Eunice Dorothy Simkiss, a well-known artist who painted under the name of Eunice Thurlow, born in Durban on May 27, 1925, she grew up in Escombe in the Bellair area and later attended Greenhill Convent in Bloemfontein.
She studied art at the Natal Technical College of Art from 1942 to 1945 and held exhibitions in all the main provinces. She was a member of the North Coast Art Group started by Meta Orton and won the MOAG Trophy for the best artwork three times.
She was also a member of the South African Association of Art and held her first solo exhibition in Pretoria in 1974 in the Association Gallery.
In 1975, she took part in the Art South Africa Exhibition in Durban and also held a solo exhibition in the NSA Gallery in Durban.
In 1979, she was one of five invited watercolour artists to exhibit in the NSA. She was represented in the touring exhibition of 1981 to 1982 in Western Germany with the SA Water Colour Association.
In 1984 she held a solo exhibition in SA Association Gallery, Pretoria. Her works have been commissioned by the Anglo American Corporation in Welkom OFS, and the Killie Campbell Museum, Durban.
They are also in private collections in South Africa, Zimbabwe, UK, Ireland, America, Germany, Switzerland, Milan, Holland and Israel.
Eunice Thurlow completed large murals for churches and civil engineers and was widely known for her portrait art. Elected an Associate of the SA Watercolour Society in 1978, she worked full-time as an artist and took part in many group shows in Associate Galleries. She is listed in the Dictionary of South African Painters and Sculptors, published by Everard Read.
She also exhibited in Welkom, Johannesburg (The Adler Fielding Gallery), The Association Gallery in Pretoria, at the Beverley Hills Hotel, Umhlanga Rocks, and in private homes. In 1988, she was one of five Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) artists represented in the Grand Prix Exhibition of the South African Watercolour Artists at the National Festival of the Arts in Grahamstown.
A memorial service will be held on April 25 at 14h00 at Olive Tree (Assembly of God), St John's Ambulance Hall, Old Fort Road, Durban | |