Margaret Gradwell

Biography

Margaret Gradwell is a South African contemporary artist known for her abstracted landscapes. Born in Pretoria in 1956, she earned a Fine Arts degree (with distinction) at the University of Pretoria and later joined its faculty. Gradwell became an associate professor before leaving academia in 2012 to paint full-time. Her work focuses on nature and open spaces, rendered in bold acrylic and mixed media. She has held many solo exhibitions and her art is included in major corporate and public collections globally. Gradwell's paintings use bright colors and sweeping forms to evoke the feeling of landscapes rather than literal scenes. Her aim is to capture the “richness of environment” through abstract imagery.