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Sumner, Maud

Born: 1902 Johannesburg
Died: 1985 Johannesburg



A painter of landscapes, snowscapes, interiors,

still life, city scenes, figures, portraits, religious scenes and semi abstract paintings.  Worked in

oil and watercolour.  Designs for stained glass windows and tapestries. 

A number of series of paintings including from

1953 flight series; 1954-57 desert series; 1965 SWA/Namibian series. 



Studies: Under Albert E Gyngell, while at Roedean School for Girls, Johannesburg; 1925 briefly at Westminster School of Art, London under Frank Dobson(c.1886-1963) and Bernard Meninsky (1891-1950); 1926 drawing lessons under the sculptor Naoum Aronson in Paris; 1926-29 Académie

de la Grande Chaumiére, Paris under Georges Desvalliéres (1861-1950) and Francois Quelvee (1884-1967); 1929-32 Ateliers de l’Art Sacre,

Paris under Maurice Denis (1870-1943); 1932

briefly under Andre Lhote; c.1934 Academie

de la Grande Chaumiere, Paris under Othon

Friesz (1879-1949); 1938 Academie Ranson,

Paris under Roger Bissiere (18884-1964).

Profile: 1926 shared a house with Maria

Blanchard (1881-1932), influenced by the

Intimists. 

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A member of the Woman’s International Art Club and from 1941 of the New Group.  1945 illustrated the Afrikaans translation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Stewart, Cape Town.  1976 a print of her painting “Madonna & Child” was produced.  1902-22 lived

in Johannesburg; 1922-25 at Oxford University, England (reading English Literature and Language, French, Greek and Latin); 1926-32 in Paris, with visits to SA and England; 1933-34 in SA; 1934-39

in Paris; 1939-41 in England, working as an ambulance driver; 1941-47 in Johannesburg; 1947-48 lived and worked mostly in Paris, but also in London and SA. In 1953 and 1954 visited Israel

and in 1965 SWA/Namibia; from 1978 based in Johannesburg.



Exhibitions:

Participated in group exhibitions from 1932 in Italy, France, Belgium, the UK, the USA, Brazil, Greece, West Germany, SA and Rhodesia (Zimbabwe); 1932 Galerie Druet, Paris, first of over 70 solo exhibitions held in Paris, London, Oxford, Salisbury (Harare), Bulawayo and from 1942 throughout SA; 1948 Tate Gallery, London, SA Art Exhibition; 1964 Quadrennial Exhibition; 1964 the opening exhibition of the new Pretoria Art Museum, Prestige Exhibition; 1968 SAAA Gallery, Pretoria, Retrospective Exhibition; 1976 Pieter Wenning Gallery, Johannesburg, Fifty Year Retrospective Exhibition; 1977 Pretoria Art Museum, Retrospective Exhibition; 1978 SA National Gallery, Cape Town, Retrospective Exhibition; 1980 Hoffer Gallery, Pretoria, Retrospective Exhibition; 1981 Republic Festival Exhibition; 1981 William Humphreys Art Gallery, Kimberley, exhibition.

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Award: 1971 Medal of Honour, SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns.   

Represented: Africana Museum, Johannesburg; Ann Bryant Gallery, East London; Arts Association SWA/Namibia Collection; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK; Contemporary Art Society, London, UK; Durban Art Gallery; Hester Rupert Art Museum, Graaff-Reinet; Johannesburg Art Gallery; King George VI Art Gallery, Port Elizabeth; Municipal Museum of Modern Art, The Hague, The Netherlands; Musee de l’Art Moderne, Paris, France; National Museum Bloemfontein; Pietersburg Collection; Potchefstroom Museum; Pretoria Art Museum; Rand Afrikaans University Sandton Municipal Collection; SA Akademie vir Wetenskap en Kuns; SA National Gallery, Cape Town; University of the Orange Free State; University of Pretoria; University of South Africa; University of Stellenbosch; University of the Witwatersrand; William Humphreys Art Gallery,Kimberley

 

References: Charles Eglington, Maud Sumner, 1967, Purnell & Sons SA, Cape Town; PSA; Collectors’ Guide; Our Art 1; Art SA; SAA; 20C SA Art; AMC4 & 7; SAP&S; SAP&D; SSAP; Benezit; BSAK 1&2; SA Art; Art SWA; Oxford Companion

to 20C Art (under SA); 3Cs; AASA; South Africana May 1956, February 1957 & February 1959; SA Panorama May 1959; Artlook October 1967

& December 1969; Habitat no 9, 1974’ Gallery Summer 981; SA Arts Calendar March 1984;

De Arte April 1985; De Kat August 1985

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