The following is a list of artists from South Africa.

A

Bill Ainslie William “Bill” Ainslie (10 April 1934-1989) was a South African artist, teacher, activist, as well as the founder of several art projects. Early life Ainslie was born on 10 April 1934 in Bedford, Eastern Cape, where his family farmed a parce ...

(1934-1989) *

Jane Alexander Jane Alexander (née Quigley; born October 28, 1939) is an American actress and author. She is the recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and nominations for four Academy Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards. From 1993 to 1997 ...

(1959-) *

Siemon Allen Siemon Allen (born in Durban, South Africa) is an artist working mainly with installations. He is living and working in the United States. Allen is considered one of the most prominent exponents of the South African arts diaspora in the North ...

(1971-) * Nils Andersen (1897-1972) * Tyrone Appollis (1957-) *

Dieter Aschenborn Dieter Aschenborn (15 November 1915 in Okahandja, Namibia – September 2002 in Windhoek, Namibia) was a Namibian painter.

(1915-2002) * Hans Aschenborn (1888-1931) * Uli Aschenborn (1947-) * Leigh Ashton (1956-)

B

Beezy Bailey Beezy Bailey (born 21 July 1962 in Johannesburg, South Africa) is a South African artist who works in various media, including painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking and ceramics. He has been a full-time artist for 30 years, with over 20 one- ...

(1962-) * Kenneth Baker (1921-1996) * Walter Battiss (1906-1982) * Janko de Beer (1980-) *

Charles Davidson Bell Charles Davidson Bell FRSE (22 October 1813 – 7 April 1882) was the Surveyor-General in the Cape Colony, an artist, heraldist, and designer of Cape medals and stamps. Life history Born on 22 October 1813 at Newhall, Crail, Fife, Scotla ...

(1813-1882), Scottish-born painter, artist and stamp designer * Deborah Bell (1957-), sculptor, painter and mixed media artist *

Willie Bester Willie Bester (born February 29, 1956) is a South African painter, sculptor and collage artist. He is best known for his role in the protesting of the apartheid system through his artwork. He currently lives in Kuilsrivier, South Africa with his w ...

(1956-) *

Harry Bolus Harry Bolus (28 April 1834 – 25 May 1911) was a South African botanist, botanical artist, businessman and philanthropist. He advanced botany in South Africa by establishing bursaries, founding the Bolus Herbarium and bequeathing his library and ...

(1834-1911), botanist, botanical artist, businessman and philanthropist * D. C. Boonzaier (1865-1950) *

Gregoire Boonzaier Gregoire Johannes Boonzaier (31 July 1909 – 22 April 2005) was a South African artist well known for his landscapes, portraits and still life paintings. He was a famous exponent of Cape Impressionism, a founder of the New Group, and a cont ...

(1909-2005) *

Dineo Seshee Bopape Dineo Seshee Bopape is a South African multimedia artist. Using experimental video montages, sound, found objects, photographs and dense sculptural installations, her artwork "engages with powerful socio-political notions of memory, narration a ...

(1981-) *

Steven Bosch Steven Bosch (born 6 June 1978) is a South African artist (working primarily in the medium of photography, video and ceramics) and creative consultant in Johannesburg. He was also a trend analyst and presenter on the Afrikaans TV program Siener ...

(1978-) *

Cristina Boshoff Katarina Boshoff (born 8 October 1980 as Katarina Cristina Boshoff) is a South African folk pop singer and pianist based in Cape Town. Boshoff was born in Stellenbosch, and holds dual citizenship in South Africa and Spain. She began playing pia ...

(1980-), singer *

Willem Boshoff Willem Boshoff (born 1951, Johannesburg, South Africa) is one of South Africa's foremost contemporary artists and regularly exhibits nationally and internationally. Boshoff spent his childhood in Vanderbijlpark, which is a town located next to ...

(1951-) *

Wim Botha Wim Botha (born 1974) is a South African contemporary artist. Biography Botha was born in Pretoria in 1974 and currently lives in Cape Town, South Africa. He grew up in a suburban town on the eastern side of Pretoria. In 1996, Botha graduated ...

