Artists

John Henry Amshewitz was a painter, muralist, and illustrator. He was born in Ramsgate, England, in 1882 to a Jewish family and was the son of Orthodox rabbi and scholar Asher Amschejewitz. Amshewitz studied at the Royal Academy Schools from 1902 to 1907 under masters like John Singer Sargent, Sir George Clausen, and Solomon J. Solomon.

While still a student, Amshewitz won major commissions, including murals for Liverpool City Hall (1907) and the Royal Exchange, London (1910). He illustrated works by Israel Zangwill and was elected to the Royal Society of British Artists in 1914, becoming a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy.

Though British-born, he is also closely associated with South African art, where he lived and worked during two extended periods until his death in Muizenberg in 1942. He held numerous exhibitions, founded the Johannesburg Sketch Club, and completed major murals, including one for the University of the Witwatersrand (1936) and Pretoria City Hall (1938). His works are held in prominent collections in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.