Lewis, Neville (1895 – 1972)
Neville Lewis was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1972. He was born and educated there and then
later at the Slade School of Art in London. His father was the Reverend A.J.S Lewis who on October 1929
officially opened the Table Mountain Cableway.
Neville married Theo Townsend a fellow student. He became a member of the ‘New English Art Club’
in 1920. When his marriage broke up in 1922, his two sons went to Cape Town where they were raised
by their grandparents and his daughter Catherine stayed with his ex wife. He served in World War II in
France, Belgium and Italy. During the war he carried on producing oil portraits. He frequently painted
and drew black South Africans.
In 1955 he married Countess Rosa Cecilie-Karoline-Mathilde Irene Sibylla Anna zu Solms-Baruth,
daughter of Friedrich, 3rd Prince of Solms-Baruth and his wife Princess Adelaide of Schleswig-Holstein-
Sonderburg-Glucksburg. He then settled in Stellenbosch where their children Caroline and Frederick
Lewis attended school. The couple later acquired a small holding opposite Stellenbosch Golf Club where
his wife and children could pursue their love of horse riding. After his death his wife married Weber.
He held various exhibitions throughout London, South Africa, Europe and the United States. He also did
various commissions for and of international Head of States. His work can also be found in various state
and public commissions throughout the world.