Lugg’s indelible art house lives on
Seven decades of art produced by towering East London painter, sculptor and educator ready for local display
THE new illustrated biography The House that Jack Built about the life and work of Jack Lugg, influential South African artist and indomitable figure on the Eastern Cape landscape, is a magnificent and highly informative tribute.
Lugg was head of the East London Technical College Art School for 38 years and is highly regarded nationwide, including by former colleagues and students who have gone on to become prominent artists, critics and educators in their own right.
This substantial and entertaining book is unique in many ways. It is a touching tribute to a man who made an enormous impact on many lives, especially in East London where he taught for almost four decades.
It is a valuable historical record of seven decades of exceptional art production by a seminal artist in a changing international landscape.
It is an inspiring record of the versatile career of an artist and educator.
Above all, it is the fascinating lifestory of a man with formidable talent, extraordinary tenacity, creativity and captivating wit.
At the age of 78, Lugg completed
Jack Lugg’s Memoirs, a superbly illustrated life story written in his own hand. His story springs to life in a grand and graceful arc: from his birth, through his eventful and work-filled life, to his final years, as his paintbrush continues to hurl colour and light defiantly at canvas.
The result is a work of exquisite beauty. Not only is each illustration a miniature masterpiece; the writing shines with the self-deprecating humour for which Lugg was renowned.
Four years after Lugg passed on, a long-awaited art book inspired by this memoir has been released. The title, The House that Jack Built, develops a metaphor that Lugg often used of his life being his house. The rooms within his house are the decades of his life.
Considering the photographs, drawings, paintings, sculptures, memoirs, articles, and nursery rhymes that Lugg produced is like travelling from one room into another of an inviting yet complex house populated by a variety of people, real and imaginary.
One of the unique elements of this book is that it seamlessly combines rigorous art analysis with personal narrative. Lugg’s own story is woven into the writing in the form of quotes and illustrations taken from his memoirs.
Kin Bentley, Eastern Cape art critic, writer and past art student of Lugg’s, tells the story in “Evolution of an Artist”, of the man whom he knew as an inspiring mentor and teacher.
Veteran East London art historian, Barry Gibb, complements Bentley’s biographical writing as he analyses the development and significance of Lugg’s art in relation to SA and international art at the time. In “Reflections of the Internal and External” and “Solids in Space”, he draws on his art historical knowledge in a nuanced analysis of Lugg’s paintings and sculptures.
MENTOR TO NORMAN CATHERINE
In addition, Norman Catherine and Tony Grogan have written insightful tributes to their dynamic art master and mentor, who was the head of the East London Technical College Art School for 38 years.
The book explores Lugg’s expansive career, from his first exhibition at 17 years old through many solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, to the establishment of the Jack Lugg Art Gallery which thrived in Knysna for 18 years, until his passing a few months short of 90 years old.
“A Visual Essay” presents artworks that span the decades from 1938 to 2013 sharing with us this vast collection of paintings, sculptures, graphics, and sketches, many of which are found in significant public and private art collections around the world.
STUDENT OF BATTISS, MATISSE
The works range from Lugg’s teens in Pretoria where he studied under Walter Battiss, to his service in World War II, through his studies in Durban where he won the Emma Smith scholarship, to Camberwell, London and Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris, where he studied under Matisse.
The subject matter reveals Lugg’s deep connection with the landscape, animals and people of Africa.
The House that Jack Built is a visual delight, showcasing delicate drawings and watercolours, powerful oil paintings, dramatic sculptures, and textured mixed media works.
Lugg’s art was the expression of his life and character, and he infused his work with emotion conveyed in exaggerated lines, intense colour, and vigorous brushwork. The jewelled surfaces of his paintings and the expressive, simplified forms of his sculptures are clearly identifiable as the highly individualistic Jack Lugg style.
LIMITED EDITION
A limited edition of 1 000 copies of this high-quality, linen hard-cover, 312-page book will be launched in East London next Friday, April 20, when the Jack Lugg retrospective exhibition displaying seven decades of Lugg’s masterful art production opens at the Ann Bryant Art Gallery at 6 for 6.30pm. It runs until May 18. For RSVPs or information, call 083-501-3392 or e-mail: