Mahlangu’s 50-year career celebrated at National Gallery
CURATED by Nontobeko Ntombela, a new exhibition at Iziko Museums highlights Dr Esther Mahlangu’s over 50-year-long career and her meteoric rise as a contemporary artist, earning her global acclaim.
“Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting”: Esther Mahlangu, A Retrospective, will be open to the public at the Iziko South African National Gallery from February 18 until August 11.
From there it will begin its global tour, stopping first at Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg, before moving to the United States in early 2026.
The Melrose Gallery, Mahlangu’s global representative, was tasked with implementation of the Retrospective Exhibition.
Through the language of colour and form, the exhibition charts Mahlangu’s contribution to contemporary art that is close to seven decades.
More than 100 artworks have been loaned from international collections, carefully curated alongside historic photographs and a short film. Also included in the exhibition is Mahlangu’s BMW 525i Art Car, which makes its historic return to South Africa for the first time in more than 30 years. Mahlangu became the first woman and first African to be invited to participate in the prestigious BMW Art Car Collection in 1991.
This diverse collection from Mahlangu’s expansive oeuvre, which features in the new exhibition, will offer a comprehensive yet intimate insight into her vast and vibrant career.
“Mahlangu’s journey is a testament to passion, innovation and resilience,” Ntombela said. “The retrospective pays homage to Esther Mahlangu’s unique approach to art, which intersects African cultures with modernity and the contemporary. The exhibition celebrates Mahlangu’s voice, agency and pioneering spirit, symbolising her self-enunciation, self-determination and creativity.”
Recounting how her artistic journey began, Mahlangu often tells the story of being trained by her grandmother and mother in the early 1940s, saying: “I would continue to paint on the house when they left for a break. When they came back, they would say: ‘What have you done, child? Never do that again!’
After that, I started drawing on the back of the house, and slowly my drawings got better and better until they finally asked me to come back to the front of the house. Then I knew I was good at painting.
“Painting has always been a part of me. I cannot separate it from myself and neither would I want to. I look forward to sharing my practice and long and colourful story on my upcoming Retrospective Exhibition,” Mahlangu said.
Iziko Museums of South Africa Acting CEO Dr Bongani Ndhlovu added: “Iziko Museums is honoured to celebrate the living legend, Dr Esther Mahlangu, and to host this colossal showcase where creativity, culture and aesthetics are fused.
Dr. Mahlangu is a living symbol of triumph against adversity. Her approach to art has inspired generations and is a reaffirmation of calls for Africa-centred innovations.”