• 1926 Born East London.
• 1944­45 Served in South African Forces in Italian Campaign.
• 1946 Studied painting under Henrich Steiner, Florence.
  Attended drawing classes at Witwatersrand Technical College.
• 1947­50 BA Fine Arts degree, University of Witwatersrand.
• 1948 Exhibited at South African Academy.
• 1951 Married Thelma Carter and visited Italy, Switzerland and France. Worked in London.
• 1952 Appointed Cultural Officer, Johannesburg Non-European Affairs Department and Secretary, Johannesburg Local Committee for Non-European Adult Education, at the Polly Street Adult Centre.
• 1953 Polly Street Workshop Exhibition ­ University of the Witwatersrand.
• 1954 After the State clamped down on adult education for blacks, concentrated on art teaching activities resulting in the first professional urban art school in South Africa.
  Polly Street exhibition at Helen de Leeuw's Craftsman's Market opened by Father Trevor Huddleston.
  First professional exhibition of paintings with Larry Scully at Whippman's Gallery, Johannesburg.
• 1955 Chairman of the Johannesburg Bantu Music Festival which sponsored and supervised the annual Eisteddfod for Music and Dance in the Johannesburg black urban areas.
• 1956 Worked with pupil, Sydney Kumalo, in St Peter Claver Roman Catholic Mission Church, Seeisoville, Kroonstad.
• 1957 Organised the establishment of a Music Library for choral and instrumental groups in Johannesburg.
  First one-man exhibition at Pretoria Art Centre opened by Walter Battiss.
  Represented South Africa at Sao Paulo Bienal, Brazil.
• 1958 Participated in South African exhibition, Rhodes National Gallery, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe).
  Represented South Africa at Venice Biennale, Italy.
  
• 1959 Solo exhibition of woodcuts at Wittenborn Gallery, New York.
  Represented SA Touring exhibition, South and North America.
  Painting and Sculpture, National Arts Club, New York.
  Represented South Africa at Sao Paulo Bienal, Brazil.
  Represented on the National Arts Club International Exhibition of painting and sculpture, New York.
  
• 1960 Represented South Africa at Ljubljana, Yugoslavia International Graphic exhibition.
  Awarded cover prize for catalogue of Quadrennial Exhibition of South African art.
  Exhibition of incised woodblock paintings at the Egon Guenther Gallery, Johannesburg.
  
• 1961 Large mural, The Apocalypse, in Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church, Motsethabong, Welkom, Orange Free State.
  Represented South Africa at Sao Paulo Bienal, Brazil.
  Made Stations of the Cross for Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church, Rivonia, Sandton.
  Three works chosen for exhibition of graphic art in Munich, Germany.
  
• 1962 Guest Artist of the Year at Transvaal Academy.
  Exhibition of Rock Faces, Egon Guenther Gallery, Johannesburg.
  Designed tapestry St Anne, woven by Marguerite Stephens, and carved the Stations of the Cross for St Anne's Anglican Church, Piggs Peak, Swaziland.
  
• 1963 Appointed President of South African Council of Artists in succession to Walter Battiss.
  Principal witness against the State at the Harold Rubin Blasphemy Trial.
  Represented South Africa at International Conference of Plastic Arts at UNESCO, New York.
  Invited by Johnson Foundation to tour and lecture in the United States of America.
  Became founder member of the Amadlozi Group consisting of Edoardo Villa, Sydney Kumalo, Cecily Sash and Guiseppe Cattaneo. Exhibition tour of Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan at the Gallerie Numero.
  Whirlwind, sgraffito mural for Technical High School, Gardens, Pretoria.
  
• 1964 Commissioned to design tapestry for Swaziland Iron Ore Development Company for Japanese ore-carrying ship, woven by Marguerite Stephens.
  Represented South Africa on the Venice Biennale, Italy.
  Woodblock commissioned by the Anglo-American Corporation for its boardroom in New York.
  
• 1965 Awarded Chamber of Mines Gold Medal on 12th Transvaal Academy for Icon, a 2 m high incised painting.
  Carried out major mural, The Redemption of Man (25 m x 4 m) for St Patrick's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kroonstad.
  Appointed Head of Damelin College Art School.
  First solo exhibition at the Grosvenor Gallery, London.
  Participated in South African Artists exhibition at Grosvenor Gallery, London.
  
• 1966 Designed Republic Festival Commemorative stamp series.
  Carried out major mural, The People, in Western Bank, African Life Centre, Johannesburg.
  Joint exhibition with Sydney Kumalo, Grosvenor Gallery, London.
  Together with Eleanor Esmonde-White won competition to design tapestries, Diamonds and Gold, for the Ernest Oppenheimer theatre in Welkom, Orange Free State. The tapestries were woven in Aubusson, France and together with French contemporary tapestries were shown at the Johannesburg Art Gallery before installation in the theatre.
  Represented South Africa at the Venice Biennale, Italy.
• 1967 Designed Republic of South Africa postage stamp (15 cents) depicting South African mining industry.
  Represented South Africa at the Sao Paula Bienal, Brazil. Participated in international exhibition at Grosvenor Gallery, London.
  Carved and painted triptych wood panels for Roman Catholic mission church at Viljoenskroon, Orange Free State.
  Exhibition of drawings and serigraphs at NSA Gallery, Durban.
  Designed tapestry and carved kist in entrance foyer of President Hotel, Johannesburg.
  
