Willie Bester
Bester’s meteoric rise as an artist is well known and should not require repeating here. This relatively unassuming painting entitled Water carriers filling buckets (plate 248) is both interesting and historically important because it stands at that critical trajectory between Bester’s emerging confidence as a young artist and his subsequent incorporation of mixed media. This is a breakthrough that was to establish his reputation at home and abroad. Those familiar with Bester’s early mixed media works will no doubt observe the direct relationship between the treatment of the roof in this painting, and his frequent incorporation of corrugated cardboard into his more physical works. Read More…
