ART AND THE DEVIL, the life story of an unfashionable artist, a 15-part series

447pp., b/w & colour illus., paperback, No Place, 2025

ISBN: 9781037014185

A memoir by South African painter Reshada Crouse.

"This volume is an excellent example of the ways in which autobiography can yield important kinds of knowledge and understanding that are excluded from more conventional forms of historical writing. One may not necessarily agree with everything Reshada Crouse says, but one cannot but be struck by the intelligence that has shaped her opinions and standpoints. Indeed, in thinking about how she has navigated her world, we glean rich insights about ourselves as well." Brenda Schmahmann, Professor and SARChI Chair in South African Art and Visual Culture, University of Johannesburg

“An extraordinary insight into a life and art, chronicled through the mind and closely observant eye of a master of both. Her many examples of commissions and competition works are a triumphant pantheon of personal and public lives, in a style that is highly individual and immediately identifiable by its infusion of energy and juxtaposition of subjects and events. Reshada Crouse is one of South Africa's most iconic and original artists. Her memoir is a window into the world of a maestro of her genre within a vivid livd experience." Christopher Till, curator and museum director

Reshada Crouse was born in Plettenberg Bay and grew up in Durban. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Natal, a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts  at Michaelis School of Art, and an Advanced Diploma in Painting at St. Martins School of Art, London.  She then moved to Johannesburg to begin her career as a painter and, apart from working in Paris at the Cité Internationale des Arts in 1985, she has lived and worked there ever since.