Chronology

  • 1926 Born East London, South Africa.
  • 1944-5 Served in the South African Army in the Italian Campaign.
  • 1946 Studied painting informally under Henrich Steiner, Florence. Attended drawing classes at the Witwatersrand Technical College.
  • 1947-50 Graduated with a BA Fine Arts Degree, University of the Witwatersrand.
  • 1948 Exhibited at the South African Academy.
  • 1951 Married Thelma Carter and travelled to Europe.
  • 1952 Birth of son, John Anthony. Appointed Cultural Officer at the Polly Street Centre, Johannesburg.
  • 1953 Polly Street Workshop Exhibition, University of the Witwatersrand.
  • 1954 After the State clamped down on adult education for blacks, Cecil concentrated on art teaching activities resulting in the first professional urban art school in South Africa. He also worked with individual artists in a mentoring relationship. Exhibition of Polly Street work at Helen de Leeuw’s Craftsman’s Market opened by Father Trevor Huddleston. First professional exhibition of paintings with Larry Scully at Whippman’s Gallery, Johannesburg.
  • 1955 Chairman of the Johannesburg Bantu Music Festival which sponsored and supervised the annual Eisteddfod for Music and Dance in the Johannesburg urban areas.
  • 1956 Worked with pupil Sydney Kumalo in St Peter Claver Roman Catholic Mission Church, Seeisoville, Kroonstad
  • 1957 Birth of daughter, Philippa Ann. First one person exhibition at the Pretoria Art Centre opened by Walter Battiss. Represented South Africa at Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil.
  • 1958 Participated in South African exhibition at Rhodes National Gallery, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Represented South Africa at the Venice Biennial, Italy.
  • 1959 Solo exhibition of woodcuts at Wittenborn Gallery, New York. Represented South Africa on a touring exhibition in South and North America. Painting and Sculpture, National Arts Club, New York. Represented South Africa at Sao Paulo Biennial Brazil. Represented on the National Arts Club International Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, New York.
  • 1960 Large mural, The Apocalypse, in Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church, Motsethabong, Welkom, Free State. Created Stations of the Cross for Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church, Rivonia, Sandton. Three works chosen for exhibition of graphic art in Munich, Germany.
  • 1962 Guest Artist of the Year at the Transvaal Academy. Exhibition of Rock Faces, Egon Guenther Gallery, Johannesburg. Designed tapestry St Anne, woven by Marguerite Stephens, and carved the Stations of the Cross for St Anne’s Anglican Church, Piggs Peak, Swaziland.
  • 1963 Appointed President of the South African Council of Artists in succession to Walter Battiss. Represented South Africa at the International Conference of Plastic Arts at UNESCO, New York. Invited by the Johnson Foundation to tour and lecture in the United States. Became a founder member of the Amadlozi Group consisting of Edoardo Villa, Sydney Kumalo, Cecily Sash and Guiseppe Cattaneo. Exhibition tour of Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan at the Gallerie Numero. Whirlwind sgraffito mural for Technical High School Gardens, Pretoria.
  • 1964 Commissioned to design tapestry for the Swaziland Iron Ore Development Company for a Japanese ore-carrying ship, woven by Marguerite Stephens. Represented South Africa at the Venice Biennial, Italy. Woodblock commissioned by the Anglo American Corporation for its boardroom in New York.
  • 1965 Awarded Chamber of Mines Gold Medal on 12th Transvaal Academy for Icon, a 2 metre high incised painting. Carried out a major mural, The Redemption of Man (25m x 4m) for St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Kroonstad. Appointed Head of Damelin College Art School. First solo exhibition at the Grosvener Gallery, London. Participated in South African Artists exhibition at Grosvener Gallery, London.
