RUDOLF HELLGREWE (1860–1935)
Waterberg / Thaba Meetse (1,830 m- 6,004 ft)
South Africa (Limpopo)
In Am Waterberg oil on canvas, 1900 Private collection
The mountain
The Waterberg / Thaba Meetse (1,830 m- 6,004 ft) is a mountain located in northeastern South Africa in Limpopo Province. Since 2001, the Waterberg includes a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve of 6,540 km21. Its average altitude is 600 m; some peaks exceed 1400 m, the highest summit being Geelhoutkop (1830m-This vast rock formation has been shaped by hundreds of millions of years of fluvial erosion that have created various steep or mounded reliefs. The ecosystem is that of a dry deciduous forest (bushveld). The Waterberg has yielded archaeological traces dating back to the Stone Age and, nearby, were made discoveries relating to the first moments of the history of human evolution.
The city of Vaalwater is located in the north of the massif.
The artist
The landscape painter and illustrator Rudolf Hellgrewe is the most famous painter of Germany's colonies. He taught for a long time at the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Decorative Arts) in Berlin. He attended the Königstädtische Realschule and later the Andreas Realschule in Berlin before studying under Eugen Bracht and Christian Wilberg at the Berliner Kunstakademie (Berlin Art Academy). He was drawn to landscape painting, and became known as the "painter of Brandenburg's lakes and sunsets".
In 1885–86, Hellgrewe travelled to East Africa, where he made numerous paintings. He later illustrated the books of the African explorers Carl Peters and Hermann von Wissmann, and produced dioramas of life in Germany's tropical colonies for use in schools. In 1888 at Berlin he published many of his works as a book, Aus Deutsch-Ostafrika. He took part in the colonial exhibitions of 1896 and 1907, and was one of the founding members of the Deutsches Kolonialmuseum (German Colonial Museum) in 1899. He also joined the Berlin Writers' Club.
In 1903 the German Colonial House was constructed based on the native architecture of the colonies. Hellgrewe provided the ceiling paintings.
Hellgrewe received Medal for Art and Science from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the Honorary Medal of the Geographical Society of Jena. He died at Berlin in 1935.
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
Hellgrewe received Medal for Art and Science from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and the Honorary Medal of the Geographical Society of Jena. He died at Berlin in 1935.
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2019 - Wandering Vertexes...
by Francis Rousseau
