Born into an artistic family, Maria Margaretha la Fargue drew and painted genre scenes set against the urban landscape of her hometown, The Hague. She cleverly responded to the demand for such depictions in the art markets of The Hague, Antwerp, Paris and London, building upon Dutch seventeenth-century genre scenes. In View on the Bierkade in The Hague (1780), M. M. la Fargue paints the distinctive cityscape of the Bierkade as the outdoor setting for a small group of figures. In front of a canal house, a housemaid or nursemaid is sitting on the porch, holding a child. The mistress of the house turns her head to the approaching merchant on her right. By portraying the maid in such a way that she looks directly at the viewer, M. M. la Fargue effectively capitalises on the interplay between the painted scene and the world of the viewer.

M. la Fargue participated in the family workshop alongside her brothers Isaac (1726–1805), Paulus Constantijn (1729–1782), Jacob Elias (1735–ca. 1776), and Karel la Fargue (1738–1793). Her father, Jean Thomas la Fargue (ca. 1700–1774), was a notary and pamphleteer and her mother was Charlotte Constantia van Nieuwland (1703–1784). It is very likely that she was taught the principles of painting by her older brothers, who were probably autodidacts and had already, established themselves as artists.

Toward the end of her career, her artworks began to overtly display her political stance. This shift in subject was strongly influenced by the power struggle in the Dutch Republic between the Orangists, who supported Prince William V of Orange, and the Patriots, who opposed the power of the Stadtholder and wanted to change the political system. In 1787, the same year that William V secured his power in the Orange Restoration, M. M. la Fargue created several drawings that celebrated this turn of events. These drawings were made to be engraved, whereby she aptly responded to the flood of prints that dominated the art market during this period. In Catching up with the Prince of Orange (1787), William V is pulled along in his carriage through the streets of The Hague. In her depiction of the cheering crowd behind the parade, she skilfully captured the excitement of the event.

After several years of success, the family workshop faced financial difficulties upon the death of her two oldest brothers, which ultimately led to the family’s bankruptcy in 1785. M. M. la Fargue continued creating and selling drawings and in 1792 began teaching drawing to children to alleviate her family’s financial burden. Soon after, her mental health began to deteriorate. By 1808, she was living in poverty and solitude, receiving support for housing and food from the Dutch Reformed Poor-Relief Board. After another five years of struggle, she ultimately passed away in an infirmary in 1813. Today, her artworks enrich several collections in the Netherlands and abroad, including the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.