  • 1966 Designed Republic Festival Commemorative stamp series. Carried out major mural, The People, in Western Bank, African Life Centre, Johannesburg. Joint exhibition with Sydney Kumalo, Grosvener Gallery, London. Together with Eleanor Esmond-White won competition to design tapestries, Diamonds and Gold for the Ernest Oppenheimer Theatre in Welkom, Free State. The tapestries were woven in Aubusson, France and together with French contemporary tapestries were shown at the Johannesburg Art Gallery before installation in the theatre. Represented South Africa the Venice Biennial, Italy.
  • 1967 Designed Republic of South Africa definitive postage stamp (lSc) depicting South African mining industry. Represented South Africa at the Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil. Participated in an international exhibition at the Grosvener Gallery, London. Carved and painted Triptych wood panels for Roman Catholic mission church at Viljo nskroon, Free State. Exhibition of drawings and serigraphs at the SA Gallery, Durban. Designed tapestry and carved kist in entrance foyer of the President Hotel, Johannesburg.
  • 1968 Awarded the SA Breweries gold medal for art. Exhibition at the South African Association of Arts Gallery, Pretoria. Represented South Africa in Lisbon, Portugal at the Gulbenkian Foundation. Represented South Africa at the Venice Biennial, Italy.
  • 1969 Awarded the SA Breweries gold medal for art. Exhibition at the South African Association of Arts Gallery, Pretoria. Work reproduced under the category “World Painting” in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Invited to exhibit at the International Graphic Art exhibition in Carpi, Italy. Executed sgraffito mural, The Citizens, for the Hyde Park Shopping Centre, Sandton. Designed poster for the Taubie Kushlik musical production Cabaret, 600 autographed copies auctioned for charity.
  • 1970 Designed a tapestry for the Central Methodist Church, woven by Marguerite Stephens. Exhibition at University of Stellenbosch Art Gallery. Commissioned to make mural of incised paintings for Civitas, Pretoria.
  • 1971 Won the Ciba Geigy mural competition for their headquarters in Isando, Kempton Park. Participated in a touring exhibition to Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany, organised by the South African Association of Arts under the auspices of the Department of National Education. Designed Totem for Oxford Shopping Centre, East London. Two woodcuts accepted for an international exhibition of contemporary xilography at the Museo Espagnol de Arte Contemporanea, Madrid. Represented South Africa at the Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil. Invited to the International exhibition Xilografia Contemporanea Bologna, Italy, Galleria Chalet Della Rose. Represented South Africa in Madrid, Spain, and touring exhibition in the Netherlands and West Germany. Exhibition of Icons at Totem-Meneghelli Gallery, Johannesburg.
  • 1972 Retrospective exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum where 209 works were exhibited. Made a kite for an auction in the USA in aid of children’s charities. Illustrated book of poems Tales by Sinclair Beiles. Awarded a Gold Medal at Terza Biennial Intemazionale della Grafica d’Arte, Florence for woodcut, The Dancer. Made and donated an incised painting The Annunciation to St Ursula’s Convent, Krugersdorp, Transvaal. Exhibition at the William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley. Exhibition at the National Museum, Bloemfontein. Mother and Child panel for The Star Christmas feature. Panel auctioned in aid of TEACH (Teach Every African Child).
  • 1973 Created The Assassination of Shaka portfolio of 43 original three-colour woodcuts with Stephen Gray’s poetry. Invited to international Contemporary Woodcut and Engraving exhibition at the Academy, Ravenna, Italy.
  • 1974 Represented South Africa at the National Art Museum in Athens, Greece. Produced the portfolio White Monday Disaster (the story of Wolraad Woltemade) with poetry by Stephen Gray. Presented The Assassination of Shaka portfolio to the Zulu king, King Goodwill Zwelithini at Ulundi, KwaZulu. Exhibition of The Assassination of Shaka at the Royal Belgian Congo Museum, Tervuren, Belgium. Made a three-colour woodcut for the Nobel Prize portfolio in honour of South African Nobel Prize winner Albert Luthuli. The work, one of 33 by artists from countries which have had Nobel Prize winners, was done at the request of a leading Swedish gallery. Subsequently this was published in Gunnar Brahammar & Kristina Garmer, Modema Mastare: 33 konstnarer fran 33 lander, Gallerie Borjeson, Malmo, Sweden.
