ABSTRACT
South African modernism was greatly influenced by the expressionist painters Irma Stern and Maggie Laubser. Irma Stern, in particular, sedulously fought against the intractable resistance of her peers to new ideas and is commonly considered the pioneer of South African modernism. To understand the problems that Stern and Laubser faced in pursuing their expressionist ideals, it is vital to start with a description of the South African art scene at the beginning of the twentieth century. In South Africa, Stern’s legitimization through her European success even caused local newspapers to reproduce word-for-word translations of her German critiques. In contrast to Stern, however, Laubser denied any influence by Schmidt-Rottluff or any other artist, as her autonomy was especially important to her. Laubser, too, was very much influenced by the Christian faith—Christian Science, to be exact—but also the natural environment of her parents’ farm, Oortmanspost.
