Reviews for Washed with Sun: Landscape and the Making of White South Africa

The average rating for Washed with Sun: Landscape and the Making of White South Africa based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2019-12-18 00:00:00 Ann Smith Super precise rendition of the material and discursive imbrications in how landscape shaped South African (white) nationalism in the first half of the 20th century. Very inspiring and well researched. I would have liked it even more though if the relations between text and images would have been made more explicit in places. Besides the book is a little difficult to navigate in terms of where the author is going with his line of argument. Although very enjoyable, the essayistic style was not always a plus in this regard.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-09-08 00:00:00 Jolanta Hillebrandt Disturbing? Yes. Grotesques with children's bodies... Well-mannered monsters... Dog women... Obese ballerinas in black crepe... Cartoons of regicide... Old naked women looking outward from their pudgy flesh... Weeping vegetables... Depressed animals...Pissing pots... Abortions... Men in drag... All of her work is eerily lit, resplendent of shadows, and rendered with a Master's virtuosity. Even her most disturbing paintings and pastels are so well crafted and imagined that it is painful to turn away... and so we keep looking'long past a moment of propriety. The viewer definitely gets a sense of his or her voyeurism... and much of the work feels a little naughty. Paula Rego's colors are breathtaking. Her draftsmanship is superb. And her imagination is fantastic. There is a great deal of psychological depth to her work. She is a Portuguese artist who underwent significant change along with her country, and those growing pains and schisms are apparent. This book is the only "full career retrospective of the artist" and it is a breathtaking look at this artist's passionate response to both the light and the shadows. Conclusion: This book is worth a nightmare.