Age of Grace

A sculpture titled Age of Grace by South African artist Anton Smit. This resin sculpture by Smit was erected on the University of Pretoria’s Hatfield campus in 2003. In 2015, the artist Dorothea Nortje was commissioned by Smit to paint over the first resin coat of the work. Nortje used the theme of the Soweto Student Uprising (16 June 1976), where she made use of photographs of the schoolboy Hector Pietersen, who had been shot and killed in protest of the poor education offered to black school learners during the apartheid regime. The painted feature on the sculpture draws the viewer closer, where one finally sees the painted figures over the bloody red-coloured paint. Notably, the University of Pretoria’s The Age of Grace sculpture was created following an exhibition commissioned by the South African Government. In 1994 Smit exhibited 35 sculpture at the Grand Central Station in New York as part of an initiative to strengthen the trade between South Africa and The United States of America, organized by SATOUR (South African Tourism) in conjunction with the Department of Trade and Industry. This initiative was represented by former president Nelson Mandela. The Age of Grace, an eight-foot-high bronze sculpture at the Grand Central Station, celebrated South African heritage. The title is referred to by Smit as “The age of grace is the last period of mankind on earth before the Second Coming.” Smit’s large sculptures prominently evoke themes of suffering, reconciliation, glory and sublimation. The University of Pretoria has a few of Smit’s public sculptures in its collection, including The Age of Grace and Burning Man. Short Biography: Anton Smit was born in Boksburg, South Africa in 1954. Smit won his first sculpting competition at the age of sixteen. In 1979, he won the renowned South African Association of Art's New Signature competition. Many of Smit's large scale works are on public exhibition throughout major cities such as Pretoria, at Menlyn Maine Central Square, Centurion Mall and other public art exhibitions in the Western Cape and internationally in Belgium. The University of Pretoria has several of his works. Smit's art gallery and sculpture park is located for as public exhibition near Pretoria in Bronkhorstspruit. Smits subject matter features collections ranging from male and female forms and heads, masks, faith, speed figures, shield figures, facets to abstract and classic forms.