Esther Mahlangu (born 11 November 1935) is a South African artist. She is known for her bold, large-scale contemporary paintings inspired by her

Ndebele Ndebele may refer to: *Southern Ndebele people, located in South Africa *Northern Ndebele people, located in Zimbabwe * Sumayela Ndebele (Northern Transvaal Ndebele), located in South Africa Languages *Southern Ndebele language, the language of ...

heritage. She is one of South Africa's best known artists.

Early life

Esther Nikwambi Mahlangu was born on 11 November 1935 on a farm outside

Middelburg, Mpumalanga Middelburg is a large town in the South African province of Mpumalanga. History It was initially established as a halfway station between Lydenburg and Pretoria by the Republic of Lydenburg in 1860. That republic would merge with the South Afric ...

, South Africa. She is a member of the

Southern Ndebele people Southern Ndebele people, also known in English by their endonym AmaNdebele, are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa who speak Southern Ndebele language (isiNdebele]). The group is separate from the Northern Ndebele people, Norther ...

. Mahlangu is the eldest of nine children, with six brothers and two sisters. She began painting at the age of 10, having been taught by her mother and grandmother in accordance with Ndebele tradition, in which adolescent girls learn to paint in preparation for decorating the exterior of their homes after marriage.

Career

Mahlangu is known for adapting Ndebele house painting, Ndebele mural art, which is traditionally painted on

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

walls, to alternative surfaces such as canvas and metal alloys. Her signature designs often feature white-bounded lines arranged diagonally or in chevron patterns. Her compositions have been described as "more engaging and complex than that of her contemporaries," with particularly intricate border designs. Mahlangu's art draws on patterns found in the traditional clothing and jewellery of the Ndebele people. Her designs are typically colourful and geometric, and her paintings are often large in scale, created using a paintbrush made from chicken feathers. She also signs her beadwork using beads to form her initials, "EM". Between 1980 and 1991, Mahlangu was a resident at the

Botshabelo Botshabelo, meaning "a place of refuge", is a large Township (South Africa), township set up in 1979. It is located east of Bloemfontein in the present-day Free State (South African province), Free State province of South Africa. Botshabelo is no ...

Historical Village, an open-air museum dedicated to educating visitors about Ndebele culture. Mahlangu first received international recognition in 1989 at the ''Magiciens de la terre'' (Magicians of the World) exhibition at the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in Paris. She was invited to participate after researchers from the French Embassy visited South Africa in 1986 and saw the paintings on her home. During her two-month stay in France, she painted an exact replica of her house in front of an audience of thousands and completed a mural inside the Angoulême Museum of Fine Arts. In 1991, she was commissioned by

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

to create an

art car An art car is a vehicle that has had its appearance modified as an act of personal artistic expression. Art cars are often driven and owned by their creators, who are sometimes referred to as "Cartists". Most car artists are ordinary people with ...

, joining earlier contributors such as

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (;''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''"Warhol" born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director and producer. A leading figure in the pop art movement, Warhol ...

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

, and

Frank Stella Frank Philip Stella (May 12, 1936 – May 4, 2024) was an American painter, sculptor, and printmaker, noted for his work in the areas of minimalism and post-painterly abstraction. He lived and worked in New York City for much of his career befor ...

. Her design, painted on a BMW 525i, featured traditional Ndebele motifs and was the first

BMW Art Car The BMW Art Car Project was introduced by the French racecar driver and auctioneer Hervé Poulain, who wanted to invite an artist to create a canvas on an automobile. In 1975, Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to pa ...

created by both a non-Western artist and a woman. The car was later exhibited at the

National Museum of Women in the Arts The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openi ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, in 1994, and was also featured in the exhibition ''South Africa: The Art of a Nation'' at the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in London from October 2016 to February 2017. In 2016, Mahlangu painted the interior of a BMW 7 Series sedan which was exhibited at the

Frieze Art Fair Frieze Art Fair is an annual contemporary art, contemporary art festival, art fair first held in 2003 in London's Regent's Park. Developed by the founders of the contemporary art magazine ''Frieze (magazine), Frieze'', the fair has since expan ...

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden (and historical ...

