Geo-artist extraordinaire, Maggie Newman, has been living in Parys since January 2018. And although not well-known by Parysenaars, Maggie’s name features in almost every mu- seum display in South Africa, and is known worldwide for illustrating anything to do with science and geology.
This remarkable lady originally came from London where both she and her husband, had worked at the Natural History Museum. He being a scientist, artist and “dinosaur man” as she describes him. When offered a job at the Nigerian University to work on Natural History, they came to Africa where he fell in love with the continent, and gradually started looking to move more to the south of Africa. The Newmans eventually ended up at the Port Elizabeth Museum where they both worked on displays. Through the years they would be working together on numerous museum displays – he doing the scientific construction, and she the display artist.
Then came the display at the Snake Park, and an offer for him to work at the then called South African Museum in Cape Town. Once again Maggy took on the challenge at the Museum as display artist. Later the opportunity came to do artistic work at the Mollusc Museum in Mosselbay, and by the time they retired, the Newmans moved to Pearston.
Maggie never stopped doing geo-paintings. She continued with her freelance work for Nature Conservation Parks, involving both echological and geological work. At the time her husband died of Leukemia, she was still doing work for National Parks at the Baviaanskloof Info Centre.
Later it was time for her to move to Kimberley where once again she did amazing work for the McGreggor Museum’s Ancestors Gallery as well as the Big Hole Museum, illustrating the origin of diamonds.

Her name well-known for the artistic work she did, working together with scientists and geologists to visually show their historic re- search and discoveries. Among them prof. Morris Viljoen with whom she has been working for the past 12 years. With no formal training as an artist but a gifted talent and background in palaeontology, geology, wildlife and art, Maggie is truely one of a kind in her field. Despite her father’s advise not to be an artist, she has produced tremendous works for leading organisations all over the world – from illustrations, paintings, educational posters, museum displays, attractive game lodge and national park displays, and select private works, including the pictorial map for Tswalu in the Eastern Kalahari.

She has produced art works for everyone from the Oppenheimer family to Wits University’s Institute for Evolutionary Studies, from geological societies to museums and leading game lodges and National Parks. Her latest work being for the Albany Museum and Rhodes University on the remains of the Tetraphods (amphybian types). More than 360 million years ago, fish began to crawl out of the oceans in an evolutionary leap. South African scientist Rob Gess discovered these creatures, known as stem tetrapods. Gess, who works for the Albany Museum, discovered the fossils in rock that he saved from road construction in 1999.

Maggie is mother of three – her son a suc- cessful artist in Israel, and two daughters who both share their parents’ talent.
* Maggie will also be doing the geological art display for the Vredefort Dome exhibit that will be displayed in the Parys Museum.