Harvesters in Wheatfield 

Maggie Laubser painted "Harvesters in Wheatfield" using oils on canvas, and while it’s undated, we can place it within the broader context of early 20th-century South African art. Laubser was a white South African artist who had spent time in Europe studying the avant-garde movements. On her return, she depicted rural African workers, like those seen here harvesting wheat. Laubser’s style, with its bold colors and simplified forms, drew from German Expressionism, but her subject matter rooted the work in the specific social landscape of South Africa under Apartheid. Her work comments on the social structures of her own time by portraying the daily life of black South Africans. To fully understand this image, we need to examine South African history and consider the politics of representation. Archival resources, letters, and exhibition reviews can shed light on how Laubser's work was received and understood in its time. Art becomes meaningful through its social and institutional context.