Boys, George
GEORGE BOYS (22 September 1930 – 4 March 2014) was born in 1930 in Johannesburg and is one of the most renowned modern artists of our time. His abstract and interesting work is known not only in South Africa, but also in Zurich, Seoul, Lisbon, Sao Paulo and the USA.
George studied at the Witwatersrand Technical College between 1949 and 1953 and he also lectured for a few years. He mainly paints abstracts, seascapes, landscapes, figures and plant forms – working in oil, acrylic and pencil.
He held his first exhibition at the age of 32 at the Guenther Gallery in Johannesburg. It was the first show of abstract painting ever to be sold-out in South Africa. Boys’ skill allowed him to use a highly reduced palette without danger of monotony. This continued through into his later works but with less intensity to gentler tints of blues and mauves the romantic appeal of which attracted additional viewers to his extensive public following.
Today he has studios located internationally – in Johannesburg and Sanlam Meer (South Africa), Majorca (Spain) and in Zurich (Switzerland). Locally his work can be seen at the Durban Art Gallery, the Hester Rupert Art Gallery in Graaff-Reinet, the Johannesburg Art Gallery and National Art Gallery in Cape Town.