Art Education
- Liverpool University College of Art.
- Westminster School of Art, London, under Augustus John and Robert Anning Bell.
Short Artist Biography
- 1898: Alfred Martin was Clerk of Works for the decoration of Liverpool Town Hall;
subsequently concentrated on decorative design; worked for several years with Prof Gerald
Moira; commissioned to decorate P & O mail-boats; also sculpted and painted portraits;
panels in bas-relief in Ceylon Pavilion of Imperial Instit of Arts; executed theatrical decor
at Drury Lane during WW1. Alfred Martin was a founder-member of the Guild of Decorators,
London; member of Liverpool Acad of Fine Arts.
- 1916: Alfred Martin came to South Africa to take up an appointment with African Theatres
Trust.
- 1918: Alfred Martin moved to Cape Town, active in local art-affairs.
- 1919: appointed Senior Lecturer at Natal Tech Art School; subsequently examiner in Fine Arts
for NUC and UNISA. Alfred Martin served on Durban Art Gal Advisory Committee; member NSA,
South African Society of Artists, South African Institute. Lived in Escombe, Natal until
moving back to Jhb shortly before his death. Alfred Martin executed decorated ceiling of
Empire Theatre, Jhb (since demolished).
Art Exhibitions
- 1907: Royal Academy (painting and sculpture).
Inaugural Exhib, South African Institute, Durban; one-man exhib in New York.
- 1931: First Annual Exhib of Contemporary National Art, South African National Gallery, Cape
Town. ( Also NSA, South African Society of Artists and South African Institute art
exhibitions
Source
Berman, E. 1994. Art & Artists of South Africa . Southern Book Publishers.