(1974-) *

Candice Breitz Candice Breitz (born 1972) is a South African white artist who works primarily in video and photography.Lisa Brice Lisa Brice (born 1968) is a South African painter and visual artist from Cape Town. She lives in London and cites some of her influences as her experiences growing up in South Africa during a time of political upheaval, and from time spent li ...

(1968-) *

Lesley-Ann Brandt Lesley-Ann Brandt (born 2 December 1981) is a South African actress. Brandt has acted in a number of New Zealand television series and first came to international notice with her role as a slave girl Naevia in the series '' Spartacus: Blood and ...

(1981-) * Rhona Brown (1922-2014), botanical artist *

Winifred Brunton Winifred Mabel Brunton ''née Newberry'' (6 May 1880 – 29 January 1959) was a South African painter, illustrator and Egyptologist. Early years Brunton was born in 1880 in the Orange Free State South Africa. Her father, Charles Newberry, a m ...

(1880-1959), painter, especially of Egyptian pharaohs

C

Sarah Calburn Sarah Katherine Calburn, usually known as Sarah Calburn, (born 10 May 1964, Johannesburg) is a South African architect.Norman Catherine Norman Catherine (born September 1949 in East London, South Africa) is a South African artist whose body of work spans painting, sculpture, printmaking and mixed media. He collaborated closely with iconic South African artist Walter Battiss on ...

(1949-) *

Bettie Cilliers-Barnard Bettie Cilliers-Barnard, DMS (18 November 1914 – 15 September 2010) was a South African abstract artist, generally known for her large canvases of birds in flight. She was also the mother of well-known South African actress, Jana Cilliers ...

(1914-2010) * Frans Claerhout (1919-2006) * Julia Rosa Clark (1975-) * Peter Clarke (1929-2014) *

Christo Coetzee Christo Coetzee (24 March 1929 – 12 November 2000) was a South African assemblage and Neo-Baroque artist closely associated with the avant-garde art movements of Europe and Japan during the 1950s and 1960s. Under the influence of art theoris ...

(1929-2000) * Ernest Cole (1940-1990) * Ruann Coleman (1988-) * Gillian Condy (1952-), botanical artist * Tom Cullberg (1972-)

D

* Nerine Desmond (1908-1993) *

Mbali Dhlamini Mbali Dhlamini (born 1990) is a South African artist. She predominantly works in photography and time-based media. Life Dhlamini was born 1990 in Soweto, Johannesburg. From 2008 to 2009, she studied printmaking at the Artist Proof Studio in Joh ...

(born 1990), photographer * Adriaan Diedericks (born 1990), sculptor * Ethel May Dixie (1876-1973), botanical artist *

Marlene Dumas Marlene Dumas (born 3 August 1953) is a South African artist and painter currently based in the Netherlands. Life and work Dumas was born in 1953 in Cape Town, South Africa and grew up in Kuils River in the Western Cape, where her father had ...

(1953-)

E

* Peter Eastman (1976-) * Paul Emsley (1947-), portrait painter and lecturer * Garth Erasmus (1956-)

F

Dumile Feni Zwelidumile Geelboi Mgxaji Mslaba "Dumile" Feni (May 21, 1942 – 1991) was a South African contemporary visual artist known for both his drawings and paintings that included sculptural elements as well as sculptures, which often depicted the st ...

(1939-1991), sculptor and printmaker''

Grove Art Online ''Grove Art Online'' is the online edition of ''The Dictionary of Art'', often referred to as the ''Grove Dictionary of Art'', and part of Oxford Art Online, an internet gateway to online art reference publications of Oxford University Press, ...

'' *

Cyril Fradan Cyril Fradan (1928–1997) was a South African artist and designer who worked almost exclusively in acrylic paints incorporating various glazing techniques. Life and work One of South Africa's foremost painters, Cyril Fradan was born in Joh ...

(1928-1997), artist and designer, especially of acrylic paints incorporating various glazing techniques * Abrie Fourie (1969-), artist specialising in photography and digital media

G

Kendell Geers Jacobus Hermanus Pieters Geers, commonly known as Kendell Geers, is a South African conceptual artist. Geers lives and works in Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text ...

