Cecil Skotnes is an icon of the South African art world. Admired for his painting, he is well known for his pioneering role in art education in South Africa and for his part in the Amadlozi group that sought to work at the intersection of African and European art. His Johannesburg home was for many decades an ‘open house’ and it became a hub for artists of all generations and from many parts of the city and, indeed, the world.