David Goldblatt

For the British writer and broadcaster, see David Goldblatt (writer).

David Goldblatt (born 29 November 1930 in Randfontein, Gauteng Province) is a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid and more recently that country's landscapes.

Life and work

David Goldblatt is the youngest of the three sons of Eli and Olga Goldblatt. His grandparents arrived in South Africa from Lithuania around 1893, having fled the persecution of Jews in the Baltic countries.[1]

Goldblatt worked in his father's men's outfitters, attended Krugersdorp High School, and graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand with a degree in commerce.[2]

Goldblatt began photographing in 1948 and has documented developments in South Africa through the period of apartheid to the present. He has numerous publications to his name and is held in high esteem, both locally and internationally. His book, South Africa: The Structure of Things Then, published in 1998, offers an in-depth visual analysis of the relationship between South Africa’s structures and the forces that shaped them, from the country’s early colonial beginnings up until 1990. During apartheid, Goldblatt documented the dreadfully extensive and uncomfortable twice-daily bus trips of black workers who lived in the segregated "homelands" north east of Pretoria in his work The Transported of KwaNdebele. According to Goldblatt, the conditions of South Africa have not changed that much for poor people since apartheid. He also states, "It will take generations to undo the consequences of Apartheid." He continues to photographs of the area including the landscape.[3]

His work is held in major museum collections worldwide. A solo exhibition of his work was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1998. Interest in Goldblatt’s work increased significantly after the eleventh Documenta (Kassel, 2002), as well as a travelling exhibition of 51 years of his work (Barcelona, 2001). At Documenta two projects were shown: black-and white work depicting life in the middle-class white community of Boksburg in the 1970s and '80s, as well as examples of later colour work from the series Johannesburg Intersections. The comprehensive retrospective of his work, which opened in the AXA Gallery in New York in 2001, offered an overview of Goldblatt’s photographic oeuvre from 1948–1999.

Until the end of the 1990s Goldblatt – in what he calls his personal work – rarely photographed in colour. It was only after working on a project involving blue asbestos in north-western Australia, and the resulting disease and death, that his interest in photographing in colour increased. "That’s when I got hooked on doing work in color," he says. "You can’t make it blue in black and white."[3] This was coupled with new developments in the field of digital scanning and printing. Only when Goldblatt was able to achieve the same "depth" in his colour work that he had previously achieved in his black-and-white photographs, did he choose to explore this field extensively. The result is a blend of Goldblatt’s expertise in the field of classic large-format photography combined with the latest techniques offered by high-end scanners and advanced ink-jet papers, producing images redolent of South Africa’s light and land.

Goldblatt cites writers, rather than visual artists, as his major influences. Among these writers are Herman Charles Bosman, Nadine Gordimer, Njabulo Ndebele, Ivan Vladislavic and playwright Barney Simon.

Goldblatt was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of The Royal Photographic Society in 2007. These are awarded to distinguished persons having, from their position or attainments, an intimate connection with the science or fine art of photography or the application thereof.

