Esther Mahlangu South African , b. 1935
In 1991, Esther Mahlangu became the first woman and first African to participate in the BMW Art Car Collection
Esther Mahlangu is globally acclaimed for her bright and bold abstract paintings that are inspired by Ndebele design.
She was a disruptor from an early age, becoming the first person to reimagine Ndebele design that is tradionally used for decorating houses on contemporary mediums.
Dr Mahlangu has spent more than 7 decades practising her artform and has travelled extensively to collaborate with the world's most respected museums, galleries, curators, art fairs, celebrities and global brands.
In 1991 she became the first lady and first African to participate in the BMW Art Car Collection alongside other notables of the likes of Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein and Frank Stella.
Esther Mahlangu is considered a visionary and a disruptor, being the first person to reimagine traditional Ndebele design in contemporary mediums
Esther Mahlangu is a multi-award winning visual artist, and much loved South African cultural ambassador. She was born in 1935 and has been painting since she was 10 years old.
The bold Ndebele inspired artworks for which she is globally acclaimed grace many of the world’s most respected museums, private, public and corporate collections. Many experts believe that any important Pan African Contemporary collection cannot be considered complete without including one of her works.
Whilst firmly anchored in her traditional Ndebele culture, and choosing to live in rural Mpumalanga, Dr Mahlangu continues to spend considerable time in many of the world’s largest and most modern cities collaborating with museums, art fairs, curators, celebrities and respected global brands.
She is considered a visionary and a disruptor, being the first person to reimagine traditional Ndebele design in contemporary mediums, and she has painted anything from canvas, walls, ceramic pots, sneakers and doors to cars, bicycles, motorbikes and skateboard decks.
This has led her to well-known global collaborations with the likes of Rolls-Royce, BMW, Fiat, South African Airways, John Legend, Belvedere Vodka, The Smithsonian Museum, Freshpak Rooibos, and many others.
In 2018 Dr Mahlangu was presented with two honorary doctorates, in 2019 she was appointed as Officer of Arts and Letters which is Frances highest decoration for contribution to the arts, the Department of Arts and Culture published a book in her honour and she received an award from the United Nations in Johannesburg.
In 2020 she became the first artist in the world to be commissioned to paint an artwork for the ‘gallery’ of a new Rolls-Royce Phantom that they named ‘The Mahlangu’ in her honour.
Mahlangu is exclusively represented by The Melrose Gallery.
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A Celebration of Contemporary African Art
Dive into the vibrant world of contemporary African art 14 Dec 2024 - 14 Jan 2025Art exhibition featuring ten visionary contemporary African artists whose works span generations and diverse artistic styles. The exhibition features the works of Marcel Tchopwe, Papytsho Mafolo, Aza Mansongi, Sinalo Ngcaba, Hussein Salim, Lefifi Tladi, Ilana Seati, Samson Mnisi, Usen Obot and the globally revered Dr. Esther Mahlangu.Read more -
Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting: Esther Mahlangu: A Retrospective
Dr Esther Mahlangu 18 Feb - 11 Aug 2024In November 2024, a celebration of a career spanning X years, Y global exhibitions and Z awards comes together in a monumental retrospective exhibition ‘Then I Knew I Was Good...Read more -
Abstractions of a Culture: Towards a Retrospective
Dr Esther Mahlangu at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair 14 - 16 Feb 2020The Melrose Gallery presented Dr Esther Mahlangu in the Past/ Modern Section at the Investec Cape Town Art Fair 2020. The stand, curated by Ruzy Rusike, titled ' Abstractions of...Read more -
Dr Mahlangu Solo 'Disrupting Patterns'
The Melrose Gallery, Cape Town 13 Feb - 31 Mar 2020The exhibition will showcase several of Dr Mahlangu’s latest works for which she has become so globally acclaimed. Her artworks are geometric, modern and abstract in nature speaking to the...Read more
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Dr Esther Mahlangu unveils Rolls Royce Phantom
12 - 16 Feb 2020Dr. Esther Mahlangu, the globally celebrated South African artist, has been commissioned by a South African patron of Rolls-Royce to create a unique work of art for the Gallery of...Read more -
Esther Mahlangu 80
