​Contemporary South African Art

Born: 1911 Pretoria / Died: 1975 Pretoria



A painter of figures, heads, torsos, animals, still life and classical antiquity.  Worked in oil. 1952 “Mapogga” series; 1955-58 Hieratic figure compositions; during the 1960s abstract and semi-abstract paintings; 1962 theme of outer space and celestial images; 1965 gold paintings, abstract and classical Greek themes; 1969 intaglio (three dimensional fibreglass moulds).  Created four carvings in wood and sandstone and one totem pole. 

Studies: 1934-35 Westminster School of Art, London under Mark Gertler (1892-1939); 1937 Academie de la Grande Chaumiére, Paris under Emile Othon Friesz (1879-1949); 1937 two months study in Monte Carlo; 1946-47 a study trip to the London and Paris museums (especially interested in the Greek statues in the Louvre); 1953 studied murals and painting in Italy and Egypt.



Profile: 1938 a founder member of the New Group; 1948 a member of the International Art Club, SA; 1961 an executive committee member of the SA Council of Artists.  1911-34 lived in Pretoria; 1934 in London; 1935 in London, travelling to Berlin, Hamburg, Antwerp, Tetuan, Cairo, Mombasa, Zanzibar and Pretoria; 1936 in Pretoria; 1939 in the Belgian Congo (Zaire); 1940-42 with the SA Medical Corps in East and North Africa; 1943 a Prisoner of War in Italy and North Africa; 1944-54 in Pretoria; 1946-47 visited Paris and London; 1948 Zanzibar and the Seychelles; 1953 Italy and Egypt; 1954-56 lived at Hartbeespoort Dam, Transvaal; 1956-75 lived in the Brits area, Transvaal; 1968 visited Greece, Turkey and Italy; 1971 visited Greece as well as Rome and Florence in Italy.



Exhibitions: 1935 Pretoria, first of numerous solo exhibitions held in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town; participated in group exhibitions from 1938 in SA, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), Italy, Greece and Brazil; 1948 Tate Gallery, London, SA Art Exhibition; 1972 Pretoria Art Museum, Retrospective Exhibition; 1975 Johannesburg, Retrospective Exhibition.

Awards: 1953 Molteno Award with Jean Welz; 1955 Medal of Honour, SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns 

Represented: Africana Museum, Johannesburg; Ann Bryant Gallery, East London; Durban Art Gallery; Hester Rupert Art Museum, Graaff-Reinet; Johannesburg Art Gallery; King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth; Pretoria Art Museum; Rand Afrikaans University; Sandton Municipal Collection; SA National Gallery, Cape Town; SA National Museum of Military History, Johannesburg; Tatham Art Gallery, Pietermaritzburg; University of the Orange Free State; University of Pretoria; University of South Africa; University of Stellenbosch; University of Witwatersrand; William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley.



Public Commissions: 1959-62 mural, Transvaal Provincial Administration Building, Pretoria; 1953-55 mural, Receiver of Revenue Building, Johannesburg.

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References: Christi Truter, Alexis Preller, 1947, The Maroola Press, Pretoria; Collectors’ Guide; PSA; Our Art 2; Art SA; SAA; 20C SA Art; Oxford Companion to Art (under SA); SAP&S; SAP&D; SSAP; SESA; BSAK 1&2; SA Art; Oxford Companion to 20C Art; 3Cs; AASA; LSAA; South Africana July 1956; SA Panorama February 1961, February 1966 & November 1972; Artlook October 1969 & February/March 1976; De Arte April 1976 & April 1985; Habitat no.18, 1976; Exhibition Catalogue, 1972, Pretoria Art Museum.