 The 6m x 1m freeze Skotnes made above the garage - and visible from the street
Cecil Skotnes, artist (1926 -),
Resident in Mons Road
You have living art in your suburb: one of South Africa's famous artists, Cecil Skotnes, not only lived in Observatory for decades, he lived his art even in his house in Mons Road.
 Mandla Gugushe, current owner of Cecil Skotnes' house in 114 Mons Road
And if you ask the current owner, Mandla Gugushe, IT expert spesialising in mining houses, he may just show you the tiled entrance to his house - and Skotnes' famous signature embedded in a tile the artist painstakingly baked.
"I bought the house 5 years ago - and soon after I moved in, one of the neighbours told me about 'my' famous artworks," says Mandla. "Needless to say, I immediately Googled Skotnes and now at least know I have a treasure in my house."
Skotnes' lived in Johannesburg since 1946 and relocated to Cape Town only in 1978.
 Detail of the freeze
Cecil Edwin Frans Skotnes was born in 1926 in East London. Skotnes served in the South African Forces in Italy. Before returning to South Africa he studied drawing under Heinrich Steiner in Florence. In 1946 he studied at the Technikon Witwatersrand and from 1947 to 1950 he studied at the University of the Witwatersrand and obtained a BA(FA). In 1951 he visited Europe. On his return to SA he joined the Non-European Affairs Department of the Johannesburg City Council and was appointed cultural officer in charge of the Polly Street Art Centre which he ran until 1966. In 1963 he succeeded Walter Battiss as the President of the SA Council of Artists and represented SA at the International Convention of Plastic Arts at UNESCO, New York. He was one of the founder members of the Amadlozi group. In 1966 he designed the Republic Festival Commemorative Stamp series. In 1968 his works were reproduced in Encyclopedia Britannica. He taught art at the Nyanga Art Centre and Community Arts Project in the Cape in the 1970s and 1980s.
 Detail of the front entrance's art work
Awards:
1960: Quadrennial Exhibition (prize for catalogue).
1965: Transvaal Academy (gold medal).
1968: SA Breweries Art Prize (gold medal).
1971: Ciba-Geigy Mural Competition, Hyde Park, Johannesburg.
1972: Florence Biennale � Graphics (gold medal).
1976: SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns (medal of honour for painting).
1820 Settlers Foundation Award for contribution to painting in South Africa.
 The famous signature embedded in a tile next to the front door
Commissions:
1961: Thabong Mission Church.
1965: Kroonstad Roman Catholic Cathedral.
1966: Republic Festival commemorative stamps. Western Bank Johannesburg.
1983: SA Airways(50thAnniversary).
1985-6: 1820 Settlers Monument.
Collections:
Anglo American Corporation New York, USA; Ann Bryant Art Gallery, East London; Caterpillar Tractor, USA; DAM; Hester Rupert Art Museum, Graaff-Reinet; JAG; Johannesburg Municipal Library; Kettering Gallery, UK; King George VI ; National Museum, Bloemfontein; PAM; RAU; Rembrandt Art Foundation, Stellenbosch; Royal Belgian Library, Brussels, Belgium; Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Copenhagen, Denmark; Sasol; Schlesinger Organisation, London, UK; SANG; Stuyvesant Foundation, Amsterdam, Holland; TAG; UNISA; UfBzi Print Cabinet, Florence, Italy; Van Leer Collection, Amsterdam, Holland; WITS; WHAG.
Posted 27 February 2006 by Carine Hartman
Source:
Sack, S. (1988). The Neglected Tradition, Johannesburg: Johannesburg Art Gallery.
Read more about Skotnes and his work by CLICKING HERE
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