Portrait of a Woman with Head Scarf; Landscape with House and Boats in Background

Provenance

Acquired from the artist by Mrs F E Martin, Pretoria, c. 1955.

Private Collection.

Literature

Dalene Marais (1994) Maggie Laubser: Her Paintings, Drawings and Graphics, Johannesburg and Cape Town: Perskor, illustrated in black and white on page 207, cat. no. 664.

Notes

Maggie Laubscher is perhaps best known for her portraiture, landscape and still life's. In this work, we see two of these genres captured in balance. In the background, a dwelling in a mysterious, almost tortured landscape, deeply redolent of her expressionistic style and in the foreground a portrait, deeply human and expressed with great tenderness, her gaze averting that of the viewer. It is at once a typical Laubser and yet, as in so many of her works, unique and fresh in its composition.

The application of paint, the deeply imaginative use of colour: all coalesce to create a harmonious composition that, nevertheless, conveys a sense of unease. It is almost as if there is a storm on the horizon, and the home in the background, with it’s half opened door and placid figure sitting next to it, will offer shelter and safety. But what of the boats on the water? How will they weather the storm? Laubser is a master at balancing unease with familiarity, no more so in this small but masterful canvas.

The small plant life in the mid-ground is, again, typical of Laubser and indicates a distinct separation of the domestic scene from the wide-eyed figure. She is gazing into the distance, looking for something that is beyond our knowledge as viewers.

This work represents Laubser as an artist who is supremely confident in her technique and has the ability to poise between the passive and the active, all the more remarkable for the scale of this work. The brushstrokes display her expressive markmaking and the colours, daringly vibrant, are seen to glorious effect in this work, combining so much for which Laubser is justifiably famous.

Andrew Lamprecht, Curator of Historical Paintings and Sculpture at Iziko Museums of South Africa.