Renowned Pretoria artist Cornelius Bosch is dead. Police have confirmed that a burnt body found with a bullet in the head in a veld in Derdepoort this week is that of the artist who was reported missing two weeks ago.
The body, discovered by a passer-by about 8km from Bosch’s Kameeldrift smallholding last Tuesday, was burnt beyond recognition, police said on Wednesday.
“Although further forensic tests are being conducted, the dental records confirmed the body was his,” Detective Colonel Boats Botha of provincial detective services said.
The badly burnt body was discovered five days after the artist went missing, Botha said.
“A case of murder has been opened,” provincial principal communications officer Captain Katlego Mogala said.
The 55-year-old Pretoria artist was reported missing after disappearing from his home two weeks ago, raising concern among close family and friends when he failed to communicate with them.
He was last seen by his manager at an art gallery on February 24.
The alarm was raised when he did not arrive at several month-end meetings to sign documents at art galleries.
On Wednesday the art community reacted with shock to the news, with some describing Bosch as an artist whose work had stood the test of time.
“Bosch’s paintings embraced warmth and texture. He dared to dip his brush in different colours, producing bold yet communicative art,” painter Borris van Wyk said on Wednesday. “His work will forever represent what South African art means.”
The Pretoria Art Museum’s functional head, Dirk Oegema, said Bosch’s death was tragic, and that it came as a shock to the art community.
“Cornelius Bosch was a prolific painter, well known for his landscapes and still lifes,” he said.
“Bosch’s dramatic use of colour and expressionistic technique make his art instantly recognisable,” he said.
House of Art owner Albert Korff said Bosch had been one of the gallery’s biggest sellers for the past 15 years.
The gallery has some of Bosch’s works on display. “We will continue selling it, but knowing that the artist is no longer alive is painful,” Korff said.
Bosch was part of the core group of people whose paintings were sold by the gallery.
“This is a great loss to the art fraternity. He spoke to what people felt - love, feelings of excitement and heartbreak.”
Sandton art lover Marrie Brighton, who had exhibited some of Bosch’s art during the 10 years she had worked in an art gallery, said Bosch’s death had ripped her apart.
“Besides being an excellent, brilliant and expressive artist, Bosch was a wonderful, warm person.
“During exhibitions I would tell my clients that a house was not a house without a Bosch, because it brought with it that homely colourful feeling,” Brighton said.
Bosch’s GWM bakkie, with registration number XJC187GP, was still missing, Mogale said.
“We were looking for a missing person; we are now looking for a suspect,” Botha said.
The police said anyone with information about the incident or the vehicle should phone Warrant Officer Steven Joubert at 082 565 6887. - Pretoria News