| Coert Steynberg | |
| Sculpting the Dias statue, 1933 |
|
| Birth name | Coert Laurens Steynberg |
| Born | 7 January 1905 Hennops River, South Africa |
| Died | 28 July 1982 (aged 77) Pretoria |
| Nationality | South African |
| Field | sculpture, drawing |
| Training | Rhodes University Royal College of Art |
| Movement | Modernism |
| Works | Monuments, Statues, Coin Design |
| Awards | Honorary Life Membership: Royal Society of Arts, London Honorary Life Membership: South African Arts Association Honorary Membership: International Society of Arts and Letters, Lausanne, Switzerland D.Phil. (Honoris Causa): University of Pretoria Medal: Academia Nacional de Belas Artes, Portugal Medal: Admiralty of the Navy, Portugal Medal of Honour: South African Academy of Science & Art |
Coert Steynberg (7 January 1905 – 28 July 1982) was a renowned South African sculptor who worked in stone, marble, bronze, copper and wood. His work is represented nationwide and internationally, including a statue of Bartholomew Dias in South Africa House in London, a monument to Andries Pretorius in Graaff-Reinet, and the Peace of Vereeniging monument in Vereeniging.
Steynberg is best known for sculpting a statue of Paul Kruger, found at the Kruger-gate, Kruger National Park. His most famous coin design is the pronking springbok on all gold Kruger Rands. The springbok design was reused on the 5 shilling and 50 cents crowns from 1948 to 1964, the gold 1/2 Pound and 1 Pound coins of the 1952-60 issues, the gold 1 Rand and 2 Rand of the 1961-83 issues, and on the Krugerrand medal-coin issues that have been issued since 1967.
While Steynberg is famous for his huge statues of public figures, his many private works are of his most definitive works, such as his well-known statuette of the dancing Mabalel. In later life his works tended to be of a more abstract nature. He experimented with a wide variety of materials, such as lacquer, coloured glass, wire mesh and ceramic.
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