Irma Stern Museum 11 Nov - 2 Dec 2015On 11 November 2015, internationally renowned artist, Esther Mahlangu, will celebrate her 80th birthday with a solo exhibition, Esther Mahlangu 80 , at the UCT Irma Stern Museum in Cape...Read more -
Dr Esther Mahlangu | An artistic Residency
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 8 Sep - 9 Oct 2014Mahlangu, works in the traditional Ndebele style of bold, geometric patterns executed on a very large scale. In the late-nineteenth century, the Ndebele women painted the exteriors of their houses...Read more
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Destiny Magazine
Dr. Esther Mahlangu Khanyi Dhlomo., 2017 Read more -
Kölqvist HONORE Magazine
HONORE Magazine #1 Creative Direction & Visual Identity Carolin Würfel, 2016 Read more -
Mahlangu Rolls-Royce Phantom
Esther Mahlangu 2020 Read more -
Reinventing Tradition: Esther Mahlangu
Dr. Esther Mahlangu Sotheby's, 2017 Read more
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South Africa: the art of a nation
Dr. Esther Mahlangu John Giblin is curator of the Africa collections at the British Museum. Chris Spring is curator of Contemporary, Eastern, and Southern Africa Collections at the British Museum., 2016Hardcover, 216 pagesRead more
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
ISBN: 0500519064
Dimensions: 9 x 1.1 x 10.1 inches -
UCT Irma Stern Museum
Dr. Esther Mahlangu 2002 Read more
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ESTHER MAHLANGU’S SECOND BMW ART CAR WORLD PREMIERE WAS THE HOTTEST TICKET AT FRIEZE LOS ANGELES
By Delaina Dixon 8 Mar 2024The world has waited over 30 years, but Esther Mahlangu is back with her second BMW Art Car. The South African artist inspired the design...Read more -
IZIKO MUSEUMS OF SOUTH AFRICA PRESENTS:THEN I KNEW I WAS GOOD AT PAINTING: ESTHERMAHLANGU, A RETROSPECTIVE
17 Jan 2024Cape Town, South Africa, 16 January 2024 – Iziko Museums of South Africa is pleased to announce “Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting”:...Read more -
What I Buy and Why: New York Collector Larry Warsh on His Early Eye for Basquiat, and the Octogenarian Artist He’s Coveting Now
Esther Mahlangu 13 Mar 2023What is your most recent purchase? I recently acquired several works by the legendary artist Esther Mahlangu . She is 87 years old, and she...Read more -
Dr Esther Mahlangu Presented with Honorary Doctorate from TUT
25 Oct 2022Mahlangu was awarded the degree of Doctor of Arts and Design (Honoris Causa) in the Faculty of Arts and Design in recognition of capturing the...Read more
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The Norval Sovereign African Art Prize Inaugural Shortlist Announced
The Melrose Gallery 15 Nov 2021Cape Town, South Africa – Norval Foundation and The Sovereign Art Foundation (SAF) today announced the names of 30 artists shortlisted as finalists for The...Read more -
Almine Rech | Dr. Esther Mahlangu
Solo Exhibition | November 20 — December 11, 2021 Paris, Front Space 14 Nov 2021At Almine Rech, Dr. Esther Mahlangu presents a series of paintings created between 2019 and 2021. She was first introduced in France and Europe during...Read more -
Esther Mahlangu Protects Ndebele Artistic Heritage
by Ontlotlile Seemela 25 Oct 2021September 24th marks the date that South Africa celebrates Heritage Day . South Africa is affectionately dubbed the rainbow nation because it comprises several cultural...Read more -
Annual sculpture fair returns for its fourth edition at Melrose Gallery: Craig Mark
SculptX 2021 3 Sep 2021The annual sculpture fair returns for its fourth edition. The largest of its kind in South Africa, this year it will present over 200 works....Read more
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Celebrating Women in the Arts
French Embassay 7 Apr 2021On 31 March 2021, Ambassador of France to South Africa, Aurélien Lechevallier, hosted an art viewing event to celebrate women artists, as International Women’s Rights...Read more -
Melrose Gallery pan-African group exhibition at Sandton City's Diamond Walk extended
21 Jan 2021The Melrose Gallery is currently showcasing the Introspection - Art Of Contemporary Africa group exhibition, which features established and emerging artists from Africa, at Sandton...Read more -
The Legendary 85-Year-Old Artist Esther Mahlangu Is Collected by Oprah and Trevor Noah—See Her Breathtaking New Work Here
Artnet Gallery Network, December 18, 2020 18 Dec 2020An exhibition celebrating the artist is on view now at Melrose Gallery in Johannasburg. Esther Nikwambi Mahlangu is a woman of many names. “Dr. Mahlangu,...Read more -
Renowned artist Esther Mahlangu urges Africans to hold onto their traditions
