Painter Ansel Krut was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1959. He studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (1979-82), the Cité International des Arts, Paris (1982-83), and the Royal College of Art in London (1983-87). He won the painting prize in the John Moores Liverpool Exhibition in 1985 and was awarded the Abbey Major Scholarship in Painting at the British School in Rome, which he attended from 1986-87. He stayed in Italy for three years, returning to London in 1990. He has also held posts as a Lecturer in Painting at the Royal College of Art (2006-15), Drawing Fellow at Wimbledon College of Art (2005-7), and as an Artist-lecturer at The National Gallery, London.
His first solo exhibition was held at the Shell Gallery, Johannesburg, in 1984, followed by two exhibitions at Fischer Fine Art, London in 1989 and 1990, with further shows in the Netherlands and New York, among others. He has also participated in numerous UK exhibitions including at The Walker Gallery, Liverpool, and the Oriel Mostyn Gallery, Wales, as well as internationally in Berlin, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Rome and Tel Aviv. His work is informed by his early years in South Africa, drawing on folklore and history and addressing concepts of identity and fate. He often uses bright colours in an abstracted, painterly style.
Krut lives and works in London and Los Angeles. His work is represented in numerous UK public collections including the Arts Council, the Contemporary Art Society, the Government Art Collection, the Harris Museum, Mercer Art Gallery Harrogate, Preston Art Gallery in Lancashire, the Saatchi Collection, and the Wellcome Trust Collection, as well as Johannesburg Art Gallery in South Africa.
