Willem Adriaan Blom
22nd of February 1927 - 18th of January 2021
Wim Blom’s work is precise, of a timeless quality.
He
adopts
an
intensely
realistic
approach
to
painting
still
lifes
and
images
of
uninhabited
interiors,
exploring
the
intrigue
of
spaces.
He
received
his
Fine
Arts
degrees
from
the
University
of
the
Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg,
and
did
post-graduate
work
at
the
University
of
Edinburgh,
Scotland,
and at the University of Perugia, Italy.
Blom
taught
at
the
University
of
the
Witwatersrand
and
at
the
Johannesburg
School
of
Art.
After
emigrating
to
Canada,
he
was
a
curator
at
the
National
Gallery
of
Canada.
After
leaving
the
museum
world,
Blom
gave
his
full
attention
to
his
painting.
He
has
exhibited
internationally.
His
work
is
represented
in
public
collections,
such
as
the
National
Gallery
of
Canada
and
the
South
African
National
Gallery,
in
numerous
corporate
and
private
collections
in
Canada,
France,
Great
Britain,
Germany,
Israel,
Italy,
Japan,
The
Netherlands,
New
Zealand,
Poland,
South
Africa,
Spain,
Switzerland
and
the
U.S.A.
Wim
Blom
passed
away
in
his
sleep
in
the
evening
of
the
the
18th
of
January
2021
on
Salt
Spring Island, British Columbia, Canada.
His
wish
was
to
have
his
ashes
scattered
on
the
ocean
and
between the the tall trees he loved, that wish was fulfilled.
In 1957 Wim was awarded the Dante Alighieri
gold medal by the Fine Arts Society of Florence.
3
CV
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS:
1957 Prima mostra di artisti stranieri residenti in Firenze, Florence,
Italy
Prima mostra internacionale di pittura, Vallombrosa, Italy
1966 Canadian Prints, Drawings and Watercolours, National Gallery of
Canada, Ottawa
1969 Six Canadian Painters, Picture Loan Gallery, Toronto
1973 Art 4’73, International Art Fair, Basel
Summer exhibition, Galerie Schulze-Theiler, Münster
1974 Art 5’74, International Art Fair, Basel
1975 The Perth Prize for Drawing International, Western Australian Art
Gallery, Perth
1982 Certámen Internacional de Pintura, Mahón, Menorca
1988 Albemarle Gallery, London, UK
1990 Nancy Poole’s Studio, Toronto
1993 Nancy Poole’s Studio, Toronto
1998 Vortex Gallery, Salt Spring Island
2000 Vortex Gallery, Salt Spring Island
2002 Vortex Gallery, Salt Spring Island
2004 Mitchell Gallery, Salt Spring Island
2007 Ian Tan Gallery, Vancouver
2010 Ian Tan Gallery, Vancouver
2013 Ian Tan Gallery, Vancouver
2016 Ian Tan Gallery, Vancouver
Wim Blom has exhibited internationally. His work is represented in
public collections, such as the National Gallery of Canada and the
South African National Gallery, in numerous corporate collections
and in private collections in Canada, France, Great Britain,
Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand,
Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and the U.S.A.
EDUCATION:
B.A. Hons., M.A., University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,
South Africa; University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom; University
of Perugia, Italy; Studied painting, Florence, Italy; Studied graphic
techniques, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Calgary,
Canada; Studied lithography, Instituto Allende, San Miguel de
Allende, Mexico.
APPOINTMENTS:
Lecturer, Department of Fine Arts, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg; Instructor, Johannesburg Art School, Art Gallery of
Ontario, Toronto, Canada; Research curator, National Gallery of
Canada, Ottawa, and Editor of the Bulletin of the National Gallery
of Canada; Curatorial Administrator, National Gallery of Canada.
PUBLICATIONS:
Author of a variety of exhibition catalogues, articles and historical
studies in painting.
AWARDS:
1957 Dante Alighieri Gold Medal, Fine Arts Society of Florence,
Italy
1979 Medalla de honor, XVII Salón de Primavera, Atenéo de
Mahón, Spain
1982 Primo Premio, Certámen Internacional de Pintura, Mahón,
Spain
1998 Fellowship, The Ballinglen Arts Foundation, Republic of
Ireland
4
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dictionary of International Biography, Cambridge and London, Vol.
11, 1975, p. 186
Oliver Knight, Wim Blom in Kaleidoscope, Johannesburg, 1977
Miguel Angel Limón, Wim Blom, una vida entregada al arte, Diario
de Menorca, 9 September 1982,p. 6
Esmé Berman, Art and Artists of South Africa, Cape Town, 1983,
pp. 65-66
Alain Vignaud, Introduction, Exhibition Catalogue, Gallery
International Cape Town, 1986
Sheree Loos, Johannesburg Art and Artists: Selections from a
Century, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Johannesburg, 1986, 00. 47-78
Mark Glazebrook, Introduction, Exhibition Catalogue, Albemarle
Gallery, London, 1988
Catalogue of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canadian
Art, vol. 1, National Gallery of
Canada, Ottawa, 1988, pp. 97-98
Lucy Alexander, 150 South African Paintings. Past and Present,
Struikhof Publishers (Pty) Ltd.,
Cape Town, 1990, p. 122
Realism
in
painting
is
a
movement
that
is
deeply
divided
in
its
outlook.
