Strauss & co - 10 - 11 May 2020, Cape Town

189 573 Maggie Laubser SOUTH AFRICAN 1886-1973 Bird and Boats signed and dated ‘67 oil on board 50 by 39,5cm R400 000 - 600 000 PROVENANCE Mr PJ Naudé, Durban. Thence by descent to the current owner. LITERATURE Dalene Marais (1994) Maggie Laubser: Her Paintings, Drawings and Graphics , Johannesburg and Cape Town: Perskor, illustrated on page 362, catalogue number 1606. In her later life, Laubser revisited the many motifs with which her oeuvre had become synonymous. Both the sea and birds held a special place in her heart, as she was intrigued and energised by their freedom of movement. 1 During her last decade, many of Laubser’s birds were an oversized focal point, becoming stylised and dominating the picture plane “while texture and descriptive colours appear in the background.” 2 In the present lot, against a backdrop of mountains and billowing clouds, the bird wades in the surf where the reflections of the sailboats dance on placid water. 1. Muller Ballot (2016) Maggie Laubser: A Window on Always Light . Stellenbosch: Sun Press, page 266. 2. Dalene Marais (1994) Maggie Laubser: Her Paintings, Drawings and Graphics , Johannesburg and Cape Town: Perskor, page 56.