Artist Database

Edward Roworth was born in Lancashire, England, in 1880. He studied under the influential art teacher Henry Tonks at the Slade School of Art in London. He joined the British forces and arrived in South Africa at the end of the Second Boer War. The war ended in 1902, and Roworth decided to stay and settle in the Cape, where he established a teaching studio. He was enamoured with the scenery of the area and it greatly inspired his art. He is well known for his many paintings of Cape landscapes and farmhouses. Roworth also painted the portraits of many important people of the time. Additionally, he is potentially the first modern artist to paint frescos in South Africa when he was commissioned by St Phillips Church in Cape Town. Roworth was elected President of the South African Society of Artists three times: 1908, 1918, and 1933. He was the chair of the Michaelis School of Fine Art at the University of Cape Town from 1938 to 1953 and was the director of the South African National Gallery from 1941 to 1948. His works can be found in many important South African collections, such as the Iziko South African National Gallery, Johannesburg Art Gallery, Durban Art Gallery, and William Humphreys Gallery.