David Goldblatt lives in Johannesburg.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • "David Goldblatt". Photographers' Gallery, London, 1974.[4]
  • "David Goldblatt". National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 1975.[4]
  • Photography Place, Sydney, 1975.
  • "David Goldblatt". Durban Art Gallery, Durban, South Africa, 1977.[4]
  • "David Goldblatt". Market Theatre galleries, Johannesburg, 1978.[4]
  • Johannesburg Art Gallery, 1983.
  • Pretoria Art Gallery, Pretoria, 1983.
  • "David Goldblatt". South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 1983.[4]
  • "David Goldblatt". Side Gallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1985.[5]
  • "David Goldblatt". Photographers' Gallery, London, 1986.[4]
  • "Photographs from South Africa". Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1998.[6]
  • "David Goldblatt". Netherlands Architecture Institute, Rotterdam, 1998.[4]
  • "David Goldblatt". South African National Gallery, Cape Town, 1999.[4]
  • "Structures". Johannesburg Art Gallery, to November 1999.[7]
  • "In Boksburg". Krings-Ernst Galerie, Cologne, October 2001 – January 2002.[8]
  • "Fifty-One Years". Axa Gallery, New York, 2001.[9]
  • "Fifty-One Years". Centro Cultural de Belém, Belém, Lisbon, 2002–2003.[10]
  • "Fifty-One Years". Johannesburg Art Gallery, 2005.[11]
  • Krings-Ernst Galerie, Cologne, 2002.
  • "Mostly unseen". Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2002.[12][13]
  • "Fifty-One Years". MACBA, Barcelona (organiser), February–May 2002.[8][14]
  • "David Goldblatt – Fifty-One Years". Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2002.[10]
  • "David Goldblatt – Fifty-One Years". Modern Art Oxford, Oxford, February–March 2003.[15]
  • "David Goldblatt – Fifty-One Years". Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, April–June 2003.[16]
  • "David Goldblatt – Fifty-One Years: Fotografien aus Südafrika 1948–2002". Lenbachhaus, Munich, July–November 2003.[17]
  • "Intersections". Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, October 2003.[18][19]
  • "Asbestos". Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, October 2003.[20]
  • "Particulars & Rural South Africa". Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, October–November 2003.[19][21]
  • Galerie Marian Goodman, Paris, 2004.
  • "David Goldblatt". Bensusan Museum and Library of Photography, Johannesburg, July–November 2004. The "Fifty-One Years" exhibition.[22]
  • "David Goldblatt". Galerie des Franciscains, Le Grand Café, Centre d'art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire, November–December 2004.[23]
  • "David Goldblatt". Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid, May–July 2005.[24]
  • "David Goldblatt". Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2005.[12]
  • "Intersections". Michael Stevenson Gallery, Johannesburg, 2005.[25]
  • "Intersections". museum kunst palast, Düsseldorf, June–August 2005.[26]
  • "Intersections". Camera Austria, Graz, November 2005 – February 2006.[27]
  • Rencontres d'Arles, Eglise Sainte-Anne, Arles, 2006.[28][29]
  • "Some Afrikaners Revisited". Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, October–November 2006.[30]
  • "Hasselblad Award Winner 2006". Hasselblad Center, Göteborg, November 2006 – January 2007.[31]
  • "Hasselblad Award 2006". Fotografins Hus, Stockholm, February–March 2007.[32]
  • "Intersections". Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, March–May 2007.[33]
  • "Intersections". Berkeley Art Museum, July–August 2007.[34]
  • "Photographs". Forma, Centro Internazionale di Fotografia, Milan, June–August 2007.[35]
  • "Südafrikanische Fotografien 1952–2006". Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, March–May 2007.[36]
  • "Selected works". Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, May–June 2007. Showing the series Particulars[37]
  • "Winner of Hasselblad Award 2006". Brandts Museet for Fotokunst, Odense, September–November 2007.[38]
  • "David Goldblatt – Photographs of the last decade". Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, 2008.[39]
  • "David Goldblatt". Galerie Paul Andriesse, Amsterdam, October–December 2008.[40]
  • "David Goldblatt". Museu de Arte Contemporânea (Serralves Foundation), Porto, 2008.[41]
  • "Joburg". Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2008.
  • "David Goldblatt". Västeras Konstmuseum, Västerås, 2008.[42]
  • "Intersections Intersected". Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, 2008.[43]
  • "Intersections Intersected". Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, December 2008 – February 2009.[44]
  • "Fietas". Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, 2009.[45]
  • "Intersections Intersected: The Photography of David Goldblatt". New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York City, July–October 2009.[46]
  • "In the time of AIDS". Galería Elba Benítez, Madrid, 2009.[47]
  • "In Boksburg". Michael Stevenson Gallery, Cape Town, February–April 2009.[48]
  • "Intersections Intersected". Malmö Konsthall, Malmö, February–May 2009.[49]
  • "Some Afrikaners revisited". Oliewenhuis Art Museum, Bloemfontein, 2009.[46]
  • "Particulars". Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York, April–June 2010.[50]
  • "South African Photographs: David Goldblatt". Jewish Museum, New York, May–September 2010.[46]
  • "Kith, Kin & Kaya". South African Jewish Museum, Cape Town, 2010.[46]
  • "TJ: Some things old, some things new and some much the same". Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, October–November 2010.[51]
  • "'TJ', 1948–2010". Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, Paris, January–April 2011.[52][53]
  • "Selected works". Marian Goodman Gallery, Paris, January–February 2011.[54]
  • "Intersections Intersected: The Photography of David Goldblatt". University Museum of Contemporary Art, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2011.[55]