(May 1968-) * Allerley Glossop (1870-1955) *

David Goldblatt David Goldblatt HonFRPS (29 November 1930 – 25 June 2018) was a South African photographer noted for his portrayal of South Africa during the period of apartheid.Weinberg, Paul.David Goldblatt: Photographer Who Found the Human in an Inhuman ...

(1930–2018) *

Arthur Goldreich Arthur Goldreich (25 December 1929 – 24 May 2011) was a South African-Israeli abstract painter and a key figure in the anti-apartheid movement in the country of his birth and a critic of the form of Zionism practiced in Israel. Early life Gold ...

(1929-1982) * Frances Goodman (1975-)

H

* Caesar Carl Hans Henkel (1839-1913), German-born South African forester, cartographer, painter, soldier and botanist * Matthew Hindley (1974-) * Nicholas Hlobo (1975-), sculptor *

Robert Hodgins Robert Hodgins (27 June 1920 – 15 March 2010) was an English painter and printmaker. Life history Robert Hodgins was born in Dulwich, London, on 27 June 1920, and immigrated to South Africa in 1938. He enlisted with the Union Defence For ...

(1920-2010), English-born South African painter and printmaker *

Rosa Hope Rosa Somerville Hope (8 June 1902, in Manchester, England – 7 May 1972, in Kokstad, South Africa), was an English painter who visited South Africa in 1935 and stayed on. Her mother was a teacher at the Camberwell School of Art and her father ...

(1902-1972), English-born South African painter *

Pieter Hugo Pieter Hugo (born 1976) is a South African photographer who primarily works in portraiture. He lives in Cape Town.Leah Ollman (9 February 2007)Photography that goes only skin deep''Los Angeles Times''. Hugo has had four monographs published. H ...

(1976), photographer

J

Gavin Jantjes Gavin Jantjes (born 1948 in District Six, Cape Town) is a South African painter, curator, writer and lecturer. Life Jantjes attended the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town from 1966 to 1969. He left apartheid South Africa ...

(1948-), painter * Barbara Jeppe (1921-1999), botanical artist * Gabriel de Jongh (1913-2004) * Tinus de Jongh (1885-1942), painter

K

Anton Kannemeyer Anton Kannemeyer (born 1967) is a South African comics artist, who sometimes goes by the pseudonym Joe Dog. Kannemeyer has lectured the University of Pretoria, Technikon Witwatersrand, and was also a senior lecturer at the University of Stellenb ...

(1967-) *

William Kentridge William Kentridge (born 28 April 1955) is a South African artist best known for his prints, drawings, and animated films, especially noted for a sequence of hand-drawn animated films he produced during the 1990s. The latter are constructed by ...

(1955-) * Wolf Kibel (1903-1938) *

David Koloane David Nthubu Koloane (5 June 1938 – 30 June 2019) was a South African artist. In his drawings, paintings and collages he explored questions about political injustice and human rights. Koloane is considered to have been "an influential artist ...

(1938-2019) * Ansel Krut (1959-), painter based in London, UK * David Kuijers (1962-), painter, designer and illustrator

L

Maggie Laubser Maria Magdalena Laubser (; 14 April 1886 – 17 May 1973) was a South African painter and printmaker. She is generally considered, along with Irma Stern, to be responsible for the introduction of Expressionism to South Africa. Her work was ini ...

(1886-1973) * Ralph Lazar (1967-) *

Cythna Letty Cythna Lindenberg Letty (1 January 1895, in Standerton – 3 May 1985, in Pretoria), was a South African botanical artist and is regarded as a doyenne of South African botanical art by virtue of the quality and quantity of her meticulously exe ...

(1895-1985), botanical artist * Carla Liesching (1985-) * Kai Lossgott (1980-)

M

* Noria Mabasa (1938-) * Fikile Magadlela (1952-2003) *

Esther Mahlangu Esther Mahlangu (born 11 November 1935) is a South African artist. She is known for her bold large-scale contemporary paintings that reference her Ndebele heritage. She is one of South Africa's best known artists. Early life Esther Nikwambi Mah ...

