Notes

In 1941, François Krige, along with his three brothers, joined the war effort. Right-wing nationalists were irked by this prominent Afrikaner family's decision to join the Allies. Krige, one of three war artists, initially edited a weekly magazine for the troops in Cairo. He was subsequently despatched to the frontlines and journeyed with troops as far as the Libyan harbour town of Benghazi in 1943. Krige, a member of the avant-garde New Group of artists, produced 124 works in his role as a "paintbrush soldier".¹ His approach to describing the conflict was distinctive: "Krige was uninterested in trying to paint battle pieces or celebrate the 'glory' of war. Instead, he became a master at capturing the daily genre scenes of life in the desert, the non-heroic chores and boredom, the workmanlike jobs behind the lines".² Cairo was produced during Krige's leave of absence from the front. It is one of two scenes portraying Opera Square and the Esbekieh Gardens in central Cairo. The square was a copy of its Parisian namesake. The present work was likely painted from a balcony of the Continental-Savoy Hotel, a leading caravansary where Krige was billeted. Famed for its cuisine, the hotel was also the preferred address of English aristocrats. Lord Carnarvon, discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, died in the hotel in 1923. Krige's architectural scene is leavened by whimsy: a couple kisses on the balcony adjacent to the industrious painter. The scene recalls a line from a play by the artist’s older brother, Uys: "Ek soen jou hartstogtelik hier op die helder dag" (I kiss you passionately here on the bright day).³

1. Justin Fox. (2000) The Life and Art of François Krige, Cape Town: Fernwood. Page 47.
2. Ibid. Page 48.
3. Uys Krige. (1976) Die Goue Kring, Cape Town: Human & Rousseau. Page 15.