It
embraces
many
contradictory
aspirations
and
has
generated
much
controversy
even
in
its
own
ranks.
For
these
reasons,
Wim
Blom,
who
paints
in
a
style
which
must
be
called
Realist,
mistrusts
fashion
and
the
vagaries
of
critical
taste.
He has succeeded in maintaining his independence from the principal trends that can at present be included under the heading of Realism.
Wim
Blom’s
work
is
conceived
for
private
contemplation
and
makes
it
special
appeal
to
those
who
wish
to
savour
at
close
range
the
artist’s
particular
way
with
form,
colour,
texture
and
light.
If
the
size
of
his
work
invites
intimate,
meditative
inspection,
his
subject
matter
-
single
objects,
still
life,
interiors
-
extend
an
analogous
invitation.
In
this
patient,
selected
and
passionate
search,
the
realism
of
his
paintings
is
faithful
to
the
object
represented,
but
it
transcends
reality and is submerged beneath poetic transformation.
Wim
Blom’s
training
as
an
art
historian
has
made
him
acutely
aware
of
history,
it’s
meaning
and
heritage.
The
methods
of
historical
research
instilled
in
him
have
blended
with
the
connoisseurship
he
acquired
as
the
research
curator
at
the
National
Gallery
of
Canada.
This
conjunction
informs
his
work
as
a
painter.
His
paintings
and
drawings
represent
a
quiet,
unpublished
vanguard
of
their
own,
so
radically
steeped
in
tradition
as
to
be
new
and
offers
a
fresh
artistic
experience.
In
the
context
of
contemporary
art
it
is
fascinating
to
see
how
Wim
Blom’s
exploration
of
the
past
produces
results
with
an
emphatically
modern flavour.
5
To study Wim Blom’s paintings is to enter a beautifully conceived secret world of still life and interiors. This uncluttered world is subtly structured and
balanced. In it’s cool, ordered stillness it seems infinitely less ephemeral than the fleeting world od appearances from which it borrows objects, shadows,
sensations of colour, form, proportion and light and shade. It is a gently luminous worls. The scale is small and intimate and there is a rare sense of tone,
and an element of mystery pervades the work.
A
delicate
balance
is
struck
between
perception
and
conception,
but
in
the
final
analysis
what
is
interesting
about
Blom’s
work
is
the
considerable
extent
to
which
it
is
a
construct
of
the
artist’s
mind,
or
more
accurately
perhaps,
a
projection
of
his
inner
life
as
opposed
to
a
mere
reflection
of
selected
aspects
of
the visible world.
His
work
reveals
a
love
of
drawing,
an
unfashionable
capacity
for
careful
preparation
and
meticulous
craftsmanship,
and
a
successfully
digested
knowledge
of
art
history.
It
has
been
said
of
him
that
what
he
always
admired
most
in
the
work
of
his
preferred
sixteenth
century
masters,
he
tried
to
make
the
foundation
of
his
own
painting.
Thus
Wim
Blom’s
work
contains
a
reminder
that
the
past
may
remain
a
beneficent
influence
on
as
well
as
a
potent
constituent of the present.
His
paintings
are,
however,
quite
clearly
the
work
of
a
modern
artist,
the
product
of
a
sophisticated
late
twentieth
century
sensibility.
In
his
arresting
painting
Two table-cloths
the visual and psychological intensity is unmistakably modern in spirit, concept and style.
To
look
at
a
painting
by
Wim
Blom
is
a
invitation
to
meditate.
It
could
be
said
that
the
actual
painting
of
these
pictures
involves
a
prolonged
form
of
meditation. In Blom’s case no evidence remains of the effort and pain that inevitably accompanies the birth of any work of art.
Mark Glazebrook
•
Mark Glazebrook was director of the Whitechapel Art Gallery and later a director of the Albemarle Gallery of London, England. He wrote the introduction to Wim’s catalogue
for his exhibition at the Albemarle Gallery. Mark Glazebrook is a writer of art, lecturer and exhibition curator.Mr. Glazebrook and his family live in London, England.
In a small narrow restaurant the tables are very closely placed together,
obviously to accommodate as many customers as possible.
The freshly starched table-cloths overlap and the corners intertwine as if
they are having intimate, secret and silent conversations.
Wim Blom Journal Venice September 14, 1966
9
An empty room 2005
Pencil and yellow wash on paper 13.3 x 27.9 cm (5.25”x 11”)
AVAILABLE
19
67 pound - Striped Cloth 1986 oil on canvas 38 x 55 cm
In painting I look for a civilised mind at work. The results should reflect carefully selected content, be well-finished, reveal acute
observation, taste, sensitivity and impact. If these qualities are badly balanced or any of them absent, the end product is
invariable second rate or worse.
Wim BLom Journal October 30, 1998
73
Wim Blom - Sea day 1978 oil on canvas 41 x 66 cm *Mrs.T.Retief - Johannesburg SA
