Born in Rustenburg, Transvaal on November 18, 1914. Since 1946 Dr Bettie Cilliers-Barnard’s works have been shown in seventy solo exhibitions in South Africa as well as in Paris (paintings 1956), London (graphic art 1971), and at the Prestiges Invitation Exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum in Taiwan (painting and graphic art 1987).
She has represented South Africa at a number of international exhibitions some of which include the Xie Grand Prix International d’Art Contemporian de Monte Carlo in Monaco, 1977, the 5th International Biennale for Graphic Art in Italy, the Gulbennkaian Exhibition in Portugal, 1968, the Venice Biennale, 1956 and 1964, and the Sao Paulo Biennale, 1957, 1959, 1961 and 1963.
Her South African graphic art exhibitions abroad have included Austria, Germany, Spain, Greece and Israel to name a few. Her tapestries, paintings, and murals in oils have been commissioned both for public collections and for museum- and private collections in South Africa and abroad. In 1992, she painted "Vision" for the Pretoria Eye Institute and some of her other commissions including the painting "Flight" for South African Airways, 1983, the tapestry "Guardian Angel of the Arts" for the State Theatre of Pretoria, 1981, and her mural in oils "Mensa sana corpore sano" for the Department of Health in Pretoria, 1980.
