Current Exhibitions

Mountain & Maritime Mythologies

Mountain & maritime mythologies explores visual representations of folklore relating to South Africa’s diverse mountain & maritime environments with a focus on Cape Muslim, amaXhosa, San, amaZulu & European knowledge systems.

Cyril Coetzee’s T’kama Adamastor connects a constellation of mythologies surrounding the Cape. A series of prints by Cecil Skotnes thread through the exhibition, telling stories of sea voyages, the geographies of the Cape & the life of Shaka kaSenzangakhona, King of the Zulus. San rock paintings of European ships & wagons reflect on how indigenous people understood the arrival of the settlers.

Maps are positioned as mythologies due to the ways in which Europeans projected their desires & biases on to these early depictions of the African continent.

The Devil’s Peak from Rondebosch (1867) Henry Disney Ellis

De held Woltemade (1775) Nicholas van Frankendaal

Port Natal (c. 1848) Henry WHC Piers

Cape Town and Table Bay (1860) Ludovic d’Hastrel

Table d’Afrique (1581) André Thevet

Malays (c. 1830) Cowper Rose

Simon’s Bay panorama (1839) Alfred Menard

Storm above Cape Point Lighthouse (c. 1867) Abraham de Smidt

African Birds

Artists showcased in this exhibition:

Graeme Arnott
Thomas Baines
Phillip Clancey

William T Cooper
Gail Darroll
C G Finch-Davis

John & Elizabeth Gould
David Ord Kerr
Geoffrey Lockwood

Harold M Millar
Kenneth Newman
Auguste Pelletier

Harry Oppenheimer

“As Chairman of Anglo American and De Beers, Harry Oppenheimer held sway over his family’s gold and diamond empire for a quarter of a century. He combined a passion for commerce with a streak of creative genius.”

Harry Oppenheimer: Diamonds, gold and dynasty by Michael Cardo
Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball Publishers, 2023

Harry Oppenheimer, aged six weeks, with his mother, 1908

Harry Oppenheimer with his younger brother Frank, c.1914

In military uniform during the Second World War

Harry Oppenheimer on the campaign trail, with his wife Bridget by his side, 1948

Harry Oppenheimer leading in a winning horse

Harry Oppenheimer with Alan Paton at the opening of The Brenthurst Library, 1984

Past Exhibitions

THE 1922 RAND REBELLION

CHARLES HAMILTON SMITH
African hoofed animals

ZULU WARS

ELLAPHIE WARD-HILHORST
Botanical artist

THOMAS BOWLER
Artist at the Cape

THE FOUNDING OF JOHANNESBURG

CONSTANCE STUART LARRABEE
1914–2000

MAJOR A B CREE
British Regiments in South Africa 1795–1902

THE BINDERY AT THE BRENTHURST LIBRARY
Taking care of the collection

FREDERICK TIMPSON I’ONS
1802–1887

Zulu Wars: Zulu, British & Boer – The first 50 years