CHARLES ERNEST PEERS (1875 – 1944)
Bends In The Tugela
1980
watercolour on paper
size unknown
BIOGRAPHY
Charles Ernest Peers was born in Castlereagh, Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland and grew up in Liverpool.
He studied at Liverpool School of Art before emigrating to South Africa in 1904, probably for health reasons (he suffered from asthma), and settling in Cape Town, where he soon established himself as one of the small band of professional artists. Within a year, he was accepted as a member of the SA Society of Artists.
By the 1920s, Peers had firmly established a reputation as the country’s finest watercolourist. Though he was not a frequent exhibitor, his works found their way into the homes of many art lovers. He illustrated several books and albums on South African scenery.
Peers distinguished himself in a variety of cultural spheres. He was a lover of music and literature, and was granted membership to the famous Owl Club, becoming its President in 1934. He was at one time President of the SA Fine Arts Association – forerunner of the present SA Association of Arts.
In 1938, Peers participated in the first exhibition of the New Group (founded by Gregoire Boonzaier, Terence McCaw, Florence Zerffi, Freida Lock, Lippy Lipshitz and Walter Battiss) at the Argus Galleries and was elected the group’s first president. He took part in all the annual New Group exhibitions, and despite the basic conservatism of his own art, his support for the avant garde and his encouragement of young artists like Cecil Higgs, Maud Sumner, May Hillhouse, Jean Welz and Alexis Preller was given unhesitatingly and ungrudgingly.