, London, as part of a collection co-curated between BMW and 34FineArt. In 1992, Mahlangu was commissioned to paint a five-story mural for the Johannesburg Civic Theatre. In 1994, she created a mural at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C., to mark the opening of her retrospective solo exhibition at the museum.In 1997, Mahlangu was commissioned to paint the tail fins of several

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

planes. In 2007, she painted a

Fiat 500 The Fiat 500 (, ) is an Economy car, economy / city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975. It was sold as a two-door semi-convertible or saloon car and as a three-door panel van or estate car. Launched ...

for the ''Why Africa?'' exhibition in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, Italy. In 2014, Mahlangu completed a one-month residency at the

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) is an art museum in Richmond, Virginia, United States, which opened in 1936. The museum is owned and operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Private donations, endowments, and funds are used for the supp ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

, Virginia, during which she created two murals for the museum's African art gallery. In 2016, she designed a Product Red bottle for

Belvedere Vodka Belvedere Vodka is a brand of Polish rye vodka produced and distributed by LVMH. It is named after Belweder, the Polish presidential palace in Warsaw, whose illustration appears on its bottles. It is produced in the town of Żyrardów in Poland ...

, with fifty percent of the proceeds donated to the

Global Fund The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (or simply the Global Fund) is an international financing and partnership organization that aims to "attract, leverage and invest additional resources to end the epidemics of HIV/AIDS, tu ...

to fight

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, and

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. That same year, she collaborated with Swedish fashion brand Eytys to design a pair of sneakers featuring traditional Ndebele designs, marking the first use of embroidery in her work. She has also collaborated with Brazilian shoe brand

Melissa Melissa is a feminine given name. The name comes from the Greek language, Greek word μέλισσα (''mélissa''), "bee", which in turn comes from μέλι (''meli''), "honey". In Hittite language, Hittite, ''melit'' signifies "honey". Meliss ...

as well as Japanese fashion label

Comme des Garçons Comme des Garçons (CDG, ) is a Japanese fashion label, founded by Rei Kawakubo in 1969. It is based in Paris, where its flagship store is located. Other than fashion, the label has expanded to include jewelry and perfume (under the brand Comme ...

. In 2020, Mahlangu painted a custom interior for a

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...

Phantom, which includes a 'gallery' in the dashboard designed to display artwork. She was the first South African artist commissioned to create an artwork for the car. The work was displayed during Cape Town Art Week 2020 at The Melrose Gallery. In 2024, Mahlangu collaborated with BMW to create the i5 Flow Nostokana, a concept car featuring a color-changing exterior adorned with Ndebele designs rendered using

E Ink E Ink (electronic ink) is a brand of electronic paper (e-paper) display technology commercialized by the E Ink Corporation, which was co-founded in 1997 by MIT undergraduates JD Albert and Barrett Comiskey, MIT Media Lab professor Joseph Jacobs ...

technology. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and her pieces are included in major private and institutional collections, including the

Contemporary African Art Collection The Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC) is a private collection created in 1989 by Jean Pigozzi, an Italian businessman, after his encounter with French independent curator, André Magnin. Magnin specializes in art from non-Western culture ...

Jean Pigozzi Jean "Johnny" Pigozzi (born 1952), heir to the CEO of the automobile brand Simca, is an art collector, photographer and fashion designer. He lives in Geneva. Biography Pigozzi is a "French-born Italian". He was born in Paris in 1952 and is th ...

. In 2024, an art studio dedicated to Mahlangu's work was opened at her home in

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

, South Africa. She previously established a self-funded art school in her backyard to teach Ndebele painting and design techniques to the next generation of artists.

Shows

* 1989 **

Magiciens de la terre ''Magiciens de la Terre'' was a contemporary art exhibition at the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Grande halle de la Villette in Paris, France, from 18 May to 14 August 1989. Background Primitivism ''Magiciens de la Terre'' literally translat ...

