Eduard Louis LADAN
1918 (1916) - 1992
Sculptures, nail assemblages, paintings, graphics
Eddie Ladan in 1970
Brief C.V.
Eduard Louis LADAN was born* on 27th March, 1918 (1916?), in Kalk Bay, Cape Province, to a French father (Louis Gerard Ladan) and Dutch mother (Katrina Maria Ladan) who were immigrants from the Netherlands.
He was a painter, sculptor, and graphic artist and pioneered nail sculpture in South Africa in the early 1950s. He worked in oil, water colour, bronze, ciment fondu, wood, and mixed media including nail and plastic constructions, as well as various graphic media. Eddie Ladan, as he was called, studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in the The Hague, Netherlands in 1937 to 1939. He was a contributing art writer and critic to the Cape Times and The Cape Argus from 1969 to 1977 and an Art Advisor to the Advisory Board for the SABC Radio Service and SABC-TV from 1983 to 1986.
He served with the South African Air Forces during World War II and was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished service, King's Birthday Honours 1943; he was a Flt. Sgt. with 61 Squadron Grand Central Air Station and No 40 Squadron S.A.A.F.
Eddie Ladan's sister Cato “Dinky” Williamson (née Ladan) was one of the first South African female pilots.
Eduard Louis LADAN died at St Luke's Hospice near Kalk Bay on 6th October, 1992.
Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions
1964 - Gallery 101, Johannesburg (9th March) - paintings and mixed media (catalogue PDF)
1964 - Venice Biennale - included in South African entry with one graphic
1965 - Wolpe Gallery, Cape Town - collages and monotypes
1966 - Gallery 101, Johannesburg (20th August) - nail assemblages and graphics
1969 - Breván Art Gallery, Cape Town (13th October) - nail assemblages
1970 - SA Association of Arts, Pretoria (23rd November) - nail assemblages
1971 - Republic Festival Exhibition (Art / Kuns SA 1971), Cape Town
1981 - Republic Festival Exhibition, Durban
1984 - Gallery 21, Johannesburg ("Miniature Exhibition") (11th November) - two bronzes
"African Genesis", 1984 bronze ed. 5 - 24.5x10.5cm and "The illegitimate child", 1984 bronze ed. 5 - 27x20cm
1985 - Chelsea Gallery, Cape Town (February)
1989 - Chelsea Gallery, Cape Town (16th February) - 21 small bronze sculptures (catalogue PDF) (invitation card cover)
1990 - Fish Hoek Civic Centre, Library Hall (10th September) - Guest Artist
2009 - SMAC Art Gallery, Stellenbosch "Abstract South African Art from the Isolation Years: Part 3" (25th June)
Selected art works
"Self-portrait", 1964 - monoprint
Eduard Ladan with one of his paintings in 1966
Eddie Ladan "The masked head", signed and numbered 2/5 bronze on a wooden base height: 24cm - auctioned at Stephan Welz & Co., Cape Town - 26th May, 2009 - Lot 345
Eduard Ladan with his panel "16521 nails", 1966 - 190x100cm - 181 kg
Eddie Ladan "The bearded gladiator", signed and numbered 1/5 bronze on a wooden base height: 24cm - auctioned at Stephan Welz & Co., Cape Town - 21st October, 2008 - Lot 468
Eduard Ladan "Object trouvé", 1965 - mixed media - 74.5x65cm
Eddie Ladan "The gladiator", signed and numbered 2/5 bronze on a wooden base height: 25cm - auctioned at Stephan Welz & Co., Cape Town - 26th May, 2009 - Lot 346
Installation view - SMAC Art Gallery Stellenbosch 2009 - please click on image!
Eduard Ladan "Nail mosaic", 1968 - mixed media - 123x62cm - illustrated in ARTLOOK 32, p. 13
Works in public collections
SA National Gallery, Cape Town
Willem Annandale Art Gallery, Lichtenburg / Ditsobotla
Pietersburg Art Gallery, Polokwane
________________________________________
Works on auction
Stephan Welz & Co., Cape Town - 21st October, 2008 - Lot 468
Stephan Welz & Co., Cape Town - 26th May, 2009 - Lot 346 + Lot 345
Selected references
ARTLOOK 4 Johannesburg - 1967 February Vol I No. IV, p. 14, ill
ARTLOOK 9 Johannesburg - 1967 August Vol I No IX, p. 13, ill.
ARTLOOK 32 Johannesburg - 1969 July - ill. cover, p. 12-13, ill.
ARTLOOK 34 Johannesburg - 1969 September, p. 40 ill.
ARTLOOK 40 Johannesburg - 1970 March, p. 30, ill.
ARTLOOK 48 Johannesburg - 1970 November, p. 47 ill.
ARTLOOK 97 Johannesburg - 1975 Ocrtober/November Vol 8 No 5, pp. 9-11, ill.
"Lantern" Pretoria - 1971 March - Vol. XX, No. 3, pp. 47-51 ill. (4 large panels illustrated)
"Art & Artists of South Africa" (Berman) (Balkema), 1983, ill. - ISBN 0-86961-144-5
"The dictionary of South African painters and sculptors, including Namibia" (Ogilvie) (Everard Read Gallery), 1988 - ISBN 0-620-12663-9, p. 359
"Artists' Palate - a collection of artists' recipes" (Ladan / Doyle), 1991 - p.65, ill. - ISBN 0-620-15955-3
"Printmaking in a transforming South Africa" (Hobbs / Rankin) (Davîd Philip), 1997, p.132 - ISBN 0-86486-334-9
Kalk Bay Historical Bulletin - Bulletin 13 - 2008/9 - "The Ladan Family of Kalk Bay and the Life and Work of Eduard Ladan, Artist" (Steve Herbert)
________________________________________
Selected newspaper cuttings
The Cape Argus, Cape Town - 6th June, 1964, ill.
Die Vaderland, Johannesburg - 14th September, 1966
Cape Times, Cape Town - 3rd July, 1984, ill.
Fish Hoek Echo - 1st December, 1985, ill.
Cape Times, Cape Town - 5th September, 1988, ill.
Cape Times, Cape Town - 18th February, 1989
Die Burger, Cape Town - 28th February, 1989
The Cape Argus, Cape Town - 2nd March, 1989, ill.
The Cape Times, Cape Town - 7th March, 1989
Selected SABC TV1 programmes
"Those Crowded Years" (produced by Raymond Hancock Films) - First episode - interview with Eddie Ladan and others, on TV1 (3rd November, 1985)
________________________________________
Publications
"Artists' Palate" - a collection of artist's recipes (Ladan / Doyle) (1991) - ISBN 0-620-15955-3
Notes
Eddie Ladan usually had his bronze cast by Jean Doyle, Cape Town - his exhibitions were always well attended and he received from well-wishers dozens of telegrams which, in the case of Gallery 101, were displayed during the exhibitions!
*While 99% of publications list 1918 as the year of birth, in his attestation under oath dated 6th November, 1940 to join the SAAF his date of birth is recorded as 27th March, 1916 - however no official birth certificate has been provided as yet to confirm this date.
Last updated 17th February, 2014