Reshada Crouse| Art and the Devil

In Art and the Devil Reshada Crouse details her life as a painter. She takes us through her time studying art under the careful guidance of Raymund van Niekerk at the University of Natal in Pietermaritzberg, to her youthful adventures through Europe, with the aim of seeing “the origianl paintings we had been studying for three years” (pg. 6).

It was during this journey that Reshada first laid eyes on Saturn Devouring His Children in person. Painted by Francisco de Goya during the last days of his sight, the work overwhelmed Crouse on sight, with her saying of the encounter that

“By merely looking at the painting I felt implicated in the horror. The image felt like sniff, something I should not have seen. This filled me with terror and awe. It felt like Saturn’s hands had extended their reach to crunch into my psyche, that gaping mouth devouring my innocence as it introduced evil as the artist’s ally. My physical reaction was bewildering. I was frozen by adrenalin, panicked, heart racing, throug the mere observation of an image”(pg. 7-8).

This encounter became a formative experience for Reshada, shaping her paintings in the years to come.

In her autobiography, Crouse unveils the life of a woman who pursued her passion to the end. She shows how her work has evovled and changed over the years, presenting a definitive timeline of her practice.