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Irma Analize Stern (2 October 1894 – 23 August 1966) was a South African artist who achieved national and international recognition in her lifetime.


Life

Stern was born in
Schweizer-Reneke Schweizer-Reneke, sometimes referred to as Schweizer, is a town in the North West Province of South Africa. It is the administrative centre of Mamusa Local Municipality.
, a small town in the
Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name ''Transvaal''. * South African Republic (1856–1902; ...
, of German-Jewish parents. Her father was interned in a concentration camp by the British during the
Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...
because of his pro-
Boer Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...
leanings. Irma and her younger brother, Rudi, were thus taken to Cape Town by their mother. In 1901, the family returned to Germany and later would constantly travel between South Africa and Germany. This travel also influenced Irma's development as an artist. In 1913 Stern studied art in Germany at the Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar, in 1914 at the Levin-Funcke Studio and notably from 1917 with Max Pechstein, a founder of the Novembergruppe. Stern was associated with the German
Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...
painters of this period. She held her first exhibition in Berlin in 1919. In 1920 Stern returned to Cape Town with her family, where she was first derided and dismissed as an artist before later becoming an established artist by the 1940s. In 1926 Stern married Johannes Prinz, her former tutor, who subsequently became professor of German at the
University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...
. They were divorced in 1934. Irma Stern travelled extensively in Europe and explored southern Africa,
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
and the
Congo region The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...
. These trips provided a wide range of subject matter for her paintings and gave her opportunities to acquire and assemble a collection of artifacts. Stern's intention was to travel extensively in her lifetime: in 1931 to
Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
, in 1937 and 1938 to
Dakar Dakar ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Senegal, largest city of Senegal. The Departments of Senegal, department of Dakar has a population of 1,278,469, and the population of the Dakar metropolitan area was at 4.0 mill ...
,
Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...
, 1939 and 1945
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
, the
Congo region The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...
in 1942, 1946 and 1955, 1952 Madeira, 1952 Israel, 1955 Turkey, 1960 Spain and 1963 France. Stern also travelled extensively in South Africa, for example in 1926 to
Swaziland Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...
and
Pondoland Pondoland or Mpondoland (Mpondo: ''EmaMpondweni''), is a natural region on the South African shores of the Indian Ocean. It is located in the coastal belt of the Eastern Cape province. Its territory is the former Mpondo Kingdom of the Mpondo peopl ...
, in 1933 to
Namaqualand Namaqualand ( Khoikhoi: "Nama-kwa" meaning Nama Khoi people's land) is an arid region of Namibia and South Africa, extending along the west coast over and covering a total area of . It is divided by the lower course of the Orange River int ...
, in 1936 generally, and in 1941 to the
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
. Stern refused to either travel or exhibit in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
during the period of the
Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
from 1933 to 1945. These expeditions resulted in a wealth of artistic creativity and energy as well as the publication of two illustrated journals: ''Congo'', published in 1943 and ''Zanzibar'' in 1948.


Reception

Almost one hundred solo exhibitions were held during her lifetime both in South Africa and Europe, including Germany, France, Italy and England. Although accepted in Europe, her work was unappreciated at first in South Africa, where critics derided her early exhibitions in the 1920s with reviews titled such as "Art of Miss Irma Stern - Ugliness as a cult". The Irma Stern Museum was established in 1971 and is the house the artist lived in for almost four decades. She moved into ''The Firs'' in
Rondebosch Rondebosch is one of the Southern Suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa. It is primarily a residential suburb, with shopping and business districts as well as the main campus of the University of Cape Town. History Four years after the first Dutch ...
in 1927 and lived there until her death. Several of the rooms are furnished as she arranged them while upstairs there is a commercial gallery used by contemporary South African artists. On 8 May 2000, one of her works sold at
Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...
South Africa in Johannesburg for an all-time record of R1.7 million. This record was soon broken, however, and in March 2007, her 1936 ''Portrait of an Indian woman'' was sold for R6.6 million. Stern's ''Gladioli'' was sold for an all-time high of R13.3 million in October 2010, but was then followed by the sale of ''Bahora Girl'' for R26.7 million later that month - both were also records for sales of South African art at the time. A new South African record was set in March 2011, when a Stern painting sold for R34 million at
Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought t ...
, London. In June 2024, at a
Aspire Art
auction, another work by Stern sold for R5.6 million, though the pre-sale estimate ranged from R6 million to R8 million. On 11 November 2012, Stern's painting ''Fishing Boats'' was stolen along with four other paintings from a museum in
Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...
. A tip-off led South African police to a cemetery in
Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...
, where four of the five paintings were recovered from under a bench. From 3 November 2021 to 1 August 2022, the Norval Foundation gallery in Cape Town presented important paintings produced by Irma Stern during her two stays in Zanzibar during the period of 1939 to 1945, and commented on these works as follows:


Gallery

Image:Irma Stern 001.jpg, ''Still life with African pot,'' Johans Borman Fine Art Gallery,
Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...
1936 File:Iziko sang The golden shawl.jpg, ''The golden shawl.'' Oil on canvas. 1945. Iziko South African National Gallery File:Irma_Stern_Fruit_seller_in_Zanzibar.jpeg,
Pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punica, Punicoideae, that grows between tall. Rich in symbolic and mythological associations in many cultures, it is thought to have o ...
seller in Zanzibar, Oil on canvas, with Zanzibari carved frame, Norval Foundation, Cape Town


Bibliography

* ''At home with Irma Stern: A guidebook to the UCT Irma Stern Museum'', by Helene Smuts * ''Hidden Treasures: Irma Stern – Her Books, Painted Book Covers and Bookplates'', by Irene Below * ''Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye'', by Marion Arnold * ''Irma Stern and the Racial Paradox of South African Modern Art: Audacities of Color'', by LaNitra M. Berger * ''Irma Stern: The Early Years (1894–1933)'', by Karel Schoeman * ''Paradise, the Journal and Letters (1917–1933) of Irma Stern Edited with a Commentary'', by Neville Dubow * ''Remembering Irma'': Irma Stern: A Memoir with Letters''.


References


External links


Irma Stern Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stern, Irma 1894 births 1966 deaths 20th-century South African women artists Jewish South African painters White South African people South African people of German-Jewish descent South African women painters