There’s a new kid in town. Well, the kid is about 6 months old now, but still ‘quite’ new: the Moór Gallery in Bordeaux Street. In May 2016 they opened their doors for public after a massive renovation on the building. The building looks stunning now, and I especially love the roof, seen from the inside. In the art gallery one can enjoy both South African and International art: sculptures, paintings, prints and much more arty creations. I recently visited the gallery to enjoy the current exhibition ‘This Place This Space’ and today I will show you more about my experiences.
The roof from the inside of the gallery is a very cool piece of architecture.
The Moór Gallery is owned by a family with long history in fine arts. Katherine Mc William Smith, the guiding spirit behind the gallery, is the daughter of Peter Moór and the grand-daughter of Henrik Moór, who were both professional painters. The Moór name is originally Hungarian. Her grand-father Henrik Moór lived in Europe and America as a young man, and studied art at the Slade School in London and at Munich’s Fine Arts Academy. He spent most of his life painting in the small town of Fürstenfeldbruck where Katherine’s father Peter was born. Peter Moór painted over 2,000 portraits on commission during his life in South Africa, to which he immigrated after the catastrophe of WWII and his release from a Russian prisoner-of war labour camp in 1949. He lived in Johannesburg for 40 years but spent the last 20 years of his life here in Franschhoek. (this information is copied from the website of the Moór Gallery, source).
Outside, in front of the gallery there is this 3.3 metres high ‘Apocalypse Horse’, made by artist Willie Bester. Isn’t that a special piece of art work?
Part of the Moór Gallery is the Print Gallery – a room with framed prints, colourful and pretty. Not as big as most paintings, but very decorative in a house or office.
This ‘big mama’ proudly watches over the prints.
The Facts
Moór Gallery can be found on 4 Bordeaux Street, Franschhoek and is open Monday – Sunday from 10.30 am – 06.00 pm. Click here for more information and to see what’s new and on exhibition at the moment.
*Note: I have not been asked or paid to write about Moór. It was my own idea. All images are mine and taken with a Canon EOS M3 camera.
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