(1935-) * Billy Mandindi (1967-2005) * Anja Marais (1974-) *

Amitabh Mitra Amitabh Mitra ( bn, অমিতাভ মিত্র) is an Indian-born South African physician, poet and artist, whose paintings depict dramatised stick figures. Education and career Mitra studied medicine and did postgraduate studies in ort ...

(1955 -) painter, physician * Louis Maqhubela (1939-) *

Gerhard Marx Gerhard Marx (born 1976) is a South African artist. Biography Born in 1976, he completed his master's degree in Fine Arts cum laude at the University of Cape Town in 2004. He has worked with well-known artists such as William Kentridge and the H ...

(1976-) *

Judith Mason Judith Mason born Judith Seelander Menge (10 October 1938 – 28 December 2016) was a South African artist who worked in oil, pencil, printmaking and mixed media. Her work is rich in symbolism and mythology, displaying a rare technical virtuosit ...

(1938-2016), painter, sculptor and installation artist * Kagiso Patrick Mautloa (1952-) * Johannes Petrus Meintjes (1923-1980), artist, author and historian * John Meyer (1942-), painter * Ina Millman, artist and art teacher * Anthony Morton (1923-2006) *

Nandipha Mntambo Nandipha Mntambo (born 1982) is a South African artist who has become famous for her sculptures, videos and photographs that focus on human female body and identity by using natural, organic materials. Life Nandipha Mntambo was born in Swazi ...

(1982-) *

Santu Mofokeng Santu Mofokeng (October 19, 1956 – January 26, 2020) was a South African news and documentary photographer who worked under the alias ''Mofokengâ''. Mofokeng was a member of the Afrapix collective and won a Prince Claus Award.Prince Claus Fund ...

(1956-2020) *

Zwelethu Mthethwa Zwelethu Mthethwa (born 1960) is a South African painter and photographer. He was convicted of murder in 2017, and is currently incarcerated at Pollsmoor Prison. Biography Mthethwa, a native of Durban, graduated from the Michaelis School of Fi ...

(1960-), painter and photographer *

Zanele Muholi Zanele Muholi (born 19 July 1972) is a South African artist and visual activist working in photography, video, and installation. Muholi's work focuses on race, gender and sexuality with a body of work that dates back to the early 2000's, documen ...

(1972-) *

Brett Murray Brett Murray (born 1961) is a South African artist mostly known for his steel and mixed media wall sculptures. He was born in Pretoria, South Africa. Murray has a master's degree in fine art from the Michaelis School of Fine Art, 1989. Referr ...

(1961-) *

Credo Mutwa In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed – or its shorter version, the Apostles' Creed – in the Mass, either as a prayer, a spoken text, or sung as Gregorian chant or other musical sett ...

(1921-2020)

N

* Hermann Niebuhr (1972-), painter of primarily urban and rural landscapes *

Zelda Nolte Zelda Nolte (1929–2003) was a South African- British sculptor and Woodblock printing, woodblock printmaker. Education Zelda Nolte studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule Zürich under the directorship of Johannes Itten, which became Zürcher Hochs ...

(1929-2003), sculptor and woodblock printmaker *

Neo Ntsoma Neo Ntsoma (born 27 December 1972) is a South African photographer known for her photojournalism, portraiture, music and popular culture photography. Born in Vryburg and brought up in the rural areas of Mafikeng in the North West Province, he ...

(1972-) * Thenjiwe Nkosi (1980-)

O

* Johan Oldert (1912-1984), painter and sculptor *

Ken Oosterbroek Ken Oosterbroek (14 February 1962 – 18 April 1994) was a South African photojournalist and member of the Bang-Bang Club. He worked for '' The Star'' in Johannesburg, which was South Africa's biggest daily broadsheet. He won numerous photograph ...

(1963-1994), photographer

P

* Karabo Poppy (1992) * Georgia Papageorge (1941-) * Charles Ernest Peers (1875-1944) *

George Pemba George Milwa Mnyaluza Pemba (1912 in Korsten, Port Elizabeth – 2001) was a South African painter and writer. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Ikhamanga. Biography Pemba was born in 1911 in Hill's Kraal, Korsten, Port Elizabeth. He ...

