Erich Mayer: A Pioneer of South African Art Born: Mussino, Italy (1876) Died: Pretoria, South Africa (1960) Early Life and Influences Erich Ernst Karl Mayer was born in Karlsruhe, Germany, in 1876. He received his early education in Berlin and initially pursued studies in architecture, earning a scholarship to the Charlottenburg Technische Hochschule. However, illness interrupted his architectural training, leading him to seek a healthier climate and relocate to South Africa in 1898. His initial work involved serving as an assistant land surveyor in the Orange Free State. The Boer…