Harmonic Development within a Square
Albert Newall
Artwork 1958
Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ shows a composition made up of various coloured and overlapping triangular shapes.
Artwork: Albert Newall, Harmonic Development within a Square (1958). Oil on board. 60 x 60 cm. Courtesy of SMAC Gallery.
Artist Albert Newall Title Harmonic Development within a Square Date 1958 Materials Oil on board Dimensions 60 x 60 cm Credit Courtesy of SMAC Gallery

In addition to the painted composition Harmonic Development within a Square, Newall's photobook Images of the Cape was also on display in the exhibition Photo book! Photo-book! Photobook! at A4. Produced seven years after this painting, Images of the Cape demonstrates Newall’s attraction to rhythm, pattern and geometry in nature, as well as his reticence to engage with the politics of South Africa at the time. 

Albert Newall was best known for his abstract paintings – but also worked as a photographer. Immigrating to South Africa following his service as an aerial photographer in the Royal Air Force during World War II, Newall often remarked that his paintings were informed by a view of the world seen from the air.

Installation photograph from the Photo Book! Photo-Book! Photobook! exhibition in A4’s Gallery in an area dedicated to photobooks from the years 1945 to 1967. On the right, Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ hangs on the wall, and Walter Battiss’ oil and mixed media sculpture ‘My Typewriter’ sits on a plinth.
Installation photograph from the Photo Book! Photo-Book! Photobook! exhibition in A4’s Gallery. At the front, a freestanding glass display case with printed matter. In the middle, Walter Battiss’ oil and mixed media work ‘My Typewriter’ sits on a white plinth. At the back, shelving units with printed matter from the years 1967 to 1994 line a white gallery wall, along with Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ and George Pemba’s watercolour painting ‘Basotho Woman with Headdress’.
Installation photograph from the Photo Book! Photo-Book! Photobook! exhibition in A4’s Gallery in an area dedicated to photobooks from the years 1945 to 1967. On the left, Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ hangs on the wall. On the right, Walter Battiss’ oil and mixed media sculpture ‘My Typewriter’ sits on a plinth.
Installation photograph from the 'Photo Book! Photo-Book! Photobook!’ exhibition in A4’s Gallery. At the front, two freestanding display cases with printed matter. In the middle, a moveable gallery wall that features Peter Magubane’s photograph ‘Mine recruits humiliated by being forced to strip naked for tuberculosis examination, Witwatersrand (1968)’, Jacobsens Publishers’ book ‘Index of Objectionable Literature’, Ernest Cole’s book ‘House of Bondage’ and four screenprints from Gavin Jantjes’ ‘A South African Colouring Book’ series. On the left, shelving units with printed matter from the years 1945 to 1967 line a white wall, with Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ mounted on a wall at the back. On the right, shelving units with printed matter line a white wall, along with David Goldblatt’s photograph ‘Climbing into kibbles at the shaft-head, the shift gets ready to go down. President Steyn No.4 shaft, Welkom, Orange Free State. 1969’.
Installation photograph from the Photo Book! Photo-Book! Photobook! exhibition in A4’s Gallery. At the front, two freestanding display cases with printed matter. In the middle, a moveable gallery wall that features Peter Magubane’s photograph ‘Mine recruits humiliated by being forced to strip naked for tuberculosis examination, Witwatersrand (1968)’, Jacobsens Publishers’ book ‘Index of Objectionable Literature’, Ernest Cole’s book ‘House of Bondage’ and four screenprints from Gavin Jantjes’ ‘A South African Colouring Book’ series. On the left, shelving units with printed matter from the years 1945 to 1967 line a white wall, with Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ mounted on a wall at the back. On the right, shelving units with printed matter from the years 1967 to 1994 line a white wall, along with David Goldblatt’s photograph ‘Climbing into kibbles at the shaft-head, the shift gets ready to go down. President Steyn No.4 shaft, Welkom, Orange Free State. 1969’.
Installation photograph from the Photo Book! Photo-Book! Photobook! exhibition in A4’s Gallery. In the middle, Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ hangs in an area dedicated to photobooks from the years 1945 to 1967.
Installation photograph from the Photo Book! Photo-Book! Photobook! exhibition in A4’s Gallery. On the left, shelving units with printed matter from the years 1945 to 1967 line a white gallery wall. On the right, Albert Newall’s oil painting ‘Harmonic Development within a Square’ is mounted on a white wall.
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