  • 1975 Produced Baudelaire’s Voyage to the Cape portfolio with poetry by Stephen Gray. Produced memorial portfolio on the poet Charles Eglington. Exhibition of paintings On a Visit to a Battle Site and the portfolio The White Monday Disaster at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Publication by McGraw-Hill of the book The Assassination of Shaka.
  • 1976 Awarded the Medal of Honour for painting by the Suid Afrikaanse Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns. Presented with a set of commemorative medallions from the 1820 Settlers National Monument Foundation for his contribution to art in South Africa. Exhibition of wood panels and Ten Landscapes, a portfolio with poetry by Stephen Gray at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Participated in Decorated Bone exhibition (elephant, giraffe, whale) at the Rand Afrikaans University and Totem Meneghelli with artists Guiseppe Cattaneo, Trevor Coleman, Aileen Lipkin, Lucky Sibiya. Participated in a South African graphic art exhibition, SA Consulate General, Tel Aviv, Israel. Made panel titled Madonna for the Lady Chapel of St Boniface Anglican Church (designed by Herbert Baker), Germiston. Made an engraved mural in the Frik Scott Library, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein.
  • 1977 Exhibition of panels, totems, woodcuts, drawings and jewellery at the Art Gallery of the University of Stellenbosch. Exhibition of sculpture and a series of paintings on the Epic of Gilgamesh at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Created a poster for the 32nd JAYCEES International World Congress. Wood panel on the Epic of Gilgamesh for the KWV at Laborie, Paarl.
  • 1978 First public showing in South Africa of the portfolio Homage au Prix Nobel at the National Arts Festival, Grahamstown. Moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
  • 1979 Participated in South African Printmakers: works from the South African National Gallery, exhibited in Cape Town and Grahamstown and the Worcester Museum. Exhibition of artist’s book Man’s Gold with 28 woodcuts and poetry by Stephen Gray in National Museum Bloemfontein. Murals and woodcuts for Holiday Inn, Ulundi, KwaZulu.
  • 1980 Tapestries at the South African National Gallery tapestry exhibition, Cape Town. Participated in Cape Artists exhibition at Museum Art Hall, Bloemfontein. Wood engravings, wood panels and Man’s Gold exhibited at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Designed poster for the Monument Festival of the Arts, Grahamstown. Participated in South African and International Tapestries and Wall Hangings Exhibition at the Johannesburg Art Gallery. Man’s Gold exhibition at the University of the Witwatersrand Friends of the University Art Galleries. Logo design for the National English Literacy Museum and Documentation Centre, Grahamstown.
  • 1981 First Cape Town solo exhibition Passage through an Alien Land, at the Wolpe Gallery, Cape Town. External examiner for the Michaelis School of Fine Art, University of Cape Town. Taught painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture at Nyanga and District Six, Cape Town.
  • 1982 Commissioned to make 12 landscape paintings, The Cape Winelands, for KWV calendar. Designed tapestry for Sandton Holiday Inn, Sandton, Johannesburg. Exhibition of handcoloured woodcuts and wood engravings at Hugo Naude House, Worcester. Invited to stay in Jerusalem at the Mishkenot Sha’ Ananim by Jerusalem Foundation, Israel.
  • 1983 Exhibition Judean Walls, Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Stations of the Cross for St Mary’s Anglican Cathedral, Johannesburg. Exhibition at the Ernst de Jong Gallery Pretoria.