(Centre Georges Pompidou) in Paris * 1992 ** Carav Cultural Center of Contemporary Art ** Comme des Garcons (Tokyo, Japan; New York, USA; Paris, France) ** Documenta 9 ** Civic Theatre * 1991 ** Caravan Auto Show (Lavante) ** BMW Art Cars and Painting Exhibition (Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town) * 1993 ** Geneva International Exhibition (Geneva) ** Nantes Fine Arts Museum * 1994 ** Musee des Beauz- Arts de Nantes * 1995 ** BMW Art Cars and Painting Exhibition ** Market Theatre * 1996 ** World Bank ** Armour J. Blackburn Centre, Howard University ** Parish Gallery ** Congressional Black Caucus * 1997 ** Het Afrika Museum ** National Arts Club ** African Immigrant Folklife Festival ** Spoleto Festival ** York College Galleries * 1998 ** Tobu Museum of Art * 1999 ** Van Reekum Museum * 2000 ** 5th Biennal of Contemporary Art * 2001 ** The Helsinki Fair Center * 2002 ** Centro Culturale Trevi * 2003 ** The Irma Stern Museum * 2005 ** Museum of Fine Arts ** Grimaldi Forum ** Pretoria Art Museum ** Smithsonian Institution * 2006 ** The Jean Pigozzi Contemporary African Art Collection ** Tacoma Museum of Art ** Roppongi Hills Art Museum ** Scuderie Aldobrandini Frascati * 2007 ** Art in Public Spaces ** The Walters Art Museum ** Durban Art Gallery ** Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli * 2008 ** Denver Museum of Art * 2009 ** Complesso Monumentale del Vittoriano\ * 2011 ** Museum of Arts and Design * 2013 ** 34 Fine Art * 2014 ** Museum of African Art * 2015 ** The Irma Stern Museum ** Amref Health Africa Artball * 2016 ** Frieze Art Fair * 2017 ** Cape Town Art Fair * 2019 ** National Museum Oliewenhuis ** Cape Town Art Fair * 2020 ** Melrose Gallery ** Investec Cape Town Art Fair * 2021 ** Almine Rech * 2022 ** Alpha 137 Online Gallery ** Melrose Gallery * 2024 ** Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting: Esther Mahlangu, A Retrospective.

Personal life

Mahlangu and her husband had three sons; however, she later lost her husband and all three of her children. On 19 March 2022, Mahlangu was assaulted and robbed in her home, during which money and a personal firearm were stolen. Police launched a manhunt, and two suspects were subsequently remanded and charged with house robbery and possession of an unlawful firearm.

Awards and honours

In 2006, the

Government of South Africa The Government of South Africa, or South African Government, is the national government of the Republic of South Africa, a parliamentary republic with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a parliamentary ...

awarded her the

Order Of Ikhamanga The Order of Ikhamanga is a South African civilian honour that recognises achievements in arts, culture, literature, music, journalism, and sports. Before the order was established on 30 November 2003, such achievements were recognised by the ...

in Silver for "excellent contribution to the development of the indigenous Ndebele arts." In 2019, Mahlangu received the Southern Africa NGO and Multi-Stakeholder Award from the

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, l ...

. In 2024, Mahlangu received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the inaugural South African Creative Arts Awards. Mahlangu has received several

honorary degrees An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

in recognition of her contributions to the arts and the preservation of Ndebele culture. In April 2018, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg, colloquially known as UJ, is a public university A public university, state university, or public college is a university or college that is State ownership, owned by the state or receives significant fundi ...

in recognition of her cultural legacy. That same year, the

Durban University of Technology The Durban University of Technology (DUT) is a multi-campus university situated in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was formed in 2002 following the merger of Technikon Natal and ML Sultan Technikon and it was initially known as the Durban In ...

conferred upon her an honorary doctorate in visual and performing arts, acknowledging her role in promoting Ndebele heritage. In 2022, the

Tshwane University of Technology Tshwane University of Technology (TUT; ) is a higher education institution in South Africa that came into being through a merger of three technikons — Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West and Technikon Pretoria. As the number of ...

awarded Mahlangu an honorary doctorate in arts and design. In 2024, she received an honorary

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

in Mathematics from the

University of South Africa The University of South Africa (UNISA) is the largest university system in South Africa by enrollment. It attracts a third of all higher education students in South Africa. Through various colleges and affiliates, UNISA has over 400,000 student ...

in recognition of her artistic career and "mathematical prowess."

References

External links

*
Esther Mahlangu 80 Exhibition online 2015

Contemporary African Art Collection, Geneva

Esther Mahlangu 2003 Exhibition catalogue 2003

Mam' Esther Mahlangu: the Ndebele Picasso
, Ayiba Magazine, December 2015

, ARTsouthAfrica (2015) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahlangu, Esther 1935 births Living people People from Middelburg, Mpumalanga Southern Ndebele people Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga 20th-century South African painters 21st-century South African painters Illustration 20th-century South African women painters 21st-century South African women painters