Maqhubela, Louis
Louis Khehla Maqhubela was born in Durban in 1939. Between 1955 and 1959 he attended the Orlando High School and 1959 he won the second prize in an art competition organised by the Rembrandt group. One of his paintings was included in the second exhibition of Artists of fame and promise in 1959. He studied part-time under Cecil Skotnes at Jubilee centre in Johannesburg, the Polly Street Art Centre. During the following years he participated in several group exhibitions and in 1966 he won first prize in the last exhibition Artists of Fame and Promise which was a trip to Europe. This trip in 1966 gave him a chance to observe, study and meet other artists including the South African expatriate Douglas Portway, Portway who greatly impressed him and was to influence his work. He began to use oil paints, often on paper, and began a series of small semi abstract linear figurations using dark tones and vivid flashes of pure colour. Maqhubela was drawn back to Europe in 1973, he settled first in Spain and later, in 1978, he settled in London. He attended the Goldsmith College in 1984 - 85 and from 1985 - 88 the Slade School of Art where he gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Printmaking.
