Wife held for artist’s murder

THE wife of acclaimed artist Walter Meyer has been arrested for his murder after news of his death emerged on Wednesday.

Police said the 52-year-old painter‚ based in Upington‚ was stabbed with a sharp object on December 22.

Yesterday, police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Dimakatso Mooi said the artist’s 29-year-old wife, Sophia Meyer, had been arrested in connection with his murder.

She appeared in court on Wednesday and is set to appear in the Upington Magistrate’s Court today to apply for bail.

Arts Minister Nathi Mthethwa tweeted: “We are shocked and saddened to learn about the tragic events which have led to the passing of iconic South African artist Walter Meyer‚ whose works have been exhibited and celebrated for over three decades.

“We send our sincere condolences to his family and friends.”

Meyer‚ who was born in Aliwal North in the Eastern Cape‚ showcased his work as far afield as Germany‚ New York and Namibia.

He counted Power Corporation‚ Canada‚ the Rupert Foundation and South African Reserve Bank among collectors of his work. His website brims with positive reviews.

“He is widely celebrated as possibly the finest painter of distinctly South African landscapes that this country has yet produced‚” Ivor Powell wrote in the Sunday Times.

Ruth Jacobsen wrote in Business Day: “These paintings are extraordinarily truthful‚ not merely to a catalogue of factual detail‚ but to profoundly experienced reality.”