(Pic: Aidan Walsh and Andrew Verster in happier times)
Highly respected watercolour artist dies in Durban.
Highly respected watercolour artist Aidan Walsh died in the early hours of July 11 in hospital in Durban.
His long-term partner, well-known artist Andrew Verster, indicated that Aidan had died of a heart attack after a long and bravely fought battle with ill-health and eventually, cancer.
Aidan Walsh was one of Durban’s most established painters. Known primarily for his seemingly desolate landscapes and outwardly empty buildings, he was also known for his fascination with places of history - not only historic spaces, buildings or sites, but also those spaces that hold personal memories.
The art critic Lloyd Pollak stated “Walsh concentrates on the commonplace and the nondescript, yet the results are far from mundane, for Walsh provides an astonishing revelation of the inalienable strangeness that underlies the everyday surface of things”.
“I only paint things which affect me: if something does not touch me, it is not worth the effort,” Aidan is quoted as saying.
Aidan Walsh was born in Durban and trained at the Natal Technical College, and later in London. A professional painter all his adult life, he was also influential in the South African art scene since 1961, as a gallerist and curator.
He was the founder and owner of one of Durban’s former top arts outlets, the highly successful Walsh Marais Gallery which operated from 1961 to 1979. From 1979 to 1987, he worked as curator at the NSA (now the KZNSA) before starting as a full-time painter in 1987. He exhibited in numerous exhibitions throughout the country and has had both public and private commissions. Among the public commissions are portraits of President Nelson Mandela and Oliver Tambo.
His works are contained in numerous South African collections (public and private) as well as in France, the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand.
More detailed tributes to follow.
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