In 1948, at 20 years old, Fred Schimmel left Holland with his parents to emigrate to South Africa. From 1949 to 1957, he worked as a volunteer lecturer at the Polly Street Art Centre in Johannesburg. During this time, he also worked as an assistant for a commercial artist where he learned silkscreen printing. This led him to open his own graphic studio in the early 1950s that produced experimental