South African visual artist Mila Posthumus

Mila Posthumus

Stellenbosch | 3 artworks for sale

  • The Screen - Painting by Mila Posthumus The Screen
    100 x 120 cm
    R57 000
  • Awake - Painting by Mila Posthumus Awake
    40 x 40 cm
    R15 000
  • White Doves On Black - Painting by Mila Posthumus White Doves On Black
    35 x 35 cm
    R11 000
  • Christmas In A Warm Climate - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Christmas In A Warm Climate
    70 x 80 cm
  • Pajamas Till Noon - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Pajamas Till Noon
    30 x 30 cm
  • Look Me In The Eye #1 - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Look Me In The Eye #1
    30 x 30 cm
  • The Playwright's Daughter - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    The Playwright's Daughter
    70 x 85 cm
  • Waitress - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Waitress
    100 x 120 cm
  • Dreams In A Time Of Lockdown II - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Dreams In A Time Of Lockdown II
    30 x 30 cm
  • Dreams In A Time Of Lockdown III & IV - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Dreams In A Time Of Lockdown III & IV
    60 x 30 cm
  • Long Day - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Long Day
    100 x 80 cm
  • Midnight Skinny Dip - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Midnight Skinny Dip
    30 x 30 cm
  • Leap I - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Leap I
    30 x 30 cm
  • Resort Life - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Resort Life
    73 x 63 cm
  • Coming Up For Air - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Coming Up For Air
    30 x 30 cm
  • Penguin Classic - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Penguin Classic
    70 x 60 cm
  • Shallows III - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Shallows III
    80 x 80 cm
  • Poolside - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Poolside
    70 x 80 cm
  • Shallows II - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Shallows II
    55 x 45 cm
  • Shallows I - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Shallows I
    55 x 45 cm
  • Underwater Girls - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Underwater Girls
    80 x 80 cm
  • Leap II - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Leap II
    30 x 30 cm
  • Yellow Umbrella I - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Yellow Umbrella I
    62 x 46 cm
  • Yellow Umbrella II - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Yellow Umbrella II
    62 x 46 cm
  • Intermission - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Intermission
    120 x 90 cm
  • Crossing - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Crossing
    30 x 30 cm
  • Afternoon - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Afternoon
    90 x 90 cm
  • The Girl At The Bar - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    The Girl At The Bar
    90 x 90 cm
  • Not The One - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Not The One
    90 x 90 cm
  • Portrait With Sunglasses - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Portrait With Sunglasses
    60 x 60 cm
  • Small Portrait #VIII - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Small Portrait #VIII
    30 x 30 cm
  • Small Portrait #VI - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Small Portrait #VI
    30 x 30 cm
  • Small Portrait #II - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Small Portrait #II
    30 x 30 cm
  • Small Portrait #IX - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Small Portrait #IX
    30 x 30 cm
  • Portrait With Sequins - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Portrait With Sequins
    60 x 70 cm
  • Portrait With Water Glass - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Portrait With Water Glass
    90 x 90 cm
  • Immigrant (hexaptych) - Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Immigrant (hexaptych)
    135 x 25 cm
  • The Tattoo - Oil Painting by Mila Posthumus
    The Tattoo
    60 x 70 cm
  • Chance Meeting - Oil Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Chance Meeting
    100 x 80 cm
  • Morning Coffee - Figurative Oil Painting by Mila Posthumus
    Morning Coffee
    60 x 50 cm
  • The Reader - Figurative Oil Painting by Mila Posthumus
    The Reader
    50 x 60 cm
  • A Cigarette Before Leaving - Oil Painting by Mila Posthumus
    A Cigarette Before Leaving
    60 x 45 cm
  • After - Oil Painting by Mila Posthumus
    After
    85 x 85 cm
Posthumus’ subjects are often viewed from a philosophical, deeply personal perspective, resulting in paintings that are emotionally charged, pensive in mood and considered in composition. Her depictions of men and women are often set in glamorous scenes: bars, clubs or cafes. Mila's subtle investigations into the human condition on canvas somehow strike a chord with us.

"My art is situational: I am intrigued by human social interaction, the effect of the interaction - and how emotion is detected in posture and micro facial expression; how a bag is clutched, an eyebrow arched, a mouth set.

Ultimately, I paint, as all artists do, life as seen through my eyes and directed by my lived experience."
Mila Posthumus is a contemporary South African painter.   The artist's work is infused with an air of Hopper-like melancholy - her impressionistic figural works are set in shallow spaces and often rendered with muted, earthy tones. Mila's application of paint is tactile: her brush strokes varying between sharp focus and blurred lines , with the underlying process often left visible in places.
 
In 2013,  the artist was commissioned to create work for the permanent collection at the War Museum of the Boer Republic in Bloemfontein.
 
Posthumus currently lives and works in Stellenbosch, South Africa. She has exhibited regularly at StateoftheART in Cape Town and continues to attract a broad collector base from around the world.
 
Selected Exhibitions:

2019
Solo exhibition POOLSIDE at StateoftheART, Cape Town

2016
Solo exhibition PORTRAIT at StateoftheART, Cape Town

2014
Solo exhibition Tell Me A Story at StateoftheART, Cape Town

2012
Exhibition at Oude Libertas Gallery
Stellenbosch Art Association exhibition at Sasol Gallery

2011
Stellenbosch Art Association exhibition

2010
Exhibition at IS Gallery, Franschoek
Exhibition at University of Stellenbosch Gallery, sponsored by SASOL
Solo Exhibition at Grande Provence Gallery, Franschoek

2009
'Angel' exhibitions at Grande Provence Gallery, Franschoek, 2006 to 2009

2007
Solo exhibition, Dorp Street Gallery

2003
Joint exhibition Morgenhof Estate

2002
Solo Exhibition at Bloom Gallery, Stellenbosch

What music are you currently listening to and why?
The radio, mostly.  I love radio as a medium, especially student run stations as they have almost no advertising, the DJs are often fresh and unpretentious and the music new and interesting.

Which living artists do you most admire and why?
There are many,( I admire almost all artists for their commitment) but I do have favourites. John Meyer,  Albert Redelinghuys and H. Craig Hannah because they paint and draw so beautifully.

Which deceased artist do you most admire and why?
Johannes Vermeer, Carel Fabritius, Edouard Manet, Andrew Wyeth, Norman Rockwell, again for the beauty of their technique.

Which exhibition that you have visited made the greatest impact on you and why?
I very much enjoyed an exhibition by Wim Botha in the  National Gallery. It was mostly sculpture and he managed to turn accepted views on their head in such a clever way and with so much grace and skill without allowing the work to depend on its ironic meaning.

What is the question you get asked most frequently about your work and how do you answer it?
’What is your favourite subject matter?’ It’s difficult to answer because it changes all the time. At the moment I am intrigued by social interaction and the effects of social interaction between people.

What/ who inspired you to be an artist ?
I think perhaps my mother, who admired ever single doodle I ever made and thought I was an artist long before I actually was one.

Can you tell us about where you make your art and what if any, the significance this location has.
I have a studio in my house on the farm and one in town so that I can spend more time painting and less on the road!

What do you like most about being an artist?
The act of putting paint onto canvas, of creating something.

What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
I think it has to be that I am still inspired to paint, after so many hours spent doing it. There is always something waiting to be painted.