1. Esther Mahlangu was born on 11 November 1935 and is a South African artist.
19 Facts About Esther Mahlangu
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Esther Mahlangu is known for her bold, large-scale contemporary paintings inspired by her Ndebele heritage.
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Esther Mahlangu is one of South Africa's best known artists.
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Esther Nikwambi Mahlangu was born on 11 November 1935 on a farm outside Middelburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa.
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Esther Mahlangu is a member of the Southern Ndebele people.
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Esther Mahlangu was the eldest of nine children, with six brothers and two sisters.
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Esther Mahlangu's designs are typically colourful and geometric, and her paintings are often large in scale, created using a paintbrush made from chicken feathers.
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Esther Mahlangu is known for adapting Ndebele mural art, which is traditionally painted on adobe walls, to alternative surfaces such as canvas and metal alloys.
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Esther Mahlangu's compositions have been described as "more engaging and complex than that of her contemporaries," with particularly intricate border designs.
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Esther Mahlangu first received international recognition in 1989 at the French art exposition Magiciens de la terre.
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Esther Mahlangu's design, painted on a BMW 525i, featured traditional Ndebele motifs and was the first BMW Art Car created by both a non-Western artist and a woman.
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Esther Mahlangu is one of the African artists whose art is often exhibited internationally.
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Esther Mahlangu's works are in major private collections including that of The Contemporary African Art Collection of Jean Pigozzi and in many Western museums.
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Esther Mahlangu follows a local tradition through which this particular type of painting technique is handed down in the family, communicated, learned and transmitted only by women.
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Esther Mahlangu has collaborated with various brands like BMW, Fiat, EYTYS, Melissa's, Beleverde, the British Museum and Rolls-Royce.
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Esther Mahlangu recently completed a special edition premium Belvedere Vodka bottle design.
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Esther Mahlangu directs a school which teaches young girls not only painting but the technique of painting designs on particular compositions of beads.
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Esther Mahlangu has worked tirelessly exposing and developing her talent travelling around the world, and she is very passionate about sharing her knowledge with the younger generation so that she leaves a legacy that lives on for generations to come.
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On 19 March 2022 Esther Mahlangu was assaulted and robbed in her home, of money and a personal fire-arm.