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C ATAL 0 GUERAISONNEOFMAGGIELA UBSER 'SM 0 RK

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C ATAL 0 GUERAISONNEOFMAGGIELA UBSER 'SM 0 RK c A T AL 0 GUERAI SONNE OF MAGGIE LA UBSER ' S M 0 R K 1 9O0 — 1 92 4 Elizabeth Cheryl Delmonc A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg for the Degree of Master of Arts Johannesburg 19 7 9 I, ELIZABETH DELMOh’T, declare that this Dissertation is my own unaided work and has not been submitted to any other university. To my parents - for my educational and cultural background - - - - and to my husband, Eric - for his encouragement, endurance and moral support. ABSTRACT This dissertation comprises a catalogue r a i son ne of Maggie Laubser's works (in all mediums) from 1900 until 1924, when she returned permanently to South Africa. The primary intention is to establish the correct dates and sequence of the early works, a task considerably complicated by the f c. c t that many of her paintings and drawings are either not dated or are incorrectly dated. Thus critical evaluation is directed net at a qualitative assessment of individual paint­ ings but rather at attempting a logical and systematic organization of the works of the early period. fating of works is based on visual evidence (style, signa ure, motif, sketches, etc.) with supporting document­ ation such as written and verbal information from owners of paintings, from friends and acquaintances of the artist, and from Laubser herself. An examination of her passports has made it possible for the first time to establish the exact dates of her movements overseas, as have other documents, particularly those in the University of Stellenbosch archives The fully illustrated catalogue of 451 works, which in­ cludes factual information about each work (viz., description exhibitions, literature references, provenance etc.), is accompanied by a text in which stylistic and iconographie developments are examined within the context of source material and influences, both direct and indirect, local and international. In both the text and catalogue, Laubser1s chronological development has been divided into chapters according to her geographic whereabouts. The first period covers her early years in South Africa , during which she took lessons with Roworth for a brief time. Her art developed within the conservative tradition of 'romantic-realist' landscape and portrait painting. In 1913 she left for overseas sponsored by her friend and patron, J . H. A. Balwe. After a brief stay in Laren, Holland, she moved to London where she registered at the Slade School of Art. Her drawing style and subject matter reflect the conservative teachings of her teachers and her paintings show an increased interest in plein-air- i sm. From 1919, when she went to Antwerp in Belgium, she had increasing contact with the artist Arnold Balwe, J . H. A. Balwe's son, and perhaps even took occasional classes at the Antwerp Academy where he was a student. She continued with life drawing and landscape painting and it was only when she travelled to Italy in 1920 that a radical change in style can be seen. During her stay in Italy she concentrated on painting scenes of Lake Garda, and still lifes emerge as a prominent theme for the first time. There are a variety of styles during this year, indicating that it was a period of experimentation for her. There is a significant development towards a simplification of form accompanied by a lightening and brightening of her palette. Her return to South Africa in 1921, after J . H. A. Balwe's death, led to a concentration on portraits of Coloured and Malay women, which show a consistent, stylistic development. After her return to Berlin in November 1922 the overt in­ fluence of German Expressionism can be seen in the majority of her works - in the palette, brushwork, simplification of form and a move towards a more 'modern' symbolistic inter­ pretation of motifs. In conclusion, the relevance and influence of her overseas study period for her subsequent development is briefly examined. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank the Randse Afrikaanse Un iversiteit for granting me access to material on Maggie Laubser, without which this documentation could not have been undertaken. I was employed by the Randse Afrikaanse Un ive r s it e it, under the auspices of the Human Sciences Research Council, from April 1973 to November 1977, on an extensive and continu­ ing documentation project on Maggie Laubser, directed by Prof. E. P. Engel, head of the Departement Kunsgeskiedenis at the Randse Afrikaanse Un iversite it. I am therefore equally indebted to the Human Sciences Research Council. I would also like to express my gratitude to other members of staff at R.A.U. who assisted with the initial collection of data and illustrations, particularly Mr. E. Wesselo, his assistant Mr. C. Pekter, and the photo­ graphic department