Selected group exhibitions

Books

Works in selected public collections

Selected honours

References

  1. ↑ Okwui Enwezor. "Matter and consciousness: An insistent gaze from a not disinterested photographer", Fifty-One Years: David Goldblatt (Barcelona: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2001), 13–43.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Honorary degree citation: David Goldblatt", University of the Witwatersrand. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Eva-Lotta Jansson (17 November 2005). "The Colors of South Africa". ARTINFO. Retrieved 20 May 2008.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "David Goldblatt: Biography", Goodman Gallery, 15 October 2010. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  5. ↑ List of exhibitions, 1977–1999, Amber/Side. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  6. ↑ "David Goldblatt: Photographs from South Africa", MoMA. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  7. ↑ Kathryn Smith, "David Goldblatt's 'Structures' at the JAG", in November 1999 reviews archive, Artthrob. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Index page, Kunstforum. (German) Retrieved 1 March 2011.
  9. ↑ Fifty-One Years: David Goldblatt (Barcelona: Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2001), 456.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Exhibition notice, Witte de With. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  11. ↑ Rory Bester, "Goldblatt, Magubane, Ruselo & Schadeberg", Art South Africa v 4.2; here at artsouthafrica.com. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "David Goldblatt", PhotoEphemera, 12 February 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  13. ↑ Sean O'Toole, review of "Mostly unseen", Artthrob, June 2002. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  14. ↑ Leaflet (PDF) accompanying the exhibition (and including a glossary of South African terms), MACBA, 2002. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  15. ↑ Exhibition notice, Modern Art Oxford. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  16. ↑ Corinne LaBalme, "What's doing in Brussels", New York Times, 13 April 2003. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  17. ↑ Exhibition notice, kunstaspekte.de. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  18. ↑ "David Goldblatt, Intersections", Michael Stevenson Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Sean O'Toole, "Looking at the land with David Goldblatt", Artthrob, December 2003. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  20. ↑ "David Goldblatt, Asbestos", Michael Stevenson Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  21. ↑ Goodman Gallery listings, photography-now.com. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  22. ↑ Listings for July 2004, Artthrob. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 Exhibition notices for le Grand Café, e-flux, 5 November 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  24. ↑ Exhibition notice, art49.com. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  25. ↑ David Goldblatt, Intersections, Michael Stevenson Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "David Goldblatt. Intersections", press release (DOC file). Museum kunst palast. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  27. ↑ Exhibition notice, Camera Austria. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  28. ↑ Sean O'Hagan, "Life through thick and thin", The Guardian, 16 July 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  29. ↑ Miriam Rosen, "Rencontres d'Arles: Various venues", Artforum, December 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  30. ↑ Exhibition notice, Michael Stevenson. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  31. ↑ Exhibition notice, Hasselblad Center. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  32. ↑ Press release for the exhibition (DOC), Fotografinshus. (Swedish) Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  33. ↑ Exhibition notice, Huis Marseille. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  34. ↑ Exhibition notice, Berkeley Art Museum. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  35. ↑ "Il fotografo David Goldblatt al Centro Internazionale di fotografia FORMA di Milano", NTWK, (Italian) 3 July 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  36. ↑ Exhibition notice, Fotomuseum Winterthur. (German) Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  37. ↑ Exhibition notice, Marian Goodman Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  38. ↑ Exhibition notice, actuphoto.com. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  39. ↑ Exhibition notice for "Photographs of the last decade", University of Cape Town. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  40. ↑ Exhibition page, Galerie Paul Andriesse. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  41. ↑ "O olhar de David Goldblatt sobre o apartheid, em Serralves até Outubro", Jornalismo Porto Net, 24 July 2008. (Portuguese) Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  42. ↑ List of exhibitions, Västeras Konstmuseum. (Swedish) Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  43. ↑ Exhibition notice for "Intersections Intersected", Michael Stevenson Gallery. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  44. ↑ Exhibition notice for "Intersections Intersected", ArtRabbit. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  45. ↑ Exhibition notice, Goodman Gallery. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 46.2 46.3 46.4 David Goldblatt, Goodman Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  47. ↑ Press release for "In the time of AIDS", undo.net, 1 April 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  48. ↑ Exhibition notice for "In Boksburg", University of Cape Town. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  49. ↑ Malmö Konsthall: David Goldblatt, Intersections Intersected; Sune Jonsson, And Time Becomes a Wondrous Thing, E-flux, 5 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  50. ↑ Review, DLK Collection, 2 June 2010. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  51. ↑ Exhibition notice, Goodman Gallery. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
