Artist Database

Born in Islington, Middlesex, England in 1802, Frederick Timpson I'Ons displayed a natural talent for drawing as a child and later received sculpting lessons from John Francis. In his early adulthood, he ran an art school in Marylebone where he taught drawing and painting. In 1827, he married Ann Frazer and the couple relocated to the Albany district of Grahamstown in 1934. This move coincided with the onset of the Sixth Frontier War for which I’Ons volunteered his services. His experiences during the wars (nine in total) inspired him to create the ’Aquila Caricatures’, a cartoon series that poked fun at Lieutenant Governor Andries Stockenström. Additionally, I'Ons was commissioned by military officers to create portraits of Xhosa chiefs and other local residents. Following the wars, he earned a living by painting commissioned portraits of prominent Grahamstown residents and providing private art tutoring. I’Ons was also a competent landscape painter. His works are appreciated for their valuable historical documentation of frontier life in the 1800s and have been exhibited in the Tate Gallery in London, UK; the South African National Gallery in Cape Town; and the King George VI Gallery (now the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Art Museum) in Port Elizabeth. They can also be found in numerous private and public collections.