Artist Database

Kenneth Bakker was born in Cape Town in 1926. He studied under Erik Laubscher at the Contemporary School of Art in Cape Town between 1950 and 1952. Bakker lived in Simonstown for much of his life alongside his wife and fellow artist Bernadine Biden. The coastal scenery and the sea greatly inspired Bakker’s artwork. As his career progressed, his work became increasingly non-figurative and abstracted, which was new and innovative at the time. He also embraced a muted, neutral colour palette. In the late 1960s, Bakker began creating multi-media relief constructions, another unique output.

He exhibited at the São Paulo Biennale in 1963 and 1969. In the 1963 iteration, he became the first South African to ever receive an award at the festival. In 1966, he participated in the 33rd Venice Biennale. Bakker’s work is included in many important South African collections, such as the Pretoria Art Museum, William Humphreys Art Gallery in Kimberly, Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town, and the Hester Rupert Museum in Graaff-Reinet.