  • 1984 One of 12 artists commissioned to design work entitled Flight for South African Airways 50th anniversary calendar. Mural executed for St Charles Lwanga Roman Catholic Church, Mbekweni, Paarl, Cape. Printed wood engravings from the original blocks of Charles Bell for the Charles Bell Heritage Trust. Selected retrospective exhibition at the University of Cape Town’s Irma Stern Museum. Tapestry designed for Portland Cement woven by Marguerite Stephens. 1985
  • 1986 Johannesburg and New York exhibitions with Edoardo Villa, Ezrom Legae and Sydney Kumalo. Participated in BMW exhibition Tributaries at the Johannesburg Market Gallery and in Germany. Executed work Homage to Reading and Printing for the Kimberley Public Library. Designed a poster for the National Arts Festival and the National Schools’ Festival, Grahamstown.
  • 1987 Completed large scale panels for the 1820 Settlers’ Monument building in Grahamstown. Joint exhibition with John Skotnes at the Goodman Gallery in Sandton. Exhibition of drawings at the South African Association of Arts, Cape Town. Three paintings commissioned by Amstel Lager.
  • 1988 Sgraffito mural The Story of Tobit for Roman Cathoiic Church of St Raphael in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Exhibition at South African Association of Arts, Cape Town, including woodcuts and engravings illustrating the narrative poem Pilgrimage to Dias Cross by Guy Butler.
  • 1989 Joint exhibition with John and Pippa Skotnes at the Kunstkabinett Gallery, Windhoek, South West Africa (Namibia). Cecil Skotnes and Edoardo Villa exhibition at the Pretoria Art Museum to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the museum.
  • 1990 Presentation of 5m high engraved wooden column to the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town. Completed commissioned The Last Supper for the Institute of Catholic Education, Santa Sophia, Pretoria. Exhibited Icons for Makana at the Basel Art Fair in Switzerland.
  • 1991 Executed mural on panels, Figures in a Metaphysical Landscape, for Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town.
  • 1992 Exhibition of landscape paintings at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Exhibition of landscape paintings The Cape Winelands at the University of Stellenbosch Museum. Incised and painted panels for St Timothy’s Catholic Church, Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain.
  • 1993 Exhibition of Still Life and Ancestry, Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Two months stay at the Cité Internationale des Arts, Paris, France. Awarded Honorary Masters Degree of Fine Art by the University of Cape Town.
  • 1994 Exhibition at the South African Association of Arts, Cape Town.
  • 1996 Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree of Fine Art, Rhodes University, Grahamstown. Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree of Literature, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Retrospective exhibition at the South African National Gallery, Cape Town to celebrate the artist’s 70th birthday. Exhibition toured major art centres throughout the country.
  • 1998 Retrospective graphic exhibition at the Rudolf Scharpf Gallery, Willem Hack Museum, Ludwigshafen, Germany, with daughter Pippa Skotnes.
  • 1999 Solo exhibition, A South African Master, with McCabe Contemporary Art at Gary Nader Fine Art, Miami, USA.
  • 2001 Exhibited painted panels at the Goodman Gallery, Sandton. Exhibition of prints, painted panels and totems at Gallery 3,14, Bergen and Tromso Art Society, Norway. Celebrated, with Thelma, his 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary.
  • 2003 Awarded the ‘Gold order of |khammanga’, presented by President Thabo Mbeki for for service to the country and, in particular, for his contribution to the de-racialision of South African art.
  • 2004 Exhibition with sculptor Edoardo Villa at the Stellenbosch Art Gallery and at Lanzerac.
  • 2005 Awarded the Goodman Gallery’s Professional Artist Award, given to a professional artist who has not only excelled in their own career, but also given generously of their talents to others.
  • 2006 Retrospective exhibition, Contemplation, at the Goodman Gallery.
  • 2008 Cecil Skotnes: A private view, curated by Pippa Skotnes and Thomas Cartwright, at the South African National Gallery, Cape Town and the Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg. The installation drew on work from the Skotnes family archive collected over fifty years by Thelma Skotnes.
  • 2009 Died in Cape Town.