Prologue

In October 1932, just as spring burst on to the Cape Peninsula, the dean of the newly opened Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town left a short note for his most promising student, 18-year-old Le Roux Smith: 'Please come to see me at 9 a.m. tomorrow. I have news.'

Le Roux wondered what it was about. His work was up to date, and everybody seemed pleased with his progress over the preceding three years.

Thanks in part to his photographic memory, he was a precocious student who received a first-class matriculation from Jan van Riebeeck High School shortly after his 14th birthday and was subsequently offered a scholarship to study painting and fine art at Michaelis. He had loved drawing as a child, and no person or animal that visited the Smith house was immune to a rendering in his sketchbook. His artistic ability was inherited from his father's side: Johannes Anthonie Smith had been drawing and painting from an early age, considering drawing a God-given talent to be nurtured and developed as a private pleasure and meditation on the wonders of God's creation. He spent much of his spare time painting and etching and was appointed to the board of the South African National Gallery, which opened in 1930 in a new building on Queen Victoria Street, where several of his works were displayed.

The following morning, Le Roux stood outside the dean's office. When the secretary smiled at him, he presumed he was not in trouble.

'Come in, Le Roux,' bellowed the dean. 'Coffee? Coffee for both of us, Mrs Blake, and then close the door.' Indicating a chair to his student, the dean continued, 'So, Le Roux, I have some excellent news for you. Have you heard of Sir Herbert Baker?'

'The architect? Yes.'

Although he had returned to England, Baker's legacy loomed large in South Africa.2

The dean continued, 'Well, he has donated a scholarship for two of the most promising young South African artists to study mural painting overseas and then paint murals in South Africa House in London.' This building in Trafalgar Square, home to the High Commission of South Africa, had been designed by Herbert Baker and opened in 1932. 'You will be taught the basics. Then, you will travel through Europe studying the Old Masters' frescos and end up at the British School at Rome, where you will meet experts on mural painting who will teach you the art. Can you imagine, Le Roux: you will see the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican with Michelangelo's wonderful ceiling! Oh, I do envy you!'

'My father will not approve, Dean,' Le Roux said in a low voice. 'Does he need to know?'

'Of course he needs to know,' the dean said. 'Your father must give consent for you to travel, as you are under 21. But I am sure he will. It is a very prestigious, well-funded scholarship, an opportunity of a lifetime.'

Le Roux looked sceptical. 'My father does not like the British. My studying in London may be more than he will tolerate.'

The dean scoffed. 'The Boer War ended 30 years ago.'

'Not in my father's house, Dean.'

On Sunday morning, Le Roux, who was living at home with his siblings and parents in their house in Vredehoek, rose early, put on a jacket and tie, and polished his shoes. Then he, his mother, pushing four-year-old Annette in a baby carriage, and Johannes and Anthonie, Le Roux's elder brother, set off on the 20-minute walk to the Dutch Reformed Church, the Groote Kerk,3 on upper Adderley Street.

The service was even longer and drearier than Le Roux had steeled himself for - it was a couple of weeks before Christmas, and the dominee wanted to make the congregation 'earn' the coming festivities.

Le Roux gazed around the brown and white of the typically austere Dutch Reformed church, devoid of all imagery and paintings. As the dominee in the pulpit droned on, he took a pencil and a pad out of his pocket and began to sketch him, until his mother removed the pencil from his hand.

Finally the service ended, and they stood outside the church, talking to the other parishioners. His father commanded respect locally, and many of the congregation came to speak to him.

When they got back home, the house was full of the aroma of the mutton stew that Anna had put in the Esse oven that morning to slow-cook. They ate lunch in silence, broken only by the occasional babble of the little girl in her high chair.

After lunch, the three men went out on to the stoep, where Anna brought them a pot of coffee and mugs, before going back inside to put Annette down for her nap and clean up in the kitchen.

Johannes had not missed his younger son's apprehensive mood, and now he turned to Le Roux. 'Well?' he demanded.

Le Roux plunged right in. 'I have been awarded the Sir Herbert Baker scholarship to study mural painting at the Royal College of Art in London and the British School at Rome.'

Johannes poured himself a cup of coffee. 'You did not tell me that you had entered an art competition.' His tone was not one of approval.

'I didn't enter it,' Le Roux said deferentially. 'The dean put my name forward.'

'So why are you telling me? I am not interested in British prizes; you should know that.'

'You must sign the papers to allow me to travel, as I am under 21.'

Anthonie, who was studying architecture at the University of Cape Town, broke in. 'Sir Herbert Baker is a very famous architect, Pa. He designed the Union Buildings in Pretoria, you know. He has a wonderful sense of proportion.'

'I know who he is.' Johannes did not bother to hide his irritation. 'You boys must understand that Baker is just one more Englishman sent to South Africa to impose colonial culture on our country.'

Anthonie intervened again. 'We should praise God that Le Roux has been selected, Pa. One day he will be a fine South African artist who decorates the churches I build.' Then, smiling, Anthonie added gently, 'This is not politics, Pa.'

Johannes shook his head wearily. 'Anthonie, everything is politics. I'm going inside to speak to your mother. We will pray on it.'

As their father left the stoep, Le Roux looked quizzically at his brother.

'He will agree because it will break Mom's heart if he forbids it. Anyway, he thinks you are already an uitlander,4 boetie,'5 Anthonie said teasingly.

'And you, Anthonie? What do you think?'

'We all have something to contribute. I want to build churches so people can talk to God. The idea makes me feel very humble, Le Roux.'

The brothers sat in companionable silence for a while, listening to the sounds of the neighbour's children playing in the garden.

When Johannes and Anna came back out on to the stoep, Le Roux's heart leapt - his mother was smiling.

But his father's tone was dour, as usual. 'Son, I never wanted you to become an artist. You have so much talent that an artist is the least of what you could become. But it is not my place to stop you from going wherever you want. Give me the papers. I will sign them.'

Quickly, before his father could change his mind, Le Roux gave him the documents, and watched as his father signed them in his familiar, almost childlike script.

Handing the papers back to Le Roux, Johannes said, 'Perhaps, when you have seen the world, you will remember your people, and you will come back to practise your God-given talents in South Africa.' He held out his hands. 'Now, son, hold my hand and your brother's, and let us say a simple prayer to wish you well on your journey and ask God to bring you back to us one day.'

2 Having arrived in South Africa in 1892 to visit his brother, Lionel, who was a fruit farmer, Baker made his mark almost immediately, and was commissioned to remodel Groote Schuur, the lavish home of Cecil John Rhodes, then prime minister of the Cape Colony, on the slopes of Table Mountain in Cape Town. Rhodes then sponsored the promising young architect's further education in Greece, Italy and Egypt, after which Baker returned to South Africa. Rhodes died in 1902, and Baker then partnered with various architects, before moving to the Transvaal (today's Gauteng) to design and build residences there; he quickly became noted for his work, and was commissioned by several 'Randlords', the wealthy mining magnates of Johannesburg, to design houses. He also designed commercial premises and public buildings, and undertook work in other parts of the country, including Durban, Grahamstown, King William's Town, Bloemfontein, George and Oudtshoorn.

3 Literal translation is Big Church.