannes Meintjes Memorial Room at the Molteno High School
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION
The Meintjes Room at Molteno High School in the mid 1990's
(photographs courtesy Johannes Meintjes' sister)
DOWNLOAD CATALOGUE OF THE JOHANNES MEINTJES COLLECTION AT MOLTENO HIGH SCHOOL IN PDF FORMAT (981KB)
Mrs Ena (Meintjes) Fourie visiting the Meintjes Room on 24 February 2010
(in celebration of her 90th birthday)
Wilhelmina (Ena) Fourie * Meintjes * 25 April 1920
(daughter of Ernest Frederick Meintjes * Molteno 7 Feb 1893
and Valerie Elizabeth Julia Meintjes * Keyter 10 Oct 1895)
passed away on 1 November 2013
Prestige memorial exhibitions ten years after Meintjes' death:
University of Johannesburg (RAU) from 7 June to 6 July 1990
SA Association of Arts (N. Tvl) from 6 to 23 August 1990 (jointly with Alexis Preller)
National Museum (Bloemfontein) from 16 October to 25 November 1990
Prestige memorial exhibition at the University of Johannesburg (RAU) in 1990
Prestige memorial exhibition at the University of Johannesburg (RAU) in 1990
'The Star', 13 May 1990
University of Johannesburg (RAU)
( 7 June - 6 July 1990 )
'Die Beeld', 18 June 1990
University of Johannesburg (RAU)
( 7 June - 6 July 1990 )
DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION OF 'DIE BEELD', 18 JUNE 1990 (397KB)
Images of the opening night at the 1990 prestige memorial exhibition at the Rand Afrikaans University (University of Johannesburg)
Images of the opening night at the 1990 prestige memorial exhibition at the Rand Afrikaans University (University of Johannesburg)
Images of the opening night at the 1990 prestige memorial exhibition at the Rand Afrikaans University (University of Johannesburg)
'The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser', 30 June 1990
University of Johannesburg (RAU)
( 7 June - 6 July 1990 )
SA Association of Arts (N. Tvl) from 6 to 23 August 1990 (jointly with Alexis Preller)
Portrait of Ronell Meintjes (1961)
400 x 300
'Die Volksblad', 12 October 1990
National Museum, Bloemfontein
( 16 October - 25 November 1990 )
Cape Times, 2 February 2006
Memorial exhibition at the Stellenbosch University Art Museum
14 July to 28 August 2010 (30 years after Meintjes' death)
Sasol Art Museum (University Stellenbosch)
Images of the opening night on 14 July 2010
Memorial exhibition at the Sasol Art Museum (University Stellenbosch)
Images of the opening night on 14 July 2010
Memorial exhibition at the Sasol Art Museum (University Stellenbosch)
Images of the opening night on 14 July 2010
Memorial exhibition at the Sasol Art Museum (University Stellenbosch)
The Weekend Argus, 18 July 2010
Memorial exhibition at the Sasol Art Museum (Stellenbosch University)
14 July to 28 August 2010
Memorial exhibition at the Sasol Art Museum (Stellenbosch University)
14 July to 28 August 2010
Memorial exhibition at the Sasol Art Museum (Stellenbosch University)
14 July to 28 August 2010
Memorial exhibition at the Sasol Art Museum (Stellenbosch University)
14 July to 28 August 2010
The South African Art Times, August 2010
Grootzeekoegat and Meintjes' studio shortly after his death (early 1980's)
Grootzeekoegat and Meintjes' studio shortly after his death (early 1980's)
Meintjes' studio shortly after his death (early 1980's) and Grootzeekoegat by the late 1990's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1980's
Johannes Meintjes’ bedroom shortly after his death
with his favourite painting (Landscape, 1964) above his bed
Grootzeekoegat in the late 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the late 1980's
Grootzeekoegat in the early 1990's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1990's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1990's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1990's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1990's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1990's
Grootzeekoegat in the mid 1990's
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Images of Grootzeekoegat from Charel Bloem’s and Gustav Opperman’s television productions
in the 1980’s for SABC TV
Floor plan of Grootzeekoegat provided by a friend of Johannes Meintjes
(not to scale, but indicates relative positions)
Section on Grootzeekoegat (pp.126-128) from Our Threatened Heritage (1997)
by André Pretorius
(The author died in 2006; permission to reflect this section could not be obtained)
Grootzeekoegat - photographs by André Pretorius
(The author died in 2006; permission to reflect these images could not be obtained)
A Literary guide to the Eastern Cape (pp. 265-268)
by Jeanette Eve (2003)
Grootzeekoegat by mid 2011
Grootzeekoegat by mid 2011
Grootzeekoegat by mid 2011
Grootzeekoegat by mid 2011
Grootzeekoegat by mid 2011
Grootzeekoegat by mid 2011
Grootzeekoegat by mid 2011
PUBLICATION BY THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE SOCIETY OF SOUTH AFRICA
- - - - -
Funeral : 14:30 on 9 July 1980
Dutch Reformed Church, Molteno : Minister JPM Stapelberg
Cape Argus, 9 July 1980
Johannes Meintjes died on 7 July 1980
Johannes Meintjes' grave (2010)
TOP OF PAGE
