Strauss & co - 21 October 2013, Cape Town

691 Maggie (Maria Magdalena) LAUBSER SOUTH AFRICAN 1886-1973 Lake Scene with Trees and Mountains, recto; Portrait of a Shepherd, verso signed and dated ‘22 oil on board 49 by 58cm R500 000 – 700 000 PROVENANCE Francois Petrus (Toon) van den Heever; gift to the current owner, Leonora van den Heever LITERATURE Marais, Dalene. (1994) Maggie Laubser: her paintings, drawings and graphics, Johannesburg and Cape Town: Perskor. Illustrated on page 146, catalogue number 315; illustrated on page 211, catalogue number 690, with the title Portrait of an Old Man with Hat . Van Rooyen, Johan. (1974) Maggie Laubser, Cape Town and Johannesburg: C Struik Publishers. Page 17: ‘Oortmanspoort (the family farm) provided Maggie with models. Old Booi, a centenarian Bushman shepherd and family retainer, became a regular subject of whom portraits were repeated from memory even in later years.’ NOTES cf. Welz, Stephan. (1989) Art at Auction in South Africa: Twenty Years of Sotheby’s/Stephan Welz & Co, 1969-1989, Johannesburg: AD Donker (Pty) Ltd. A similar example is illustrated in colour on page 121. cf. Alexander, FL. (1962) Art in South Africa: Painting, Sculpture and Graphic Work Since 1900, Cape Town: AA Balkema. A similar example is illustrated on page 94, fig. 66. These two paintings, the landscape inspired by her studies and travels in Europe and the shepherd evoking her local agricultural roots, encapsulate the multifaceted nature of Maggie Laubser who, despite her humble origins, made one of the most important contributions towards redefining South African art. In describing the shift that occurred in the artist’s style during her sojourn in Italy between October 1920 and August 1921, art historian, Liz Delmont, says that while Maggie Laubser continued to paint directly from nature: recto © The Estate of Maggie Laubser | DALRO 246