Wassily Kandinsky | VI. The language of Form and Color

Concerning the Spiritual in Art, 1910

Part II: About painting

The man that hath no music in himself,

Or is not moved with concord of sweet sounds,

Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils;

The motions of his spirit are dull as night;

And his affections dark as Erebus;

Let no such man be trusted. Mark the music.

(The Merchant of Venice, Act v, Scene I.)

"Musical sound acts directly on the soul and finds an echo there because, though to varying extents, music is innate in man".

"Everyone knows that yellow, orange, and red suggest ideas of joy and plenty" (Delacroix).

Roelof Rossouw, 1957 | Romantic Impressionist painter

Roelof Rossouw was born and grew up in Benoni, near Johannesburg. As a child he had a passion for comic heroes like Tarzan, Cisco Kid, Flash Gordon and Tintin which, with the artists of the sixties, inspired him to draw his own comics. Already at the age of fourteen Roelof started making oil paintings of landscapes and portraits.

When he was seventeen, a European art tour opened the doors for his vision to pursue art and travel. He gained a National Diploma in Arts and Design at Wits Technicon that taught him the value of training and not only relying on his raw talent.

In April 1882, whilst working for Medusa as a graphic artist and medical illustrator, he discovered modern impressionistic artists such as Ken Howard, Bernard Dunstan, Max Agostini and admired their loose style in painting.

Ken Howard OBE RA, 1932 | Impressionist painter

Ken Howard OBE RA is an British artist and painter. He was President of the New English Art Club from 1998-2003.

Life and art

Ken Howard was born in London. He studied at the Hornsey College of Art (1949-53) and the Royal College of Art (1955-58). In 1958 he won a British Council Scholarship to Florence.

He spent his National Service in the Royal Marines (1953-55). In 1973 and 1978 he was the Official War Artist to Northern Ireland, and 1973-80 worked in various locations, including Hong Kong, Cyprus and Canada with the British Army.

In 1983 he was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy (ARA).

August Macke | Expressionist painter

August Macke, (1887, Meschede, Germany - 1914, Perthes-les-Hurlus, France) German painter who was a leader of Der Blaue Reiter (“The Blue Rider”), an influential group of Expressionist artists.

Macke studied at the Düsseldorf Academy from 1904-1906.

During his first trip to Paris in 1907 he was profoundly influenced by the work of the Impressionist painters, and he began to emulate their style, painting portraits in subtly dappled colours.

Thomas Seddon (1821-1856) | Pre-Raphaelite painter

Thomas Seddon was an British landscape painter associated with the Pre-Raphaelite movement, who painted colourful and highly detailed scenes of Brittany, Egypt and Jerusalem.

Seddon was born in Aldersgate Street in the City of London, the son of a well-known cabinet-maker of the same name.

He was educated at a school conducted on the Pestalozzian system by the Rev. Joseph Barron at Stanmore, and then worked for his father until 1841, when he was sent to Paris to study ornamental art.