Liezl and Isabel le Roux

Legendary Hartbeespoort artist Isabel le Roux is celebrating half a century of artistic excellence this year and to commemorate the 80-year-old artist’s talent, a valuable collector’s book on her work over the past 50 years has just been published.
The book Spotlight on Isabel le Roux, the artist is a stunning collection of her paintings and poetry and takes the reader on an art journey through her life.
This remarkable artist who has sold over 14 000 artworks worldwide, is still painting as hard as ever and the commission for her unique paintings has not decreased. “I am blessed that I can still work,” she says.
Director of the Association of Arts Pretoria Pieter van Heerden described her work aptly in the foreword to the beautiful book: “Her paintings have lost nothing of their daring vibrancy, the youthful exuberance of colour, and the individualism of her expressionist approach. There is an innocence and almost childlike playfulness in the way she observes the world around her, and yet she gives expression to the timeless themes of human life: love, compassion and the warmth of human relationships.”
“I am extremely honoured and proud of the book. I would never have done it on my own. This was all my daughter Liezl’s idea and it was hard work, but because she knows me so well, we never disagreed and we complemented each other.” The book was compiled and designed by just the two of them. “The hardest was sifting through the 14 500+ paintings I have sold over the past 50 years to select the ones we used in the book,” Isabel says.
When it came to the text in the book, Isabel says she didn’t want to just write anything. And then her other unknown talent surfaced. Very few people knew that she also wrote poetry. “I remembered my poems and thought why not use the poetry I wrote over the years with my art in the book…”
This came as a huge surprise to her daughter. “We never knew my mom also wrote poetry. And it is beautiful. It was the perfect addition to the book,” Liezl says. “She is an amazing woman and creating this book brought us even closer together.”
Being a well-known painter herself, Liezl was the perfect partner to take this journey with Isabel.
The idea for the book formed when her mother celebrated her 80th birthday this year. “I thought her legacy should be celebrated. We grew up in her studio and were raised among her work. I felt others should also be able to share this and get to know this amazing artist. We worked on the book for six months. I had to learn new skills like layout etc. Working on this book was an emotional journey that we shared. We learnt so much more about each other and my respect for my mother as an artist became even stronger. She eats, sleeps and lives art and she is as active an artist as she ever was.”
The impressive 140-page limited edition book contains approximately 170 of Isabel’s paintings. Each book is numbered and signed by Isabel personally. It was published by Dream Africa. Reading this book is like taking a journey through a world seen through the artist’s eyes. Her work is recognised worldwide and her paintings grace walls in almost every corner of the world.
“It was an amazing journey and we are proud of what we produced.”
The book ends with a quote by Isabel: “I never paint to live, I live to paint.”
(For enquiries about Spotlight on Isabel le Roux, the artist, contact Liezl 083 273 5723