By Jason Burke Africa correspondent 23 Nov 2020Pioneering Ndebele artist fears young people are losing a sense of their roots One of Africa’s best-known artists has made an impassioned appeal for governments...Read more
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Celebrating 85 years of Dr Esther Mahlangu
By Mila Crewe-Brown (editor-in-chief) 18 Nov 2020The doyenne of modern Ndebele art is about to open her largest ever solo, and it’s happening right here on home soil. Toasting to her...Read more -
Carol Bouwer Bags and Dr Esther Mahlangu connect fashion and art with new luxury collaboration
By Afika Jadezweni 27 Oct 2020Collaboration in fashion has become a key player for heightened brand awareness and success. It can even be said that - now more than ever...Read more -
Yoko Ono & Esther Mahlangu lined up for art exhibit in Johannesburg
Nirox Sculpture Park 27 Sep 2020Experimental artist Yoko Ono - John Lennon's widow - will exhibit her work alongside controversial sculptor Nandipha Mntambo and legendary traditional artist Esther Mahlangu at...Read more -
Masterclass unpacks ethics of sustainability within African fashion
26 Jul 2020May introduced the theme by posing a multifaceted question to the audience and panellists: What does the ideal future of fashion look like? Erica De...Read more
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An engagement with Dr Mahlangu’s contemporary art practice by Percy Mabandu
Dr. Esther Mahlangu 18 Mar 2020Thinking and writing about Dr Esther Mahlangu’s work may finally catch up with the quality of her 75-year long contribution to the modern art of...Read more -
Esther Mahlangu’s gift to the World: The Geometry of Now
The Art Momentum 3 Mar 2020Dr. Esther Mahlangu’s monumental works immediately summon the viewer to the Melrose Gallery’s booth in the Investec Cape Town Art Fair’s PAST/MODERN section (guest-curated by...Read more -
CELEBRATED ARTIST DR. ESTHER MAHLANGU PAINTS UNIQUE ARTWORK FOR ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM GALLERY
Dr. Esther Mahlangu 13 Feb 2020Rolls-Royce’s flagship, Phantom, has within it, an interior space which spans the dash facia and which is enclosed by a sheet of glass. This unprecedented...Read more -
Department launches books about Noria Mabasa and Dr Esther Mahlangu
Noria Mabasa and Dr Esther Mahlangu 11 Aug 2019JOBURG – The Department of Sports, Arts and Culture honours sculptor Noria Mabasa with a launch of a book about her journey. Talking in her...Read more
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Dr. Esther Mahlangu receives France’s top cultural award
Friday 12 July 2019 - French Embassy, Pretoria Johannesburg 12 Jul 2019During the 2019 Bastille Day celebration at the Residence of France in Pretoria, Ambassador of France to South Africa, H.E. Mr. Christophe Farnaud, bestowed on...Read more -
Freshpak 80s Limited Edition Esther Mahlangu Tin
26 Sep 2018Freshpak rooibos, in collaboration with internationally acclaimed Ndebele artist Dr Esther Mahlangu , has created a limited-edition tin. Dr Esther Mahlangu began painting murals in...Read more -
BMW 7 Series Individual by Esther Mahlangu now in South Africa
Dr. Esther Mahlangu 18 Aug 2018“I am so glad that BMW brought my art back to South Africa, it is a beautiful car to be shared with the people of...Read more -
Esther Mahlangu 'honoured' to be celebrated on New York boulevard
21 Sep 2017Traditional artist Esther Mahlangu is 'excited and honoured' to have her bold Ndebele artwork brighten up the streets of New York in the form of...Read more
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BMW Art Talk held at Soho House on the occasion of the fourth edition of BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors BMW as partner of Frieze London to present Art Talk about Esther Mahlangu and South African art.
26 Sep 2016London/Munich. From October 6 to 9, 2016, Frieze London will open its doors in Regent’s Park for the 14th time. The main section of the...Read more -
How John Legend And A World-Renowned Ndebele Artist Joined Forces To Beat AIDS
31 Aug 2016Esther Mahlangu hands me a chicken feather. She teaches me how to strip it and save a little tuft at the tip. She shows me...Read more -
Artist Esther Mahlangu @VMFA
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 30 Jan 2015South African Ndebele artist Esther Mahlangu discusses the early years of her paining practice, her designs and pigments, and the preservation of culture in this...Read more -
Ndebele artist Mahlangu uses bold colors, striking graphics to honor African heritage
The Washington Post 3 Oct 2014RICHMOND — Esther Mahlangu is barely taller than the third-grade students who gathered around her for a photo op in front of her boldly colored...Read more