Local artist, Portchie Viljoen, is an international sensation. His work is mostly known for his vibrant use of colours. Yet, it is not just about slapping colour on a canvas, the artist says. There’s more to it.
The artist, who grew up in a small town in the Free State, went to Paul Roos Gymnasium in Stellenbosch. He studied a BCom in Economics at Stellenbosch University. PHOTO: Rebecca Pitt
The blue acquiring most of the canvas is striking. Most people would call it Royal Blue – except it is not… far from it. There is nothing ordinary about this blue. This is a Portchie Viljoen blue.
The local artist Jan Hendrik Viljoen (above), who is famously known as Portchie, got his nickname during school whilst he was working with his father in his green grocer store. According to Portchie, the youngsters at school started calling him “Portchie” because they said only Portuguese people work in grocers. The nickname stuck. PHOTO: Rebecca Pitt
“Rose!” shouts the South African artist Jan Hendrik Viljoen, who famously goes by the name Portchie. Somebody is at the door. That’s the way it always is at the artist’s home, says Rose Zolisa, who has been working for Portchie since she was 25 years old – about 20 years ago. “It is never quiet here,” Zolisa says. Maria’s Manor – the home named after Portchie’s mother, which he built along the Eerste River in Stellenbosch – is grand; Portchie keeps it filled with lively people and vibrant art. It is Gatsby’s modern-day hub, only there is no confusion about the identity of this Gatsby. “It is always exciting here, people come here with wild stories,” says Christoff Loubser, a second-year student staying with Portchie since this year. The table at Maria’s Manor is always set for 12, says Loubser. Every night 12 people are invited to have dinner at Portchie’s home. Since lockdown, it has been different. Portchie, Loubser and Zolisa are preparing for a “massive unlocked-down party”, says Loubser. Date: To be announced by uncle Cyril, he says.
Portchie’s people
Portchie’s people pop in – even unannounced – to visit the artist, who is most likely at work. The artist, who has sold more than 18 000 originals and far more than a million prints, has a strict schedule that he diligently sticks to. His schedule has certainly paid off. Portchie’s artworks are a trademark of vibrant colours, distorted shapes and blue trees. It is ultimately joyful, Portchie says. Now, Portchie paints on a fresh canvas that has been painted a deep, vibrant blue. It’s rich. One wants to touch it. The artist paints what looks like shaded blobs or outlines of people. “A family portrait, for an overseas-customer’s birthday,” he says. According to Helena Vigoer – who has been working at Portchie’s gallery in town, The Red Teapot Gallery, for 17 years – people often come to the gallery looking for something specific. “People will come in for a specific reason… to come and buy something for a birthday or anniversary gift,” she says. “And the colours,” Vigoer says. The colours intrigue people, she says. Such frequent gallery visits were also before the pandemic. Portchie now holds online exhibitions that can also extend to his followers abroad.
Maria’s Manor (above) is the home the South African artist, Portchie Viljoen, built. He often holds events at his house and keeps it filled with “lively and joyful” people. Portchie learnt about hospitality from his mother, he says. Portchie’s mother, Maria Viljoen, always used to invite people over to their family home, says Portchie. PHOTO: Rebecca Pitt
Rose Zolisa (above) has been working for Portchie for most of her life. According to Zolisa, Portchie is like family to her. PHOTO: Rebecca Pitt
When Portchie took his work overseas a few years ago, his first exhibition was in an impressive gallery in London. The gallery’s owner was taking a chance on him. That night, Portchie sold 90% of his paintings. The owner of that gallery apologised. She thought it was going to be a flop because she never gets more than 50 people to come to the gallery, Portchie says. Over 400 people made an appearance at Portchie’s opening in London. “She didn’t know how I did it,” Portchie says. “I am fortunate I know so many wonderful people,” was Portchie’s response to the owner. Portchie owes his success to his people. “They come and they support you, and talk to each other loudly and they are joyful, nice, well-dressed…they’re not just standing around with a glass of champagne. They actually buy things – I have never seen people queuing up for hours to pay. That is very special, if you experience that,” Portchie says. That’s not something one starts in a month, he says.