• 1968 Awarded SA Breweries gold medal for art.
  Exhibition at South African Association of Arts Gallery, Pretoria.
  Represented South Africa in Lisbon, Portugal at the Gulbenkian Foundation.
  Represented South Africa at the Venice Biennale, Italy.
  
• 1969 Work reproduced under category "World Painting" in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  Invited to exhibit at International Graphic Art exhibition Carpi, Italy.
  Executed sgraffito mural, The Citizens, for Hyde Park Shopping Centre, Sandton.
  Designed poster for Taubie Kushlik's musical production Cabaret. 600 autographed copies auctioned for charity.
  
• 1970 Designed tapestry for Central Methodist Church, Durban, woven by Marguerite Stephens.
  Exhibition at University of Stellenbosch Art Gallery.
  Commissioned to make mural of incised paintings for Civitas, Pretoria.
  
• 1971 Won Ciba Geigy mural competition for Ciba Geigy headquarters in Isando, Kempton Park.
  Participated in touring exhibition to Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany, organised by South African Association of Arts under the auspices of Department of National Education.
  Designed Totem for Oxford Shopping Centre, East London.
  Two woodcuts accepted for International Exhibition of Contemporary Xilography at Museo Espagnol de Arte Contemporanea, Madrid.
  Represented South Africa at Sao Paulo Bienal, Brazil.
  Invited to International exhibition Xilografia Contemporanea Bologna, Italy ­ Galeria Chalet Della Rose.
  Represented South Africa in Madrid, Spain, and touring exhibition in the Netherlands and West Germany.
  Exhibition of Icons at Totem-Meneghelli Gallery, Johannesburg.
  
• 1972 Retrospective exhibition at Pretoria Art Museum where 209 works were exhibited.
  Made kite for auction in the USA in aid of children's charities.
  Illustrated book of poems Tales by Sinclair Beiles.
  Awarded Gold Medal at Terza Biennale Internazionale della Grafica d'Arte, Florence, for woodcut, The Dancer.
  Made and donated an incised painting The Annunciation to St. Ursula's Convent, Krugersdorp, Transvaal.
  Exhibition William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley.
  Exhibition National Museum, Bloemfontein
  Mother and Child panel for The Star Christmas feature. Panel auctioned in aid of TEACH.
  
• 1973 Created The Assassination of Shaka portfolio of 43 original three- colour woodcuts with Stephen Gray's poetry.
  Invited to International Contemporary Woodcut and Engraving Exhibition at the Academy, Ravenna, Italy.
  
• 1974 Represented South Africa at the National Art Museum in Athens, Greece.
  Produced The White Monday Disaster (Wolraad Woltemade) portfolio with Stephen Gray.
  Presentation of The Assassination of Shaka portfolio to King Goodwill Zwelithini at Ulundi, KwaZulu.
  Exhibition of The Assassination of Shaka at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.
  Exhibition of The Assassination of Shaka at Royal Belgian Congo Museum, Tervuren, Belgium.
  Made a three-colour woodcut for the Nobel Prize portfolio in honour of South African Nobel Prize winner Albert Luthuli. The work, one of 33 by artists from countries which have had Nobel Prize winners, was done at the request of a leading Swedish art gallery. Subsequently this was published in Brähammar & Garner Moderna Mästare, 33 konstnärer fran 33 länder, Galerie Börjeson, Malmo, Sweden. Entry on Skotnes pp 418­429.
  
• 1975 Produced Baudelaire's Voyage to the Cape portfolio with Stephen Gray.
  Produced memorial portfolio on the poet Charles Eglington.
  Exhibition of paintings On a Visit to a Battle Site and the portfolio The White Monday Disaster at Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  Publication by McGraw-Hill of the book The Assassination of Shaka.
  Visited Belgium as guest of the Belgian government.
  
• 1976 Awarded Medal of Honour for painting by the Suid Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.
  Presented with set of commemorative medallions from the 1820 Settlers National Monument Foundation for contribution to art in South Africa.
  Exhibition of wood panels and ten landscapes, a portfolio of original woodcuts with poetry by Stephen Gray at Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  Participated in Decorated Bone exhibition (elephant, giraffe, whale) at Rand Afrikaans University with artists Guiseppe Cattaneo, Trevor Coleman, Aileen Lipkin, Lucky Sibiya.
  Participated in South African graphic art exhibition, SA Consulate General, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  Made Icon­Madonna for the Lady Chapel of St Boniface Anglican Church (designed by Herbert Baker), Germiston.
  Made engraved mural in the Frik Scott Library, University of the Orange Free State, Bloemfontein.
  