(1912-2001) *

Peet Pienaar Peet Pienaar (born 29 August 1971 near Potchefstroom, South Africa) is a South African performance artist, most famous for having himself videotaped while undergoing circumcision in 2000. The discarded foreskin, displayed in a small perspex case ...

(1971-) *

Jacobus Hendrik Pierneef Jacobus Hendrik (Henk) Pierneef (usually referred to as Pierneef) (13 August 1886 Pretoria – 4 October 1957 Pretoria), was a South African landscape artist, generally considered to be one of the best of the old South African masters. His distin ...

(1886-1957) *

Barbara Pike Rosalie Barbara Pike born 29 March 1933 in Johannesburg is a South African botanical artist. Biography Barbara Pike is one of two daughters born to Barend Elzas, an industrial chemist, and his wife Klara 'Claire' Kindinger. She attended the P ...

(1933-), botanical artist *

Stanley Pinker Stanley Pinker (1924 – 16 June 2012) was a Namibian-born painter and printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Tradi ...

(1924-2012) * Deborah Poynton (1970-) *

Alexis Preller Alexis Preller (6 September 1911 – 13 December 1975) was a South African painter. He trained at the Westminster School of Art from which he graduated in 1934 and later at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris (1937). He was especia ...

(1911-1975)

R

* Gavin Rain (1971-) * Jo Ratcliffe *

Richard Rennie Sir Richard Temple Rennie (1839 – 14 April 1905) was a British barrister and judge who served in China and Japan. He was the Chief Justice of the British Supreme Court for China and Japan from 1881 to 1891. He was judge of the British Cour ...

(1839-1905) *

Robin Rhode Robin Rhode (born 1976) is a South African artist based in Berlin. He has made wall drawings, photographs and sculptures. Education Rhode was born in Cape Town, South Africa. He studied fine art at Technikon Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (no ...

(1976-) *

Dolf Rieser Dolf Rieser (1898–1983) was a South Africa painter, printmaker, and teacher. Early life and education Dolf Rieser was born in King William's Town, Cape Colony, and educated in Germany and Switzerland. In 1917, he studied at École Polytechn ...

(1898-1983), South African-born British painter, printmaker, and teacher *

Tracey Rose Tracey Rose is a South African artist who lives and works in Johannesburg. Rose is best known for her performances, video installations, and photographs. Biography Rose was born in 1974 in Durban, South Africa. She attended the University o ...

(1974-) * David Rosen (1959-2014) * Athi-Patra Ruga (1984-)

S

* Ruth Sacks (1977-) *

Claudette Schreuders Claudette Schreuders (born February 6, 1973) is a South African sculptor and painter operating out of Cape Town, South Africa. She is known mainly for her carved and painted wooden figures, which have been exhibited independently and internation ...

(1973-) *

Peter Schutz Peter Werner Schutz (April 20, 1930 – October 29, 2017) was the president and CEO of Porsche between 1981 and 1987, a time in which the company greatly expanded sales, primarily in the United States. He was a motivational speaker and co-foun ...

(1930-2017) * Richard Scott (1968-) *

Berni Searle Berni Searle (born 7 July 1964 in Cape Town, South Africa) is an artist who works with photography, video, and film to produce lens-based installations that stage narratives connected to history, identity, memory, and place. Often politically a ...

(1964-) *

Gerard Sekoto Gerard Sekoto (9 December 1913 – 20 March 1993), was a South African artist and musician. He is recognised as a pioneer of urban black art and social realism. His work was exhibited in Paris, Stockholm, Venice, Washington, and Senegal, as wel ...

(1913-1993) * Mary Sibande (1982-) *

Penny Siopis Penny Siopis (born 5 February 1953) is a South African artist from Cape Town. She was born in Vryburg in the North West province from Greek parents who had moved after inheriting a bakery from Siopis maternal grandfather. Siopis studied Fine Ar ...

