THE LIFE AND ART OF FRANÇOIS KRIGE (Sponsors' Edition)

144 pages, colour frontispiece – photograph of the artist, 25 full page colour plates, profusely illustrated with colour and black and white illustrations, full black leather with gilt vignette on the upper cover, titled gilt on the spine, the slipcase is lacking, a fine copy.

The limitations page reads: Sponsors' Edition. A special edition limited to 26 copies. This volume is letter O presented to Jeremy Woods signed by the author and the artist's wife -Sylvia Krige.

Loosely inserted (Originally tipped in) on a front free endpaper is an original etching by Francois Krige from his estate signed by his wife.

François Krige was born in July 1913, in Uniondale near Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo. He was the fourth of six children, and his was a well-known family; his father was a famous rugby player, his mother a renowned novelist, and his brother Uys a celebrated writer. In 1927 Krige began his studies at the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town. After two years he moved to Johannesburg to join Uys, who was writing for the Rand Daily Mail, and was immersed in the world of arts and literature.

With the encouragement and support of his brother, Krige continued to take art classes and to sketch and paint in Johannesburg. He exhibited three works in the annual South African exhibition in 1933, before leaving for Europe in 1934 to further his art studies. In 1990 Krige took his last trip to Europe with his wife, visiting a Van Gogh retrospective in Amsterdam and galleries in London, but they decided to end the trip early due to his dwindling health.

He was diagnosed with cancer soon thereafter, but continued to paint until 1993. In the last year of his life a television programme was made about him and a book of his drawings was published. Krige passed away on 19 February 1994, after a painful battle with cancer. with