A morning with the wonderful Wim Boissevain OBE
What a lovely morning!
I have admired the art of Wim Boissevain for most of my adult life.
Lucky for me, he works in the White peacock studio, just 5 minutes from my house.
I felt slightly reluctant to show my efforts to this master of art but knew I would regret not taking the opportunity.
Well into his nineties, Wim is still painting a few days a week at the White Peacock Studio.
I was invited to take some of my art on to show him. I felt slightly reluctant to show my efforts to this master of art but knew I would regret not taking the opportunity.
We spent an hour or two chatting, drinking tea and sitting near the fire. He showed me his paintings and drawings and shared valuable insights with me.
I was totally blown away as he told me many times that my portraits were very very good and that one in particular was a masterpiece! This was a morning beyond my wildest dreams.
I will go and visit this wonderful generous man again (and a little bird told me that he loves chocolate so I will go prepared.)
(*ALSO IF I KNEW WE WOULD BE HAVING PHOTOS I WOULD HAVE PUT ON SOME MAKE-UP AND DONE MY HAIR!!!)
A bit about Wim
William Boissevain was born in New York, USA in 1927. He was the son of a Dutch diplomat and spent the majority of his youth living in foreign and exotic cities including America, Asia and Peru. The most dramatic of his adventures was a passage to Shanghai shortly after occupation by the Japanese: the Boissevains were eventually declared diplomatic prisoners and evacuated to England. He studied at l'Academie des Beaux Arts, Paris and at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, London and has lived in Western Australia since 1947. From this time Boissevain began to establish his reputation as one of Western Australians most talented artists.
William , or Wim as he is affectionately known, is an extremely gifted artist who has devoted the majority of his life to capturing still life and nuance of the female form.
William Boissevain has developed unique methods and techniques to capture the essence and position of the models and sitters. Primarily, his figurative works are layers of rich pastels and charcoal atop colourful oil glazes.
Influenced by some of the greatest painters in European modern history such as Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and Matisse, Boissevain recollects the time he spent wandering the vast corridors of the Louvre, studying works by such masterful artists. His drawings reflect the precision and skill of the great French masters while also embedded with spontaneity of colour, line and form.
William Boissevain enjoys a world-wide reputation as one of Australia’s most distinguished artists. His paintings hang in galleries and major collections throughout the world.
In the early years, portraiture became an important money earner and even while teaching, he began to gain commendation for his skill. In 1964 he exhibited at the Skinner Gallery and his career escalated. The decorative style of his approach, his eye for line and form, and a strong sense of colour soon made his work universally popular. In 1978 he was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to the advancement of art.
Boissevain depicts the beauty of nature in all forms - flowers, fruit, people, animals and Australian landscapes, employing a strong realist style and distinctive technique which layers delicate oil washes over expressive brush drawing. His oil washed nudes are skilful and sensitive studies of the female figure in repose.
Working from his studio in the Glen Forrest near Perth, WA, Wim Boissevain has created paintings that hang in galleries and major collections throughout the world.
I am madly painting for my next open studio event.
I hope to see EVERYONE THAT VISITED LAST TIME again. AND LOTS OF NEW PEOPLE TOO.
Bring your friends…The garden will be wearing it’s BEST spring outfit.
SO SAVE THE DATE AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU
SATURDAY OCTOBER 23rd/SUNDAY 24th SATURDAY OCTOBER 30TH/SUNDAY 31st
10AM-4PM
CLOSED DURING THE WEEK
Wim with a portrait that I painted of my daughter, Zoe.
