Enslin, George (1919 – 1972)

George Enslin was born in Richmond, England in 1919. In 1920 Enslin’s father was chaplain with the SA
forces during WW1 and the family came to settle at Elgin, in the Western Cape, after the war. Enslin
possessed an unquenchable wanderlust and travelled in many parts of the world by caravan and yacht.
A gipsy-painter, who pitched camp and painted wherever the mood took him.

In 1946 George Enslin studied at the Continental school of Art, in Cape Town, where he studied under
Maurice van Essche. George Enslin’s theme was landscape, which he handled in brisk, spontaneous
fashion. His intention was to record appearances, his work, therefore, is essentially descriptive, but it is
enlivened by a characteristic bravura which reflects its author’s breezy personality.