South African Artists

South African Art Series for Children

This collection was created to help children learn more about South African artists and their work. Each of the booklets includes information about a particular artist, some images and descriptions of his/her work and some practical art activities for children in the style of the artist. They are aimed at children between the ages of 6-12  years.

These art studies are available in either English or Afrikaans. The Afrikaans version is included in the Voetspore programme. We recommend buying the English version to go along with Footprints into the 21st Century.

JH Pierneef

Jacob Hendrik Pierneef (later known as oom Henk) was was born in Pretoria and spent much of his childhood in the veld where he admired and collected rocks, plants and flowers. His artwork reveals his love of nature including sketches of rock formations, trees and mountains.

Irma Stern

As the child of wealthy German Jewish immigrants, Irma frequently travelled to Europe, where she studied art in Germany. Her works feature  exotic figures, portraits, lush landscapes and still lifes in a variety of media, ranging from oils and water colours to gouache and charcoal.

Walter Battiss

Often described as ‘quirky’, Battiss’s art focuses on man and his environment. He was strongly influenced by San rock art and his friendship with Pablo Picasso in 1949 is said to have influenced his art too.

William Kentridge

This South African artist is renowned for his prints and drawings in black and white but also for animated films created by filming his artwork.

Gerard Sekoto

Sekoto gave up teaching to pursure a career in art at the age of 25. He is famous for his paintings of Sophiatown in Johannesburg, which was later demolished. He is recognised as the pioneer of urban black art and social realism.

Willie Bester

Wille Bester has a unique art form whereby he incorporates recycled material into his paintings, assemblages and sculptures. He frequently uses his work to comment on political injustices.

Esther Mahlangu

Esther Mahlangu is a South African Ndebele artist, who started painting decorations on houses at the age of ten with her mother and grandmother. She has now  dramatically changed the media and techniques from those traditionally used.

Dikuanga & Kruiper

Both San artists, Dikuagna’s art features animals, insects, people and lively scenes as motives. Despite no formal training, Kruiper rose to fame as a fine artist, inspired by his cultural heritage and the desert he grew up in.

Jan van der Merwe

Jan van der Merwe considers himself an installation artist. He often takes ‘junk’ and turns it into “artefacts of our time”. He accelerates the decaying process by adding layers of rust or burning the objects to charcoal, to create his unique archaeological relics.

Helen Martins

Helen Martins’ Owl House in Nieubethesda, is often cited as South Africa’s finest example of outsider art. She used cement, glass, and wire to decorate the interior of her home and later build sculptures in her garden.