Top EL artist left her imprint
Rose Warren April 11 1937 – Died: May 18 2018
RESPECTED as one of East London’s most innovative artists and influential fine art teachers, Rose Warren, 81, died last Friday at Kennersley Park.
Warren was the initiator and co-founder of the Floradale Art Gallery, which opened eight years ago and where she held her last exhibition – a retrospective collection of her drawings and paintings – in 2016.
Warren was born in King William’s Town and her love affair with art began when she was a schoolgirl at Sacred Heart.
However, she only pursued it when she was 35, obtaining a fine art diploma in painting from the East London Technical College, followed by an advanced diploma in drawing.
In 1987, Warren became a lecturer at her alma mater, primarily teaching drawing and printmaking, and became the head of the fine art department in 1993.
She exhibited her work widely and her art can be found in several private collections in South Africa, Germany, Canada and Hungary.
She also wrote a book about drawing and digital printmaking, and much of her work protested against women abuse or was a celebration of nature.
Fellow artist and former curator of the Ann Bryant Art Gallery Jen Rowland, who cofounded the Floradale Art Gallery, said: “She was such an important artist and one of the Eastern Cape’s top printmakers.”
In an interview with the Daily Dispatch in August 2016, Warren said that for her creating art was “like breathing”.
“I believe nature is part of the spirit of God and have always felt a huge degree of meditation in making art,” Warren said.
Warren’s son Steven Warren, 57, said his mother moved from her Gonubie home to Kennersley Park retirement village in January after contracting pneumonia in November after which her health deteriorated.
“She was a fantastic person and a great mom who would go without for her children.”
She is survived by her sons Steven and Thomas, 59, and her four grandchildren, Thomas, Richard, Francisca and Alexandra. A memorial will be held next week. Details have yet to be finalised. —