Please note: Artists not classified as American in our database may have limited biographical data
compared to the extensive information about American artists.
 Boyley, Errol (1918 - 2007)
Errol Boyley was born in Pietermaritzburg in 1918.
He had a turbulant boyhood which led to a wanderlust in his late teenage years. This coincided with the tail-end of the Great Depression of the 1930's. He worked on casual laboring jobs, interspersed with walks lasting for months into, the then wilds, of Tongaland and Northern Zululand. He joined the natal Field Artillery at the outbreak of war in 1939.
His talent for drawing from a very early age competed with his musical interests. After he left the army his love for the electric guitar found him playing in Johannesburg in dance bands, night clubs and with the SABC. This allowed him to pursue his passion for painting during the day, and he slowly realised that this would become his lifetime love and profession.
Errol moved to Knysna in 1947 where he met the well-known artis, WG Wiles, who became his mentor and great influence. After a few years, realising the need to develop his own style, Errol moved to Johannesburg in the early 1950s. This was the beginning of many years of exhibiting with various galleries, one-man exhibitions and group shows.
After moving to Ramsgate on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, he eventually opened his own gallery in 1978. He lived in Ramsgate for 20 years, traveling extensively on painting trips.
He ultimately returned to the city of his birth, and at age 89. lived in Winterskloof in the hills overlooking Pietermaritzburg, still painting. His passion for nature in all its moods and nuances, coupled with versatality, embraced the sea, farmlands, figures the vastness of the Karoo, the Wineldands and beauty of the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.
He died in 2007.
Source:
The Strutt Family Trust, The Mayfair Collection (Suisse) SA, The Mayfair Collection (Pty) Ltd, The Mayfair Collection Limited
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