Sandy Rubin Esau ~ 1968 - 2021

Sandy Esau’s work is characterised by the depiction of vibrant township life, evoking

the ordinariness of every day, but somehow encapsulating an inherent joie de vivre in the community

around him.

He was inspired by Monet and Van Gogh and everyday life. He worked in many different media: oil on

canvas, oil on superwood, pastels and mixed media on paper.

“I paint my community around me, the houses, the dorp with its ‘stoepsitters’, the shop fronts, shebeens,

dancers, Nguni cows, the Cape carnival, children, my family and friends and the everyday life around

me,” Sandy explained in many interviews.

Sandy Esau was born in 1968 and raised in Darling in the Western Cape of South Africa. He came from a

creative family and completed his foundational education locally before any formal art training at the Ruth

Prowse School of Art, for two and a half years under lecturers Eric Loubser and Ryno Swartz.

Later he was guided by Judith Mason at Dal Josefat Missionary Station where he gained artistic guidance

which shaped his style and direction.

After his studies he worked as a fisherman on the West Coast of South Africa. Another job took him to

Koeberg, a nuclear power station.

He continued to paint and his first solo exhibition was in his home town during June 2001. This was

the first of several solo exhibitions in his home town.

From 1995 throughout the 2000s he participated in several regional exhibitions before expanding

into national and international group shows, specifically Germany and other major galleries. In later

years his work was included in institutional and curated exhibitions with posthumous international

displays.

In 2002 Sandy was one of the winners in a national art contest at the World Summit on Sustainable

Development held in Johannesburg. The works were enlarged to billboard sizes and put onto

buildings during the Summit.

In 2007 one of his works was auctioned for R55,000 at the Greef 'Road of Hope' Gallery, which Trevor

Manual, a former minister of finance, hosted. Today’s equivalent Rand value would be close to R200,000.

Esau’s work hangs in the boardroom of Mercedes Benz in Gauteng. His work, “After School,” raised

R90,000 for a political fundraiser.

Two years later, the Esau family was devastated by a fire which destroyed Sandy’s paintings, art

materials, studio and home. Although this was an overwhelming loss, Sandy continued to paint. He lived

in his home town with his wife Natasha and three children until his death in 2021. He is also well