Celebrating the history of bronze sculptures with Palette Fine Art Gallery

Palette Fine Art Gallery is nestled among the romantic oak-lined trees of Church Street in the historic town of Stellenbosch. The gallery was started to fill a niche in the tourist market and has since evolved after 3½ years, drawing more serious Art Collectors and South African Art Lovers. Today it boasts a second venue in Waterkant Street, Cape Quarter Piazza, De Waterkant. 

Palette Fine Art Gallery showcases bronze sculptures and paintings of local artists, ranging from Abstract Art to typical South African Landscapes. It also boasts the works of various artists including Vincent da Silva. There is a Monumental Wind Girl sculpted by Vincent Da Silva in bronze on display in the Cape Quarter Piazza and his Life Sized Bronze Ceremental Sculpture perches elegantly on the gallery’s steps. Presenting art of distinction is Palette Art Gallery’s forte. Lydia da Silva, proprietor of the gallery visualizes the selecting of art to be displayed in her gallery through the eye of the artist. Lydia herself sculpts beautiful forms such as Sitting Man in bronze. The intricate artistry comes to life through the details that make up the human composition and age old tradition of bronze casting. Ancient “lost-wax” bronze castings have withstood the centuries, visually telling the tale of past cultures, their religions, and their social structures. For example, Chinese bronzes depicted ceremonial images; Indian and Egyptian castings symbolized deities; Africans cast images of nature; and the Greeks recreated the human form. Many of these cultures have since grown obsolete and elements of the “lost-wax” process have been refined. Yet today, bronze casting is essentially the same as it was in 2,000 B.C. It is an intricate process that goes from making the sculpture in clay or wax to creating a mould, pouring a wax replica, making a ceramic mould, burning out the wax and finally casting the bronze. The mould is then broken, the sculpture assembled and finished and finally patinization take places in which the metal surface is oxidised to obtain its unique colour.

For more visit Palette Fine Art Gallery.