Nieu Bethesda & the Owl House

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Nieu-Bethesda & the Owl House

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Nieu-Bethesda
Some 50 km north of Graaff-Reinet lies the village of Nieu-Bethesda underneath Sneeuberge mountains. Nieu-Bethesda can only be reached on a good gravel road. This beautiful Karoo village is famous for the artist Helen Martins (1896-1976) which became only internationally renowned after her death. She lived and worked in the Owl House which is now a museum.

The Owl House
The artist Helen Martins was born in December 1897. She grew up in Nieu-Bethesda as the youngest of six children. She was known as intelligent and became a teacher. Her marriage with the farmer Johannes Pienaar didn’t last very long. Not much is known of that time. But she spent some time then in the Transvaal, the Cape and Port Elizabeth.
In the 1930s she returned to Nieu-Bethesda in order to care for her parents. Her relationship with her mother was quite close. Her father however was a difficult character, Helen called him "the lion". Some people believe Helen was abused by her father when she was a child. In 1941 her mother died and four years later her father, too. From then on she lived alone without any prospects in an isolated Karoo village…
At the age of about 50 Helen started to change her surroundings. Her "Owl House" came into existence. This project kept her busy for the rest of her life.
During the following 20 years Helen developed her own style. There was no plan, it was just a decorative handling of light and colours accompanied by a reflection of light, darkness and shade.
Throughout her life Helen Martins was known as an eccentric hermit. Only after her death in 1976 she became internationally recognized.

Close to Nieu Besthesda you can also find a variety of rock paintings and some amazing fossils on a private farm. Meanwhile a university is involved and a fossil museum has been opened on the property.

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5. Karoo/Graaf-Reinet: 1. Graaff-Reinet 2. Valley of Desolation 3. Nieu Bethesda & the OWL HOUSE

map 1: 1. Cape Agulhas 2. Cape Town & Peninsula 3. Cederberg 4. Garden Route 5. Karoo/Graaff-Reinet
6. Karoo National Park/Beaufort West 7. Klein Karoo & Swartberge 8. Swellendam, Bontebock... 9. West Coast
10. Winelands & Hermanus additional info N 1 N 2 N 7 N 9 N 10 N 12

Southern Africa: map 1 map 2 map 3 map 4 map 5 map 6 map 7 map 8 map 9 map 10 map 11