Anton was born in Johannesburg on 18 March 1944. Although Anton’s father was the famous South African landscape artist Johan Oldert (1912-1984), it was not by direct tutorship that Anton learnt his craft (In fact, from the age of 7 up until 25, Anton had no contact at all with his famous artist/sculptor father).
At school, art was the only subject which interested Anton Benzon and at which he was any good. Unable to make a living from his art, Anton was forced to seriously consider an alternative career. He chose to be a lithographic printer and spent a considerable amount of time in Zimbabwe, then Rhodesia, plying his trade.
In 1980 he reconciled fully with his father, who introduced him to Tito Fasciotti – the famous landscape and figurative painter of the Eastern Cape. Tito became a tutor and mentor for Anton, a relationship which was only to be broken by the tragic murder of Fasciotti in the early months of 1993.
Anton Benzon earlier landscape work closely resembles that of Fasciotti but his style and content is now definitely and distinctly his own.
Anton restricts himself to landscape painting in oils, capturing rocky pools and the lush greenery of Natal and the Eastern Cape. His style and brushwork are very recognizable and distinctive – using a palette knife to create a more distinctive impasto effect.
In the late ‘90’s and early into the new millennium, Anton moved to Canada but the winters and the different culture made him more appreciative of his native Natal. Apart from exhibitions and commissions, Anton has also set up beginner art schools where some aspirant artists can learn his technique and dry sense of humour.
Apart from painting, Anton loves to repair mechanical contrivances which may at any one time include a maseratti, a microlite and a wind engine! Anton could be a vanguard of contemporary South African artists, but that would involve far too much application – He has always relied on his contacts for work and sustenance and something always turns up!
Anton often laments the loss of his friend and tutor Titta Fasciotti, saying that hardly one day goes by when he doesn’t think of him.
Anton’s works are mainly collected by South Africans who understand the landscapes, and the way they have been treated. Expatriate South Africans have to have one or two of his works to remind them of home. His work is purchased by art lovers all over South Africa as well as USA, Canada and Ireland
