His/Her Life :
Heinrich Egersdorfer was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1853. He trained in lithography in Germany, he came to SA in 1879. Earlier, after experience of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, he had worked at his trade in England. In 1884 he founded The South African Illustrated News in Cape Town with a few partners. His drawings, often in a humorous vein, recorded daily life in the Cape and appeared in his own as well as other local publications. The SA Illustrated News collapsed in 1885 and he left for Australia, only to return in 1895. Economic conditions had improved, and he visited Kimberley, the Witwatersrand and Rhodesia. A Dandy back from the Mines presumably dates from this period. He also began painting wildlife studies in colour, which were highly popular. During the AngloBoer War, he also reflected the conflict in his work. In 1902 and 1903, he showed with the revived SASA on the Drill Hall exhibitions. On 26 December 1906, his only known photograph appeared in The Cape Argus Weekly Edition supplement on "Famous South African Artists". With his wife dead in 1901 and the loss of his son in 1910 he returned to Germany, and then to London where he died in 1915.

CV:
Exhibitor on SASA-related exhibitions c.1898 - 1950: 1902: SASA 1st Annual Exh., in ass with SADC, Drill Had, Darling S t., 9 Dec. (as a member of SASA and SADC). 1903: SASA 2nd Annual Exh., mass. with SADC, Drill Hall, Darling St., I Dec. (as a member of SASA and SADC).