| Artist | Natalie Hirschman | Resides | South Africa |
| Website | nataliehirschman.com | Medium | Oil |
| Follow the Artist | Instagram | Facebook | nataliehirschman@gmail.com | |
| Themes | Divine feminine Urban worlds Nature Strong woman Portraiture Figurative Magical Impressionism |
About the artist
Natalie Hirschman graduated with honours in fine art printmaking and anthropology.
She transitioned from printmaker to oil painter because of the luscious feel of the medium.
Natalie has travelled extensively with her sketchbook and plein air gear, creating a visual record of her journeys not only to Europe, but years spent in India and South America. Her love of the human condition drove her inexorably towards figurative painting and portraiture. Her fascination and work with plant medicines, fantasy and archetypes prompts her work to reveal small hints of the magical worlds she allows her mind to explore.
A romantic at heart, her paintings display a quest for beauty. Whether this is masculine or feminine, urban or natural, it is a romance that almost rebels against the post modernism she was exposed to at university.
Natalie is involved with various South African art societies, both as a participant, and as an art judge and teacher. She has exhibited in numerous South African shows, and has been a finalist in international competitions such as “Figurativas” at the Meam in Spain, and the portrait society of Americas “Select 50”. She has also been a finalist in online competitions such as receiving the “Boldbrush award” in September 2022; receiving best figurative work in the Plein Air Salon, November 2022, and being one of 9 winners in the famous British show “Portrait Artist Of The Week”. (A spinoff of “Portrait Artist Of The Year” 2021)
She currently lives and works from Cape Town, South Africa
Artwork Themes & Subject Matter
Natalie Hirschman’s work portrays the subtle interplay between the real and the imagined. She strives to collaborate with her models, weaving their own moods and gestures into her creative vision, and to authentically represent their personalities in both urban and natural environments.
Her work captures a moment in time revealing her models with authenticity, and often subtly infusing the work with hints of magic. Whether it is a bird landing on a woman’s hand, or a sculpture coming to life and engaging with the protagonist; the interplay between the real and the unreal is designed to prompt the viewer to ponder the line between reality and imagination; or where the ordinary meets the extraordinary.
Natalie work leans towards impressionism, with an equal fascination not only of the narrative subject, but also the textural surface of the painting
“When I stand in front of an oil painting, I stop looking at the subject; and start looking at the surface of a work; becoming fascinated in how the illusion of light, hazy days, and air were woven into the very fabric of sticky bits of paint. It is from these artists that I draw my inspiration.”
Natalie’s works are figurative. She aims to represent the beauty and romance in every subject. The nuance in her work blends reality with a touch of enchantment.
Press
Natalie Hirschman’s paintings have been featured in notable magazines and online sources including South African Artist Magazine (cover artist), Plein Air Magazine and Bold Brush (Winner of the Bold Brush Award).
CV
Education
1999 Bachelor degree in Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Figurativas International competition exhibition, MEAM Museum, Barcelona, Spain
2022
Poets and Artists “Mujer” Exhibition (online)
2020
Art Portfolio, Kirstenbosch National Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa
2019
Summer Salon, Hout Street Gallery, Paarl, Cape Town, South Africa
Franschhoek group show, Private residence, Franschhoek, South Africa
Vuleka Competition exhibition, Art Association of Belville, Cape Town, South Africa
Winter Gala, Hout Street Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Art Portfolio, Kirstenbosch National Gardens, Cape Town, South Africa
2018
Summer Salon, Hout Street Gallery, Paarl, South Africa
Spring Show, Red Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Voices, The Art Collective, Johannesburg, South Africa
Winter Gala, Hout Street Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
2017
Summer Salon, Hout Street Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Small Works Show, Hout Street Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Winter Gala, Hout Street Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Summer Show, In fin Art, Cape Town, South Africa
Annual Show, Robertson art Gallery, Robertson, South Africa
Five Faces, The Collective, Johannesburg, South Africa