(1953-) *

Lucas Sithole Lucas Sithole (1931-1994) was a South African sculptor best known for his work in mainly indigenous woods, as well as for his sculptures in bronze, Rock (geology), stone and other media. He was born on 15 November 1931, in Springs, Transvaal ...

(1931-1994) *

Cecil Skotnes Cecil Skotnes (1 June 1926 – 4 April 2009) was a prominent South African artist. He was born in East London in 1926, studied drawing in Florence, Italy, the Witwatersrand Technical Art School and then the University of the Witwatersrand. ...

(1926-2009) * Sean Slemon (1978-) * Kathryn Smith (1975-) * Frank Sydney Spears (1906-1991) *

Irma Stern Irma Stern (2 October 1894 – 23 August 1966) was a major South African artist who achieved national and international recognition in her lifetime. Life Stern was born in Schweizer-Reneke, a small town in the Transvaal, of German-Jewish pa ...

(1894-1966) * Paul Stopforth (1945-) * Jack Stone (1986-) * Richardt Strydom (1971-) *

Mikhael Subotzky Mikhael Subotzky (born Cape Town, South Africa, 1981) is a South African artist based in Johannesburg. His installation, film, video and photographic work have been exhibited widely in museums and galleries, and received awards including the KLM ...

(1981-) * Lisa Swerling (1972-) * Helen Sebidi (1943 - )

T

* Guy Tillim (1962-), photographer * Vladimir Tretchikoff (1913-2006) * Lawrence Holme Twentyman (1783-1852), silversmith

U

* Jeannette Unite (1964-), Earth artist who paints and draws with minerals and mining detritus from the "Industrial Sublime"

V

Strijdom van der Merwe Strijdom van der Merwe (born 1961) is a South African land artist who uses materials he finds on site to create his artworks. His materials include sand, water, wood, rocks and stone. By shaping these elements into geometric forms he juxtaposes t ...

(1961-), land artist * Maurice van Essche (1906-1977), Belgian-born South African painter, oil, gouache, acrylic and water-color; inspired by time in Belgian Congo (1939), inter alia * Nontsikelelo (Lolo) Veleko (1977-) * Jan Vermeiren (1949-), paintings mainly in oil on canvas, etchings and lithographyAndré Philippus Brink, ''Jan Vermeiren: a Flemish artist in South Africa'' (Lannoo Uitgeverij), 2000 , * Diane Victor (1964-) * Jan Ernst Abraham Volschenk (1853-1936), landscape painter

W

Jeremy Wafer Jeremy Wafer (born 1953) is a South African sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, wid ...

(1953-) * Donovan Ward (1962-) *

Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst Johanna Ellaphie Ward-Hilhorst (10 July 1920 Pretoria – 30 June 1994 Cape Town) was a South African botanical artist. She received her early education in Pretoria. After matriculating from Pretoria Girls' High School she started work in 1939 a ...

(1920-1994), botanical artist * James Webb (1975-) * Jean Welz (1900-1975) *

Sue Williamson Sue Williamson (born 1941) is an artist and writer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Life Sue Williamson was born in Lichfield, England in 1941. In 1948 she immigrated with her family to South Africa. Between 1963 and 1965 she studied at t ...

(1941-)

References

Bibliography

* Sue Williamson and Ashraf Jamal, ''Art in South Africa: the future present'', Publisher David Philip (Cape Town), 1996. * Frank Herreman and Mark D'Amato, ''Liberated voices: contemporary art from South Africa'', The Museum for African Art, 1999. * Emma Bedford and Sophie Perryer, ''10 Years 100 Artists: Art In A Democratic South Africa'', Struik, 2004. * Sue Williamson, ''South African Art Now'', HarperCollins, 2009. * Sue Williamson, ''Resistance Art in South Africa'', Juta and Company Ltd, 2010. * Berman, Esmé (2010). Art and Artists of South Africa. Cape Town: G3 Publishers. pp. 376–379. . * Three Centuries of South African Art: Fine Art, Architecture, Applied Arts, Hans Fransen (author) AD. Donker (Publisher), 1982 {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of South African Artists South African

Artists An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, the ...