The Sanlam Art Collection is collaborating with the Malmesbury Museum in an exhibition of paintings, drawing and prints by Maggie Laubser (1886 – 1973) from the Sanlam Art Collection.
Maggie Laubser grew up on a farm Bloublommetjies Kloof in the Malmesbury district. It is only fitting that this artist is at last being recognised by her home town with a dedicated display on her life and work to be installed at the Malmesbury Museum.
Visitors will have the opportunity from 14 – 27 April to view 30 works by Maggie Laubser spanning her career as an artist from 1913 until the mid 1950s. This is a rare opportunity for communities on the west coast to see such a selection of original work by one of South Africa’ s most celebrated artists.
From modest beginnings on a farm near Malmesbury, Maggie Laubser trained to be an artist in South Africa, Britain, Belgium, Italy and Germany. Her experiences of contemporary art in Belgium, Italy and Germany encouraged her to develop her own expressive language. Her “expressionist” stylisation was not accepted in South Africa in the twenties and thirties where she regularly participated in exhibitions. Like her compatriot Irma Stern she became the target of severe criticism. Yet she persisted in pursuing her artistic vision freeing her from the strictures of the British academic training she had received.
By the 1940s she enjoyed widespread academic recognition with the award of the Medal of Honour by the South African Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1946, and later on public acknowledgement followed. Unlike Irma Stern, Maggie Laubser did not pursue or achieve economic success. Her latter years were plagued with arthritis which hampered her ability to paint. Maggie Laubser passed away in her home “Altyd Lig” in the Strand in 1973.
The Sanlam Art Collection holds more than 150 artworks by Maggie Laubser. A selection of 31 works will be on display at the Malmesbury Museum.
WHAT: Sanlam Art Collection – Maggie Laubser (1886 – 1973)
WHERE:Malmesbury Museum, 1 Prospect St, Malmesbury, 7299
WHEN: 14 – 27 April 2026 | MO – THU: 08:00 – 13:00 | FRI: 08:00 – 12:00 | ADMISSION – DONATION BASED
INFO: Sanlam Art Gallery T 021 947 3359 | E sanlamart@sanlam.co.za | Visit | Malmesbury Museum T 073 299 0581 | E malmesburymuseum@gmail.com | Facebook |
PHOTO: CAPE DUTCH HOUSE WITH TREES 1924
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