Nel Erasmus (born 1928 in Bethal, Transvaal Province, South Africa) is a South African artist, and is considered one of South Africa's earliest abstract artists.
Erasmus studied at the Académie Ranson, École des Beaux Arts, and Sorbonne in Paris in 1953 and exhibited her works, for the first time, in Paris in 1955. Her first solo exhibition was held in South Africa in 1957. She has produced thirty solo exhibitions and taken part in over seventy group exhibitions. Her work received critical acclaim as the only South African artist included in Michel Seuphor’s 1964 survey of abstraction, Abstract Painting: 50 Years of Accomplishment.
Erasmus spent time in Paris in the early 1950s with other South Africans (Christo Coetzee, Paul du Toit, and Eric Loubser) who were inspired by the intuitive processes of post-war abstract painting in Paris.[1] Her writing has also been widely published.[2]
Nel Erasmus was an early proponent of abstract art in South Africa, both in practice and in principle. She was the director of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (1966–1977).[3]
Erasmus' paintings feature bright colors and dynamic forms.[4]
Nel Erasmus worked at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) from 1957 until her retirement in 1977, rising through the ranks from a professional officer to the gallery's director. She contributed to the acquisition of artworks for public and corporate (especially Sanlam and Sasol) collections in South Africa, in particular the international modern and contemporary collection at the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG).[5]
Erasmus’ notorious acquisition in 1973, the year Picasso died, of Pablo Picasso’s Tête d’Arlequin (1971), was made possible by funding from the Friends of the Museum organization. The acquisition of this painting of a clown was met with resistance from conservative, censored, isolated, apartheid-era South Africa, provoking Erasmus to write a paper about why the acquisition was made.[6]
Erasmus explained that it was the policy of other art museums in South Africa to make collections of South African art, but JAG had a policy to focus on international art.[7]
Nel Erasmus is in her 80s and still paints daily. Her recent participation in art exhibitions include solo exhibitions in 2009 at the Dawid Ras Art Gallery (Johannesburg) and in 2015 at the Dawid Ras Gallery (Cape Town), as well as various other group exhibitions, since then.