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Historical Artist - Harry Caldecott (1886 - 1929)
Harry Caldecott was born in Kimberley situated in the Northern Cape
province of South Africa, 1886 - 1929
Art Education
- 1912 Harry Caldecott studied briefly at Academie Julian, Paris.
- 1913 Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris under Gabriel Ferrier.
Short Artist Biography
- Harry Caldecott is of mixed South African english and afrikaans parentage; father was a
Kimberley lawyer.
- 1886 Shortly after his birth the family moved to the new Johannesburg Goldfields; father
prospered as solicitor and businessman; Harry Caldecott was educated at South African College
School Cape Town and St John's College Johannesburg; articled to firm of Johannesburg
solicitors.
- 1912 Gave up his job and left for Paris to study art.
- 1913/14 Caldecott became disenchanted with Ecole and took a studio in Montparnasse; made a
brief visit to Munich before outbreak of WWI.
- 1914/15 Served in British forces, discharged on health grounds; 1918 re-enlisted as an
interpreter.
- 1919 to 1923 Harry Caldecott worked for various Paris firms as draughts man and
stenographer.
- 1923 Returned to South Africa settled in Johannesburg and exhibited there.
- 1924 Met Florence Zerffi in Cape Town whom he went on to marry.
- 1925 Joint exhibition with Zerffi at Ashbey's Galleries.
- 1924 to 1927 Harry Caldecott lived with wife and son in flat attached to Michaelis Collection
where Zerffi was curator; Caldecott wrote weekly articles for "The South African
Nation" and "Die Huisgenoot".
- 1926 Exhibited at K Club.
- 1925 to 1929 Worked actively for Wild Life Protection Society, was responsible for originating
the name of the Kruger National Park.
- 1928 Diagnosed with cancer, went to Johannesburg for treatment.
- 1929 In spite of illness launched Cape branch of Wild Life Protection Society.
Art Exhibitions
Harry Caldecott showed regularly on the exhibitions of Cape Provincial art societies and on the
South African Academy.
Posthumous - 1944 exhibitions of 60 paintings and drawings shown at the Argus Gallery Cape Town;
1948 Overseas exhibition of South African Art, Tate Gallery, London; 1950 Exhibition of nine
paintings at Public Library, Wynberg; 1956 Memorial exhibition, South African National Art
Gallery, Cape Town.
Public Art Collections
South African National Art Gallery, Cape Town; Johannesburg Art Gallery; William Humphreys Art
Gallery; Rembrandt Art Foundation; Pretoria Art Museum.
Source
Berman, E. 1994. Art & Artists of South Africa . Southern Book Publishers.
Contemporary South African Artists
Art Galleries in South Africa
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