Just sitting, making art
Portchie garnered success because people got to know him through his work, he says. It’s about recognising a person from a distance. That’s exactly what Portchie made for himself: Distinct recognition. “You can tell a Portchie-painting from a mile away,” he says. “They don’t have to look for the signature – they know immediately it’s my work. And it’s because of the colour mix that I use and the way I blend my figures and my trees.” It is special to get to that point, he says. “But then, it’s also a big responsibility. You need to keep going and create new things. You need to make it interesting.”
Artist Portchie Viljoen and Christoff Loubser – a student who is staying with him – pictured on their visit to Lucerne, in Switzerland, last year. Loubser met Portchie when interviewing the artist for the Paul Roos Gymnasium’s school newspaper. Portchie had invited him to Maria’s Manor and extended the invitation for Loubser to come over weekends. “Weekends turned into months. Now I live here with Portchie,” says Loubser. PHOTO: Supplied/Christoff Loubser
Trying to deliver what his followers want is like pushing around a big wheel, says Portchie. “You just push it here and push it there… and it rolls into new directions all the time. You can’t always predict where it will go.” Still, the artist is not so worried about where the wheel rolls next. “I go by [artist] Andy Warhol’s saying, that you just make art and let everybody else decide whether it is good or bad art – that’s a lovely sort of way to live by art,” says Portchie. But, he has also found a knack for knowing what people like. It is usually his unique take on the ordinary that bewilder potential buyers – like the way he paints the trees outside: Blue.
You need to keep going and create new things. You need to make it interesting
Portchie was living on a farm when he just began painting. The mountains there looked blue or almost purple. It was only when one got closer that one could see it was actually green and brown, he says. “I thought: What is it that gives that effect to them? I realised it is the blue sky. The filtering of the sky on things from a far looks purple and blue. And then, I thought there is so much blue in the sky… if the sky moves through trees, it must wrap off on them,” says the artist. “It’s impossible that so much blue can move through you and cannot touch you.” Those blue trees stuck.
Beside where the artist sits to paint, sits his self-portrait (above). Like the rest of his work, it is playful and tests the boundaries, the artist says. In place of a head is a forest of flowers. It looks “mad”. Just like his mind, artist Portchie Viljoen says. “It is full of colourful flowers, full of joy, full of madness,” Portchie says. According to Portchie, his mind is always capturing different things. “If I look [at anything], a painting is forming already. The same beautiful lines are there already. If I just refine [it] a bit, it will go out and it will sell,” says Portchie. PHOTO: Rebecca Pitt
The local artist, Portchie Viljoen, loves a long dinning table. He always has his table set ready for his guests each day, says the artist. PHOTO: Rebecca Pitt
The colour conductor
The artist’s strong eye for colour was nurtured when he was young, helping his father in his green grocer store, and his mother in her second-hand clothing store. That’s where he learnt about colour, Portchie says. He was working with carrots, beetroot, lettuce, aubergine and cabbage. “All strong colours,” says Portchie. “If you put the carrots and the beetroots apart from each other… it won’t sell. But, put it next to each other… it sells faster than anything else in the shop,” Portchie says. There’s a fine art in colour; there’s a science to it, he says. “My paintings don’t sell just because it’s colourful, it’s because the mix of the colour is absolutely perfect.”
It’s impossible that so much blue can move through you and not touch you
People want something fresh, says Portchie. When he put out those 150 works in London, it was completely different to anything on the market, he says. “On the other side, [people] are drawn to the joyful aspect of my work,” says Portchie. But it doesn’t just boil down to originality and joy. Talent and a trained-eye have taken the artist a long way. An hour and a half later, the family portrait no longer looks like blobs to the amateur-eye. It is beginning to look like a Portchie original. Sharp colours. Distinct features. Playful shapes. The portrait would be finished a few hours later.
Artist Portchie Viljoen usually finishes at least one painting each day. He takes about three days to do a large-scale painting. PHOTO: Rebecca Pitt