• 1977 Exhibition of panels, totems, woodcuts, drawings and jewellery at the Art Gallery of the University of Stellenbosch.
  Exhibition of sculpture and a series of paintings on the Epic of Gilgamesh at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  Created poster for the 32nd JAYCEES International World Congress.
  Wood panel on the Epic of Gilgamesh for the KWV at Laborie, Paarl.
  
• 1978 Relocated from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
  First public showing in South Africa of the portfolio Hommage au Prix Nobel at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown.
• 1979 Participated in South African Printmakers ­ works from the South African National Gallery ­ exhibited in Cape Town and Grahamstown and the Worcester Museum.
  Exhibition of Man's Gold with poetry by Stephen Gray (28 woodcuts) in National Museum, Bloemfontein.
  Architectural decoration comprising incised panels, woodcuts, two sgraffito murals and prints for Holiday Inn, Ulundi, Kwazulu.
  
• 1980 Tapestries at South African National Gallery tapestry exhibition, Cape Town.
  Participated in Cape Artists exhibition at Museum Art Hall, Bloemfontein.
  Wood engravings, wood panel and Man's Gold, Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  Designed poster for the Monument Festival of the Arts, Grahams-town.
  Participated in South African and international tapestries and wall hangings exhibition, Johannesburg Art Gallery.
  Man's Gold exhibition at the University of the Witwatersrand, Friends of the University Art Galleries.
  Logo designed for the National English Literary Museum and Documentation Centre, Grahamstown.
  
• 1981 First Cape Town solo exhibition Passage through an Alien Land, at Wolpe Gallery, Cape Town.
  External examiner for Michaelis School of Art, University of Cape Town.
  Taught painting, drawing, print-making and sculpture in Nyanga and District Six, Cape Town.
  1982 Commissioned to make 12 landscape paintings The Cape Winelands for KWV calendar.
  Designed tapestry for Sandton Holiday Inn, Sandton, Johannesburg.
  Exhibition of hand-coloured woodcuts and wood engravings at Hugo Naude House, Worcester.
  Invited to stay in Jerusalem at the Mishkenot Sha'Ananim by Jerusalem Foundation, Israel.
  
• 1983 Exhibition Judean Walls, Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  Stations of the Cross for St Mary's Anglican Cathedral, Johannesburg.
  Exhibition Ernst de Jong Gallery, Pretoria.
  
• 1984 One of 12 artists commissioned to design work entitled Flight for South African Airways 50th anniversary calendar.
  Mural executed for St Charles Lwanga Roman Catholic Church, Mbekweni, Paarl.
  Printed wood engravings from original Charles Bell blocks for the Bell Heritage Trust.
  Selected retrospective exhibition at UCT Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town.
  Tapestry designed for Portland Cement woven by Marguerite Stephens.
  
• 1985 Johannesburg and New York exhibitions with Edoardo Villa, Ezrom Legae and Sydney Kumalo.
  Participated in BMW exhibition Tributaries at the Johannesburg Market Gallery and in Germany.
  Executed work Homage to Reading and Printing for Kimberley Public Library.
  Designed poster for the National Arts Festival and National Schools' Festival, Grahamstown.
  
• 1986 Completed 1820 Settlers' panels (commenced in 1984). Installed in the Fountain Foyer of the Monument Building, Grahamstown.
  Joint exhibition with John Skotnes at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  
• 1987 Exhibition of drawings at South African Association of Arts, Cape Town.
  Three paintings commissioned by Amstel Lager.
  Joint exhibition with John Skotnes at Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  
• 1988 Sgraffito mural The Story of Tobit for Roman Catholic Church of St Raphael in Khayelitsha, Cape Town.
  Exhibition at South African Association of Arts, Cape Town, including woodcuts and engravings illustrating the narrative poem Pilgrimage to Dias Cross by Guy Butler.
  
• 1989 Joint exhibition with John and Pippa Skotnes at the Kunstkabinett Gallery, Windhoek, South West Africa (Namibia).
  Cecil Skotnes and Edoardo Villa exhibition at Pretoria Art Museum to celebrate 25th anniversary of the museum.
  
• 1990 Presentation of 5 m high engraved wooden column to University of the Western Cape.
  Completed The Last Supper mural for Institute of Catholic Education, Santa Sophia, Pretoria.
  
• 1991 Executed mural Figures in a Metaphysical Landscape for Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town.
• 1992 Exhibition of landscape paintings at Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  Exhibition of landscape paintings The Cape Winelands at University of Stellenbosch Museum.
  Incised and painted panels for St Timothy's Catholic Church, Tafelsig, Mitchell's Plain.
  
• 1993 Exhibition of Still Life and Ancestry, Goodman Gallery, Sandton.
  Two months' stay at Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France.
  Awarded Honorary Masters Degree of Fine Art by the University of Cape Town.
  
• 1994 Exhibition at the South African Association of Arts, Cape Town.
• 1996 Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree of Fine Art, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
  Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree of Literature, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
  Retrospective exhibition at the South African National Gallery, Cape Town, to celebrate the artist's 70th birthday. Exhibition to tour major art centres throughout the country.

images

intro