'University of Cape Town' - Solly Manthata

Dimensions: 132 x 92 cm (Framed)

Medium: Oil and Acrylic on board

This striking architectural landscape by Solly Manthata, titled University of Cape Town, is a masterful depiction of the institution's iconic Upper Campus, executed in a mixed-media technique of acrylic and oil on canvas board. The painting employs a broad, wide-format to encapsulate the full sweep of the university's classical facade and its dramatic mountainous backdrop. The canvas board substrate provides a stable, textured surface that accommodates the artist's layering technique.

The composition is characterised by a powerful juxtaposition of human architecture and natural monumentalism. The classical architecture of the Jameson Hall and surrounding faculty buildings is rendered with a heightened color saturation, utilising warm tones of red, ochre, and yellow to create a lively counterpoint to the natural scenery. This vibrant colorism is achieved through the combined effects of the fluid acrylic base and the rich, expressive finish of the oil paint.

The spatial recession is brilliantly achieved through three distinct planes: the meticulously manicured lawn and grand stairway in the foreground; the brightly lit, centralised buildings; and the imposing natural forms of the Devil's Peak and Table Mountain in the background. The mountain, rendered with textured impasto and in earthy greens and purples, dominates the upper register. Above, the sky is a vivid, sweeping expanse of brilliant blue, detailed with atmospheric white cloud formations, contrasting sharply with the earthly elements below.

Manthata utilizes his signature style to imbue this familiar landmark with a sense of dynamic, expressive Realism. The painting functions as an enduring commemorative vision of the university, celebrating its place within the majestic Cape Town landscape and appealing to collectors of iconic South African architectural and urban landscapes.

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