A major new publication · 2026
A book built from years of looking, questioning, collecting and research. Gerard de Kamper and Chris de Klerk bring the work and life of Anton van Wouw together in a publication made for people who want to understand the artist, not simply recognise the name.
Gerard de Kamper · Chris de Klerk
Also available
Leather-bound Collector's EditionLimited to 100 numbered copies, signed by both authors · View both editions →Anton van Wouw
Van Wouw's place in South African sculpture is secure, but familiarity can sometimes flatten an artist into a handful of famous monuments. The smaller bronzes, portraits, studies and documentary traces reveal something more intimate: a sculptor attentive to posture, character, labour and the people around him.
The book places those different scales of his practice alongside one another and gives the reader the context to look again — at the work, at the period in which it was made and at the evidence that has survived.
Archival material used in the research behind the publication
Why this book
For Gerard and Chris, the project was never about producing another decorative volume. Their interest in Van Wouw had already been shaped by years of research, collecting, handling works and conversations around South African art. The book became a way of bringing that knowledge together carefully, checking it and putting it into a form others could use.
That meant following the detail: comparing works and photographs, working through archival records, testing dates and context, refining the sequence and returning to material when something did not quite fit. The finished publication carries that process quietly — it does not need to shout about the work behind it because the pages show it.
The sculpture remains the starting point — form, surface, subject and the clues that come from spending time with the object itself.
Photographs, documents, chronology and provenance give the works a life beyond the pedestal.
A serious art book should be beautiful enough to keep out, and substantial enough to return to when a question arises.
The publication
The 224 numbered pages move between finished sculpture, historical photographs, chronology, archival material and contextual writing. The aim is not simply to display Van Wouw's work, but to make the material intelligible and useful — for the collector, the researcher and the reader coming to the artist for the first time.
Inside the book
These spreads are where the publication earns its weight: sculpture and biography sit alongside timelines, photographs, letters and archival records. It is the combination that gives the book both visual pleasure and reference value.
The photographs, archival reproductions and structured page design make clear that this is a professionally researched and produced art publication — one intended to carry authority beyond its launch year.
The reader can move from the pleasure of a full-page image to the detail of a document, date or catalogue entry without the book losing its visual rhythm.
The authors
The polished book came out of an unpolished process: proofs balanced where there was space, pages discussed over coffee, print samples collected and checked, and research continuing at home. Those moments are part of the story because they show how personally Gerard and Chris carried the project.
Gerard de Kamper brings the discipline of research, context and the historical record. Chris de Klerk brings the eye of a collector and adviser, shaped by decades of working with significant private collections and discerning clients in South Africa. Neither perspective is enough on its own; the strength of the publication comes from the conversation between them.
That combination changes the questions asked of a work. Is the attribution sound? What does the documentary record say? How does this cast compare with another? What has been repeated in the literature simply because it was said before? Those are collector's questions as much as scholarly ones, and they sit behind the tone of the book.
There is nothing glamorous about checking another proof, returning to a source or moving a paragraph because the sequence still feels wrong. But that persistence is what separates a serious publication from a quick one. The candid photographs are worth showing precisely because they capture that part of the work.
Book launches
The launch programme began in October 2026 with the Johannesburg launch. Copies will be available to purchase at the events, with signed and personalised copies available where possible.
Official book launch, held at Strauss & Co · around 80 guests and a panel discussion with the authors
Norval Foundation, 4 Steenberg Road, Tokai · copies available to collect
A further Cape Winelands event is being considered.
Available editions
The hardcover is the complete publication and stands on its own as a serious art reference. The leather collector's edition is a separate, limited object: only 100 individually numbered copies, each signed by both authors.
Hardcover
The complete 224-page publication in hardcover. Designed as a substantial reference for collectors, libraries and readers with a serious interest in South African art.
Leather collector's edition
The leather edition is limited to 100 copies. Each is individually numbered and signed by both authors. A personalised inscription can also be requested.