Looking back at Napier Dunn's Durban

FOR over a decade, Napier Dunn was the cartoonist at The Mercury. In the late 1990s, he also occasionally painted depictions of historic buildings and scenes of Durban. These were published from time to time, to much acclaim.

- MARK LEVIN

In 1998, with the support of the newspaper's then editor, David Wightman, a set of 12 paintings was collected together as “Dunn’s Durban” for a 1999 calendar. The following year, with the backing of the next editor, Dennis Pather, a 2000 calendar was printed.

Dunn died 20 years ago, in October 2005 aged 67, and in memory of this versatile man a sampling from those 24 paintings will surely provide as much pleasure now as they did more than 25 years ago.

Born in England in 1938, Napier was the second son of Edward Dunn, who was the musical director of the Durban Civic Orchestra from 1935 to 1954.

Napier was educated at Treverton in Mooi River and briefly at Hilton Road before attending Glenwood High School where he took up the French horn.

He later learnt to play six instruments including, not surprisingly, the clarinet which his father had played with the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. While still in his teens, Napier played the French horn with the Durban Civic Orchestra.