1934 saw the birth of Ernst de Jong in Pretoria. During his school years, he painted and went swimming. His aptitude for this latter endeavor earned him a scholarship to study at the University of Oklahoma in the United States, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and was recognized as the faculty’s top student by the Letzeiser Prize. After his return to South Africa in 1957, he established Ernst de Jong Studios, a graphic design firm, the following year. The artist and his spouse relocated to Oslo, Norway, in 1994 and 1998, during which time he created a series of pieces titled Passage to Norway. Up until his passing in 2016, de Jong—who was well-known for his Abstract Suprematist Symbolic style—kept up his lectures, paintings, and exhibitions.