Literature

Elza Miles (2002) Nomfanekiso Who Paints at Night: The Art of Gladys Mgudlandlu, Cape Town: Fernwood Press, illustrated on page 77.

Provenance

Stephan Welz & Co, Cape Town, 29 May 2012, lot 533.

Exhibited

South African National Gallery, Cape Town, Gladys Mgudlandlu: A Retrospective of the South African Expressionist, January 2003.

Notes

In the present lot, Mgudlandlu depicts two mules grazing against a backdrop of tall trees and a distant horizon. The work is characteristic of her interest in capturing scenes of everyday life in various contexts, often populated by animals. It is rendered in her signature expressionist style, which typically includes rolling landscapes, plant life and perhaps most notably, birds - subjects that seemed to be her favourite. Unlike many of her other works, which often portray arid, dry landscapes, this painting presents a verdant scene, with no sandy or barren hills in sight.

As with much of her body of work, Mgudlandlu did not explicitly create overtly political work, yet the conditions of her surroundings inevitably found their way into her artworks. Animals, particularly cattle, were recurring motifs in her practice. She frequently drew inspiration from images of herdsmen tending to animals in the Eastern Cape, where she spent the first 27 years of her life. These images were often based on childhood memories from that environment.

This work highlights her remarkable sensitivity to colour, which is often vibrant and emotive, at times not necessarily realistic but instead focused on conveying the feeling that the image communicates.

Created in 1970, the present lot was painted around the same time as her famous Fetching Wood (1967), which is part of the Fort Hare Collection, and Three Men in Blue (1970), which is held in the Johannesburg Art Gallery Collection.