Notes

Maggie Laubser became a follower of Christian Science in her early thirties. This was a belief that appealed to her ardent appreciation of nature’s beauty and God’s love. She felt that ‘the artist’s task, therefore, is to express this beauty in his architecture, the interior decoration of his home, and in the daily life about him…’¹ It is this approach that Laubser brought to her own paintings; seeing the wonders of creation gave her pleasure and she wished her paintings to impart a ‘corresponding pleasure to others’.²

In the present lot, Laubser has thoughtfully paired lush, fully bloomed flowers that transition from cool blues to warm pinks and reds alongside a platter of perfectly round dark purple grapes, set against a sumptuously draped rust-orange cloth. These colours work together to create a still life that is at once calm, yet also warm and inviting; certainly a pleasure to the viewer.

1.  Muller Ballot (2016) Maggie Laubser: A Window on Always Light, Stellenbosch: Sun Press, page 301.

2. Ibid, page 301.

Provenance

Mr DS Preller, Johannesburg.

The KWV Collection.

Literature

Dalene Marais (1994) Maggie Laubser: Her Paintings, Drawings and Graphics, Johannesburg: Perskor, illustrated in black and white on page 306, catalogue number 1266.