Artist Database

Born in South-West Africa (now Namibia), Stanley Pinker spent 1947 to 1950 at the Continental School of Art in Cape Town studying under Maurice van Essche, who himself had studied under Henry Matisse. After this, he lived between London and Nice, France and only briefly visiting South Africa to open his first solo show in 1954. In 1964, Pinker returned to South Africa and in 1969 – after a brief interlude as a private art teacher and freelance illustrator – van Essche offered him a job as a part-time lecturer at UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Arts. In this position, which he eventually assumed full-time and kept until 1989, Pinker influenced a generation of young artists.

Pinker’s works reveal the influence of impressionism, cubism, and futurism on the artist. His art was inspired by the landscapes around him and wittily commented on the various socio-political complexities inherent in South Africa.