Hennie Niemann jnr, 1972

Hennie Niemann jnr’s art career began under the mentorship of his father, artist Hennie Niemann Snr.

The encouragement from Gregoire Boonzaaier and art dealer, Johans Borman, help built the confidence of a young artist early in life.

The inspiration for his unique style stemmed from two years of conscription after school, where he was placed in the Kruger National Park.

Surrounded by bush and wildlife, his love for the great African outdoors was born.

Daniel Popper, 1983 | Surrealist sculptor

Shortly after receiving a degree in painting in 2006, Popper began exploring installation and performing art.

In 2010, Popper was commissioned to create a brand activation using puppetry and performance for the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

In 2012, he was invited by Boom Festival in Portugal to create immersive stage and production design.

Popper was later commissioned to create a memorial statue dedicated to Nelson Mandela at the Nelson Mandela School of Science and Technology in 2014.

Roelof Rossouw, 1957 | Romantic Impressionist painter

Roelof Rossouw was born and grew up in Benoni, near Johannesburg. As a child he had a passion for comic heroes like Tarzan, Cisco Kid, Flash Gordon and Tintin which, with the artists of the sixties, inspired him to draw his own comics. Already at the age of fourteen Roelof started making oil paintings of landscapes and portraits.

When he was seventeen, a European art tour opened the doors for his vision to pursue art and travel. He gained a National Diploma in Arts and Design at Wits Technicon that taught him the value of training and not only relying on his raw talent.

In April 1882, whilst working for Medusa as a graphic artist and medical illustrator, he discovered modern impressionistic artists such as Ken Howard, Bernard Dunstan, Max Agostini and admired their loose style in painting.

David Graeme Baker, 1968 | Figurative painter

David Graeme Baker was born in South Africa, the son of a surgeon and a very creative mother. Her talents as a crafter inspired in David the attitude that if one wants something, one can easily make it oneself.

In other words, he was raised in a house that valued attention to small details and excellent work. While it’s now easy to see this in his paintings, there were no distinct signs when David was young that he would grow up and be an artist.

As a child he doodled a lot, borrowed figure drawing books from the library, and loved his grade school art class however, his high school had no art program, so it took a while at university to come back around to art making.

John Meyer, 1942 | Narrative painter

John Meyer was born in Bloemfontein South Africa. He has exhibited extensively in South African and abroad specialising in landscapes and portraits (including portraits of Nobel laureates Nelson Mandela🎨 and FW De Klerk and concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz) in a photo-realist style.

Elise MacDonald | Magical Surrealist painter

Born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Graduated with a BA(Fine Art) from Wits University.

First exhibition at Crake Gallery, Jhb in 1982.

Thereafter exhibited in group show at the Everard Read Gallery, Jhb.

After relocating to Knysna in 1996 exhibited at Trent Read's Knysna Fine Art gallery.

After a serious illness in 2009, her passion for painting was re-ignited.

In 2012 Elise had a mini exhibition at Trent Read’s Knysna Fine Art Gallery and in 2015 she had a solo exhibition at the Rust-en-Vrede Gallery in Cape Town.

Elise’s work is now in private collections worldwide.