Alfred Neville Lewis (1895–1972) was a
South African artist. He was born in
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
,
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with t ...
, and educated there and, later, at the
Slade School of Art
The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
.
His father was the Reverend A. J. S. Lewis, who was
Mayor of Cape Town
The Mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. In the past, the position of Mayor has varied between that of an ...
, and on 4 October 1929, officially opened the
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
The Table Mountain Aerial Cableway is a cable car transportation system offering visitors a five-minute ride to the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa. It is one of Cape Town's most popular tourist attractions with approximately ...
.
Neville married Theo Townshend a fellow student. He became a member of the
New English Art Club
The New English Art Club (NEAC) was founded in London in 1885 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. It continues to hold an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries in London, exhibiting works by both members and a ...
in 1920. When his marriage broke up in 1922 his two sons Tom and David went to Cape Town where they were raised by their grandparents and his daughter Catherine stayed with his ex-wife.
He served in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
he carried on producing portraits in oil. He frequently painted and drew black South Africans. Lewis painted three portraits of
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery
Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and th ...
. He also painted several persons actively involved in the war effort ranging from a member of the South African Native Military Corps to a nurse. Several of these images were used for postage stamps during the war.
He married Countess Rosa Cecilie Karoline-Mathilde Irene Sibylla Anna zu Solms-Baruth, daughter of Friedrich, 3rd Prince of Solms-Baruth and his wife
Princess Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, on 3 November 1955 and settled on Rowan Street,
where their children Caroline and Frederick Henry Lewis attended school.
Later the couple acquired a small holding opposite the Stellenbosch Golf Club where his wife and children could pursue their love of
horse riding
Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...
. After his death in 1972 his wife married Weber.
The painting Portrait of
Albert van der Sandt Centlivres
Albert van der Sandt Centlivres (13 January 1887 – 19 September 1966), was the Chief Justice of South Africa from 1950 to 1957.
Biography
Centlivres was born in Newlands, Cape Town, the son of Frederick James Centlivres and Albertina de V ...
by Lewis was burned by demonstrators during the
Rhodes Must Fall
Rhodes Must Fall was a protest movement that began on 9 March 2015, originally directed against a statue at the University of Cape Town (UCT) that commemorates Cecil Rhodes. The campaign for the statue's removal received global attention and ...
upheaval at the
University of Cape Town
The University of Cape Town (UCT) ( af, Universiteit van Kaapstad, xh, Yunibesithi ya yaseKapa) is a public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university statu ...
in February 2016.
''GroundUp'', 9 June 2017
/ref>
References
Art works
King Sobhuza II
portrait of Sobhuza II of Swaziland
Lt Col (Mrs) Doreen Dunning (1941)
Young girl with scarf
Pondo girl with a blue blanket
Pondo woman
Portrait of Lucas Majozi (1942)
Seated nude
* Job Maseko
Job Maseko was a South African soldier during World War II, serving in the Native Military Corps as part of the South African 2nd Infantry Division. He was one of many Allied troops captured by the Axis in the surrender of the port of Tobr ...
, Job Masego, Black South African soldier who sunk a German supply boat in the Tobruk Harbour during World War II.
External links
Neville Lewis - Family reference
* ttp://samilitaryhistory.org/vol111as.html UDF Stamp Series
1895 births
1972 deaths
South African artists
South African expatriates in the United Kingdom
Artists from Cape Town
South African people of British descent
Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art
World War I artists
World War II artists
{{SouthAfrica-artist-stub