Oil on board by John Henry Amschewitz (1882-1942)

A framed oil on board by one of South Africa’s favourite artists, John Henry Amschewitz, featuring a young woman reading with a picture above her of a man who seems to be watching her

The study is one of calmness and tranquility.

Presented in a gold bordered frame and a label verso from the Everard Read Gallery in Johannesburg.

Biography: John Henry Amschewitz was born in Ramsgate and studied in London. He was best known for his historical murals. He painted four frescoes for the Liverpool town hall and in 1910 was commissioned to paint a historical panel for the Royal Exchange, London.

His interest in acting took him to South Africa in 1916, where he remained until 1922 as cartoonist for the Rand Daily Mail and Sunday Times. He was a vital influence in South African art and his later murals were mainly done as South African commissions (e.g., South Africa House, London, in 1934; Witwatersrand University in 1936; and Pretoria City Hall in 1938).

He painted many portraits and illustrated an edition of the Haggadah and works by Zangwill.