A condensed presentation of a lecture held at Strauss & Co in October 2018. Including never released audio excerpts of the interview with the South African artist over the course of 4 days in 1968 with famous South African art critic, Esmé Berman. This is a condensed version of the presentation

1. REMEMBERING
Maggie
Laubser
A personal recollection
by
Kathryn Berman
STRAUSS & CO JOHANNESBURG.
TUESDAY 30 OCTOBER 2018: 18h00
Including excerpts from the original recorded
four-day conversation between Maggie and
Esmé Berman, in 1968.
Originally commissioned for presentation at

2. REMEMBERING
Maggie
Laubser
The following presentation has been edited
for release on the internet.
Kindly contact us on
artinstituesouthafrica@gmail.com for a copy
of the full presentation and essay.
Kathryn is also available as a keynote
presenter for your event. www.artinstitutesouthafrica.com

3. Maggie Laubser Was
82 in February 1968
When She Was
Interviewed Over the
Course of Four Days
by my Mother, Esmé
Berman, at Maggie’s
Home, Altyd Lig, in
the Strand (Cape)
About her Life and
Work.

4. This Talk includes revelations
and excerpts from that
original taped interview
(conversation) between Esmé
Berman and Maggie Laubser
over the three days in
February 1968.
The interview forms the basis
of the entry on Maggie
Laubser in Esmé’s Definitive
‘Art & Artists of South Africa’,
1971.

5. Opening Video available on:
https://youtu.be/zAXxP29ZHjw

6. As told
to Esmé
then…

7. Magdalena Maria (Maggie) Laubser
was born in 1886 on the wheat
farm, Bloublommetjieskloof, in the
Malmesbury district of the Western
Cape.
Maggie was the oldest of six
children born to an Afrikaans father
and Danish mother.
She died on 11 May 1973, at her
home Altyd Lig in the Strand.
In between she lived in Cape Town,
Ermelo…
The Netherlands, England,
Belgium, Germany, Italy.
She settled in the Strand in 1942.

8. “I left school at fifteen
years old….“I had to
leave school because
there wasn’t money to
send the others to
boarding school.”
Pic: Ballot.M( 2016) Venster op Altyd Lig
“…And that was my
life…”
Press for Audio

9. “I was nine years old when
my father gave me a horse to
ride. And I used to get up
early in the mornings.
Then my father would say:
‘Wat wil jy so vroeg
opstaan?’ ‘Ek wil die son
sien opgaan’. I want to see
the sunrise”
Press for Audio

10. It is strange, but
wonderful, to get up
so early and take the
horse. And canter.
And feel the horse
keeping time,
keeping pace with all
the beauty around.
You have no idea”.
Press for Audio

11. And while Maggie
had her chores cut
out for her on the
farm at age 15:
“I wanted to do
something creative.
That urge was so
strong .. Not just
sewing.. But if only
somebody
encouraged me. But
nobody encouraged
me!”
Press for Audio

12. Until…. One Day…
In Sea Point, London
Road…
Her first patron…but
not her last
Press for Audio

13. Not one for the studio
method… this lasted
her whole life.. She
reminisces about the
Slade, Europe,
Expressionism on
that, and the
subsequent, visit
German Expressionist
Max Pechstein
Self-portrait
Fast
Forward to
1914:

14. “I imagine and I draw”

15. “I was just
starting –
doing
Expressionistic
work…
And then I
showed my
works at an
exhibition. And
they slated me!

16. “Why would any normal, sane human being in all of South Africa
appreciate as a work of art, to enjoy as a picture...the one sent by
Maggie Laubser?"
Newspaper critic Bernard Lewis 1932
Please contact us on artinstitutesouthafrica@gmail.com for the full presentation

17. “You know Esmé, to
me art is anything
you feel – anything;
whatever you feel.
Express it… And
perhaps in a year’s
time you feel
differently. Why not?
Why should that be
…condemned?”
Press for Audio

18. To her last days, Maggie
would wake up and make
her way to her studio: “I
paint in the mornings when I
am fresh.” Two hours was
enough by then. And then
she would attend to chores.

19. “To See the Beauty in Everything…
That is the only way to be Alive”.
“Then you get Conscious”.

20. Esmé, like Maggie, died at 87.
She, like Maggie, continued to work until her death. In her
last years, she fulfilled the promises made to the artists that
she loved and respected:
With Karel Nel, she wrote the mammoth two volume
catalogue raisonné and biography on Alexis Preller -
published in her 80th year.
For Raisonné Publishers, she was commissioned to write a
series of monographs - on Pierneef, Stern, Battiss, and
her long-promised monograph. (All unpublished to date)
While many academic works have been written by other
academics in the interim… this was a labour of love.
Please contact us for the full presentation

21. artinstitutesouthafrica@gmail.com
www.artinsitutesouthafrica.com

22. Maggie Laubser
Timeline
BORN
14 April 1886
Eldest of 6
STUDY; EXHIBIT
1903; 1907&10
Cape Town
GOVERNESS
1912
Ermelo
MEET JHA BALWE
1913
Durban

23. HOLLAND
1913
With Sister by boat
SLADE
1914
London
EUROPE
1919-1921
JHA & Arnold Balwe
SA - BERLIN
1922 - 1924
Blaue Reiter

24. STRAND
1942
CAPE TOWN
1937
Three Anchor
Bay
SOUTH AFRICA
1924
Oortmanspost
DIES 1972