  52. ↑ Claire Guillot, "David Goldblatt, TJ, 1948–2010 – review". The Guardian Weekly, 25 January 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  53. ↑ Exhibition notice, Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson. (French) Retrieved 25 February 2011.
  54. ↑ Exhibition notice, Marian Goodman Gallery. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  55. ↑ Exhibition notice, UMass Amherst. Retrieved 17 February 2011.
  56. ↑ Press release for Documenta 11, undo.net, 8 June 2002. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  57. ↑ Press release for "Prize", undo.net, 29 January 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  58. ↑ Press release for "Photography from South Africa", undo.net, 25 May 2004. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  59. ↑ Alex Dodd, "A Chronology", in David Goldblatt: Photographs (Venice: Contrasto, 2006), pp. 230–249.
  60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Julia Spalding, "More than meets the eye", "Photographic Memories" San Diego Magazine, October 2004. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 "Faces in the Crowd", Kunstaspekte.de. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  62. ↑ Exhibition notice for "Unsettled", kunstaspekte.de. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  63. ↑ Afrika Remix, Museum Kunst Palast. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  64. ↑ Africa Remix, South Bank Centre. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  65. ↑ Africa Remix, Centre Georges Pompidou. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  66. ↑ Africa Remix, Mori Art Museum. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  67. ↑ Africa Remix, Moderna Museet. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  68. ↑ Press release for Documenta 12, undo.net, 15 June 2007. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  69. ↑ "Historic photographs record SA's path", Johannesburg Art Gallery, 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  70. ↑ Biennale Foundation. Retrieved 2 June 2011
  71. ↑ Diserens, Corinne (2011). Appropriated Landscapes: Contemporary African Art from the Walther Collection. Steidl. ISBN 978-3-86930-387-1.
  72. ↑ "Revolution vs Revolution". Beirut Art Center. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
  73. ↑ Description (with text by Goldblatt) of photographs related to asbestos and asbestos poisoning, 1999–2007. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Health Sciences. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  74. ↑ 74.0 74.1 "2010 honoree: David Goldblatt: Lifetime achievement", Lucie Awards. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  75. ↑ Description of the Unisa art gallery, University of South Africa. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  76. ↑ David Goldblatt in the collection of the Constitutional Court. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  77. ↑ "Exploring Photography: Photographers: David Goldblatt", Victoria and Albert Museum. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  78. ↑ Catalogue entry, BnF. (French) Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  79. ↑ "Rapport d'activité 2004" (PDF), CNAP. (French) Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  80. ↑ "Dainfern Golf Estate and Country Club. 22 December 2001. Sèrie 'Dainfern', 2001", MACBA. Retrieved 20 February 2011.
  81. ↑ "The collection at The National Museum of Photography", Royal Library. Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  82. ↑ "After Image: Social Documentary Photography in the 20th century", National Gallery of Victoria, 2006. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  83. ↑ David Goldblatt in the collection catalogue, MoMA. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  84. ↑ Search results for "Goldblatt", SFMoMA. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  85. ↑ Award announcement, Camera Austria. (German) Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  86. ↑ 2002 news page, University of Cape Town. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  87. ↑ 2006 award, Hasselblad Foundation. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
  88. ↑ "David Goldblatt, winner of the HCB award 2009" (press release, PDF), Henri Cartier-Bresson Foundation, 17 June 2009. Retrieved 14 February 2011.
  89. ↑ The citation is "For his excellent contribution in the portrayal of South African life through the medium of photography and for leaving an indelible mark in our country’s inclusive literary culture." "Media Statement by the Chancellor of the National Orders, Director-General in The Presidency, Dr Cassius Lubisi", 21 April 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2011.
  90. ↑ "SFAI Honors David Goldblatt and Paul Sack at 2011 Commencement", San Francisco Art Institute, 14 May 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2011.

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