Notes

From an early age Maggie Laubser was enchanted by the landscape and the light, particularly at sunset when it flooded the valley she traversed on horseback. These experiences, together with her exposure to German Expressionism and Modernism, were to shape her stylised landscapes with the use of strong colour and simplified, assertive forms that give her canvases a powerful impact.

In the 1940s a Cape architect named Henri Louw was supervising the construction of a stone church in Marquard on the Lesotho border when he set eyes on a captivating young woman, Helena van Niekerk, who he was later to marry. As a wedding gift to his young bride he purchased Basutoland Hills to mark the area of their chance encounter and her love of the landscape of her birth. This work has remained a treasured possession in the Louw family for over sixty years.