at the R.A.U. I am also indebted to the Departement Kunsgeskiedenis of the R.A.U. for secretarial and clerical assistance and would like to express my appreciation to the ' typing pool', Marlene von Durkheim and the various student helpers. Amalie von Maltitz was employed on the documentation pro­ ject of South African art, which included some material on Laubser, viz., the processing and documenting of data on works shown on the 1969 retrospective exhibition which were photographed by Mr. D . Arden. I would also like to thank ray colleagues in the Departement Kunsgeskiedenis who helped me at various times with translations from German, Italian and/ox Afrikaans, viz.: Dalene Marais, Leoni Schmidt, Gerhard van der Waal, Max von Durkheim and Amalie von Maltitz. In compiling the catalogue and writing the accompanying text, I have obviously based the majority of my interpreta­ tion on the close and repeated study of the works themselves. However, this would not have been possible without the help and co-operation of the many private collectors throughout the country, who not only allowed their works to be photo- graphed by Mr. E . Wesselo, but also sometimes passed on valuable information about the artist and her work, and answered circulars sent out during 19 7 6 to confirm details already recorded during 197 4-1976. Those with large col­ lections such as Dr. H. K . Silberberg and Mr, B. Trakman, obviously had to devote proportionately more time and the aid of these collectors, and of all the other collectors, both private and official institutions (e.g. the South African National Gallery, the Pretoria, Johannesburg and Durban Art Galleries, the Universities of Pretoria and the Witwatersrand, as well as the Potchefstroomse Univer- siteit vir Christelike Hoer Onderwys and the Rand se Afri- kaanse Universiteit) is greatly appreciated. Many art dealers helped trace works and enabled me to expand the provenance of certain paintings and drawings. To list all by name who have helped and co-operated, would be impossible, but in particular I would like to thank Mr. J . Wolpe of Cape Town and Dr. R. Holtzhausen in Pretoria for their support and assistance. Certain auction houses , particularly Sotheby-Parke-Bernet of Johannesburg and ''oiks of Pretoria, were most helpful in allowing access to records of sales which facilitated the tracing o works and the confirmation of provenances, and also in giving permission for works on sales tc be photographed. The various branches of the S.A. Association of Arts have also been most co-operative and their help is greatly appreciated. However, three other sources provided comparative material, illustrations and/or the bulk of the information about Laubser’s life and art which enabled the author to establish a more accurate system of dating than has pre­ viously been attempted. When the University of Stellen­ bosch received Laubser's estate in 1973, all the material was organized into a comprehensible system, and each item was given an archive number. (It is this number which is quoted by the author in this study, to enable identifica­ tion of items in the University's collection.) Not only have many of the paintings, sketches and sketchbooks from / the estate been included in the catalogue, but I have relied heavily on other material in this collection. For instance, personal documents such as passports,1 her personally handwritten curriculum vitae and even letters 2 written to Laubser, have proved invaluable in establish­ ing the chronology of Laubser's travels. Unfortunately access to the letters is closed for fifty years after Laubser's death and I have therefore not examined them person ally. Radio Talks such as 'What I Remember1^ and 'D.it is 4 my Kontrei1 have supplied details of her life, her friends and impressions, whilst her personal notes, news­ paper interviews and talks such as 'On Art'^ and 'Art',6 have given added insight into her views on art and reli­ gion. Photographs have provided important visual material. I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the University of Stellenbosch, for allowing access to the estate and am particularly grateful for the help and co-operation of Mrs. F. du Plessis, librarian in charge of the archives, and Prof. G. J. Trumpelmann, who was appointed in charge of Laubser's estate. Prof. Trumpel­ mann not only covered a great deal of the ground-work in organizing the cataloguing and numbe ring of the material in the estate, particularly the letters, but he compiled the comprehensive list of material in he estate which he made available to me and he devoted several days in helping Mr Wesselo and me photograph and document, respectively, the works in the University collections and the works in private collections in Stellenbosch. The late Prof. Otto Schroder of the University of Stellen­ bosch also researched Laubser's life and art, and I am 1.
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