# Maggie Laubser artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/maggie-laubser/
Profile generated: 2026-05-09T11:42:40.316Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1886-04-14
- Death date: 1973-05-17
- Nationality: South African
- Movements: Expressionism
- Common media: oil on canvas, printmaking

## About Maggie Laubser

Maggie Laubser (1886–1973), born Maria Magdalena Laubser on a farm in Bloublommetjieskloof in the Western Cape, was a South African painter and printmaker regarded as one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century South African art. Alongside Irma Stern, Laubser is credited with introducing Expressionism to South Africa, a contribution that reshaped the trajectory of modern painting in the country. Her early work was met with harsh criticism from conservative local audiences, but her bold color and emotionally charged compositions eventually earned wide recognition. After studying in Europe, Laubser returned to South Africa and developed a distinctive style that fused European modernist techniques with local subjects—landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and rural genre scenes drawn from the Western Cape. Today she is celebrated as a quintessentially South African artist whose work is held in major public and private collections.

## Common works and media

Maggie Laubser worked primarily in oil on canvas and on paper, including watercolors and prints. Her recurring subjects include still-life compositions of flowers and fruit, portraits, landscapes of the Western Cape, pastoral genre scenes, and animal representations. Printmaking formed a secondary but notable part of her output. Collectors may encounter original oil paintings, works on paper, and limited-edition prints at auction.

## Market and appraisal context

Maggie Laubser's paintings and prints appear regularly at South African and international auctions. Key factors affecting appraisal include medium—oil on canvas works typically command higher values than works on paper or prints—subject matter, provenance, condition, and date of execution. Her portraits, Western Cape landscapes, still lifes, and pastoral scenes are particularly sought after by collectors. Works with documented exhibition history carry added value. Attribution should be confirmed through provenance records or expert authentication, and distinguishing original paintings from signed prints and reproductive posters is essential. Her market is concentrated primarily in South African auction houses.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Maggie Laubser, identity and biographical data are grounded in the Library of Congress Name Authority File, Getty Union List of Artist Names, VIAF, RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, and Wikidata authority records.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n95061732
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500106154
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/92029176/
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/48266
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6730265
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Laubser