Ernst de Jong Studios was established in 1957 in Pretoria soon after Ernst returned from the USA where he obtained his BA in Fine Art, Painting and Design with distinction, and top student award at the University of Oklahoma.

 

His studio soon became South Africa’s foremost design studio – his designs were represented in the New York Art Directors Annual and Graphis Magazine, Zurich.  His murals began decorating scores of organizations in South Africa.

 

His new look in painting, derived from the American abstract expressionists and Dutch suprematists, are still greatly sought after today. He was instrumental in changing the perceptions of South African art.

 

He has held over 50 group exhibitions and more than 50 solo shows in South Africa and internationally including museum shows in Europe and Scandinavia. He is the only living artist to have had 2 solo exhibitions at the Pretoria Art Museum.

 

In 2001 he established the Academy of Fine Art which today trains professional artists in painting and runs courses in beginners to advanced painting, recreational painting and advanced information design programs. A unique new course entitled ARTNUCLEUS, which concentrates on the originality of the gifted child by beginning with non-objective images sometimes graduating to aesthetically powerful figurative works.

 

The professional painters from the Academy are to be seen frequently in exhibitions in South Africa and world-wide, especially Canada, Zambia, England and the USA.

 

The designers trained at the Academy filled prominent positions in great design studios and agencies here and overseas.

 

Today in 2014 his daughter Tamara is associated with the Academy with her studio – de Jong Design, and is the director of Graphic Design for the Academy. 

 

The Academy International is truly a remarkable college. A legend in South Africa for advanced training of professional painters and gifted children.