George William Pilkington was born in Sea Point, Cape Town in 1879. During his years as a civil servant, he painted in his spare time and became a member of the South African Society of Artists in 1905. He took up painting full-time in 1924. Pilkington was avid fisherman and yachtsman, and his love of the sea is reflected in his artwork. In the 1940s, Pilkington (along with Sydney Carter) was comm