Amos Langdown was a prodigious figural painter. His work is easily recognised for his depictions of people in groups such as children playing, fishermen, washerwomen, and other thematic groupings. Langdown trained as an art teacher at Zonnebloem College in Cape Town and was involved in arts education for many years. He was privately mentored by the artist Katherine Harries and studied part-time at UCT’s Michaelis School of Fine Art. From 1963 to 1964, he attended the Rijks Academy in Amsterdam and in 1989 he received his BA from the University of Pretoria. He was also a poet and provided the illustrations for the publications of writers Alba Bouwer, Pieter Grobbelaar, and PK Philander.