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The art of sculpting is a wide and varied art form and in this world it’s very difficult to separate the talented from the downright genius.
It’s sad to say, but for the most part South African sculptors are not renowned worldwide and their artistic influence is felt solely on home shores.
There is one man however, who is also my favourite living sculptor, who has been making serious waves in his bronze medium.
He was born and raised in Stellenbosch and is a sculptor who can be ranked at the top of his field, in South Africa and beyond.
This man is none other than Dylan Lewis.

Dylan Lewis originally started out as a painted and has always had a strong affiliation with natural elements and the forms of African wildlife, especially the big cats.
After the passing of his father, who was also highly regarded as a gifted sculptor, Dylan Lewis decided to take up this timeless art form and proved that it did indeed, run in his veins.

These days you can find Dylan Lewis’ sculptures all over South Africa as well as gracing international galleries in the art capitals of the world.
Lewis’ brilliance in capturing the animal form is the stuff of legend, but it is only when you see these magnificent pieces in real life and feel them with your own hands that you begin to understand just how awesome this guy is.

I was first introduced to Dylan Lewis sculptures a handful of years ago and I think it was a definite case of “love at first sight”.
The very first sculpture I saw of Dylan Lewis was at the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, it stands at the foot of the stairs at the main entrance and instantly captures your attention…it is simply beautiful.
Since then I have actively hunted down his work, which luckily living in Cape Town, is easy to find.
You can imagine how exited I was to hear that RMB private bank had organised for 23 privately owned Lewis sculptures from his animal collection to be scattered amongst the beautiful streets of Stellenbosch for a whole 7 months….amazing.

If you are a style=”color: #0070c0″>Dylan Lewis fan, or if you would like to get to know his work, do yourself a favour and go through to Stellenbosch to gaze at this unique display of some of his finest work.
Over the weekend my girlfriend (who is probably an even bigger fan) and I headed out in that direction and spent a good 2 and half hours wandering the gorgeous tree lined streets of Kirstenbosch hunting down the wild cats.
It was like a grown up’s artistic Easter egg hunt LOL.
Luckily we managed to hook ourselves up with the very last map from the Sasol Art Museum, which shows you exactly where to go, however you can download the PDF from Dylan Lewis site…trust me it’s a good idea, we would have bumbled around forever trying to find them by just using our combined ESP.

Let me just say that we were not disappointed, the sculptures were breath taking and combined not only his finest sculptures of the big cats, but also 2 mammoth sculptures of other African animals, one being the buffalo sculpture and the other being a gargantuan rhino, which was unfortunately being used as a squatting spot for hobos…so unfortunately I didn’t manage to get too many good snaps of that one.

So did we manage to see all of them? Unfortunately not…however we did manage a score of 19/23.
It seems that 4 of Dylan Lewis’ sculptures have been placed in spots that belong to previously disadvantaged communities, which are home to many of the craftsman that work with Lewis at his foundries.
I think this is a fantastic gesture and will serve as a beacon of hope for poorer artist who want to make their presence known to the world of art.
These 4 spots are Ida’s valley, Jamestown, Tennantville and Kayamandi…which are actually part of Stellenbosch, but sadly not within walking distance of the Stellenbosch town centre…so unfortunately we will have to go back for those some other time.

Dylan Lewis is truly the greatest animal sculptor in South Africa…well in my opinion that is, but once you see his bronze sculptures I think there will be some instant converts.
If you love art…DONT MISS THIS!

Duncs.

Would you like to know more? CLICK HERE for Dylan Lewis’ home page.