An overview of Gladys Mgudlandlu's art, assessing her contribution to painting in South Africa. Gladys 'Nomfanekiso' Mgudlandlu (1917-1979) is one of the foremost exponents of Expressionism in South Africa. Unlike the other Expressionists in South African art: Maggie Laubser, Irma Stern, Wolf Kibel, Pranas Domsaitis and Valerie Desmore, she was never exposed to the art of the schools of Expressionism in Europe as she never set foot outside of South Africa. As a school teacher, she taught by day and, at night, she painted by the flickering light of a paraffin lamp in her 'township' house in Cape Town. She arrived at a pristine form of expressionism that is deeply rooted in the still-uncharted field of indigenous culture. As an artist she was primarily self-taught, yet she relied on the technical expertise of fellow artists like Marjorie Wallace and Katrine Harries when she sought a means to translate the time-honoured narratives and customs of her people - Fingo and Xhosa - into painting, drawing and etching.
The indigenous character and essence of Africa that she incorporated into her art - the legends and folklore, as well as some of the mysticism characteristic of African rituals and customs - were strongly emphasised and used by later South African black artists. She held her first painting exhibition, the first African woman to do so, in 1961. Art critics and the public recognised the significance of her highly individualistic art expression and, today, her art may be found in the homes of discerning art lovers and collectors around the world, as well as in galleries and corporate collections. In this book, art historian Elza Miles traces the development of this singular artist - from her early, meticulously detailed works, evoking the textural richness of embroideries and tapestries, of landscapes painted from memory and imagination, depicting idyllic rural lifestyles, and large mystical bird forms, to her later works depicting urban scenes and simplification of shapes, enlivened with broad sweeping brushstrokes of colour.
- ISBN10 1874950660
- ISBN13 9781874950660
- Publish Date 3 February 2003
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 28 May 2012
- Publish Country ZA
- Imprint Fernwood Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 96
- Language English