Artist Database

Portway studied art at the Witwatersrand Technical College and taught painting at Wits University. He emigrated to Europe in 1959, and lived in Spain before settling in St Ives, Cornwall. His mature style was characterised by thin layers upon layers of oil paint built up on canvas and sometimes drawn over or scratched back to reveal the layers underneath. A subtle, reduced palette contrasts with occasional bright areas of saturated colour. The friendship between Portway and Louis Maqhubela had a profound influence on the work of both artists, which increasingly considered their spiritual interests under the influence of the philosophies of Paul Klee and Zen Buddhism.