Collection: Schalk van der Merwe

Schalk van der Merwe is a multidiscipline, visual artist who lives and works in Cape Town.

The anonymous subjects painted by Schalk van der Merwe are a bold confrontation of the Self. They are strangely comforting, entangled in intimate sincerity that feels inexplicably important.

Beyond layers of paint, charcoal, and turpentine, the portraits of van der Merwe appear to emerge from an internal state of becoming. A raw honesty that is metamorphic in nature, expressing an engaging tenderness. They are brutal as they are beautiful. The features are ambiguous and morph from immense beauty into utter despair, while underpinned with a tangible fragility, hidden beneath layers of emotion.

These are visceral portraits inspired by a world in chaos, or an artist gone mad.

In the last years, Schalk van der Merwe has made a significant impact on collectors worldwide establishing a substantial following. To date, he has sold large format works as far afield as Ireland, Kenya, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Hong Kong, London, Melbourne, Denmark, New York, Miami, Luxembourg, Washington DC, Johannesburg and Cape Town.