Artists

Thomas Bowler, a largely self-taught painter, was born in England. He was trained briefly by artist James Duffield Harding. He spent the bulk of his adult life in the Cape of Good Hope where he drew and painted seascapes and the Cape landscape, whilst depicting historical events of the time. Many of his watercolours and paintings were reproduced as lithographs and two of his artworks were published as engravings. Bowler also travelled widely in the Cape Colony and as far as the Garden Route. A number of paintings and sketches were produced during this time including The Kaffir Wars and the British Settlers in South Africa (1865) and the Pictorial album of Cape Town, with views of Simonstown, Port Elizabeth and Grahamstown (1866). Many of Bowler’s works were published as illustrations in books and magazines. Bowler is also known as being instrumental in the founding and legalising of Art Unions in the Cape.

Bowler returned to England in 1868 to negotiate the publication of his artworks of Mauritius, but he died shortly after his arrival. Thomas Bowler’s artworks are represented in the African Homes Trust Collection, the Cape Archives, and the Mendelssohn Collection in the Library of Parliament in Cape Town.