Artists

From Albert Adams to Portia Zvavahera, Strauss & Co maintains a detailed database of every artist sold at auction since 2009. Whether it is painting, sculpture, works on paper, photography, ceramics or new media, this searchable database lists by artist every lot offered and provides aggregated data useful to collectors. Famous South African artists like William Kentridge, JH Pierneef, Alexis Preller and Irma Stern are introduced with helpful biographies along with the best contemporary artists.



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Irma Stern

South African 1894-1966 


After studying in Germany in the 1910s, Irma Stern returned to South Africa and pioneered the acceptance of German expressionism in the country. Initially derided for her innovative style, she gained widespread recognition after the Empire Exhibition of 1936. She excelled in the genres of portraiture and still life, but worked diversely. A prolific artist, she travelled extensively throughout Africa to research and paint. Her golden period is bookended by her visits to Zanzibar (in 1939 and again in 1945). She published two travelogues, Congo (1945) and Zanzibar (1948). In the 1950s she gained international recognition, representing South Africa in four editions of the Venice Biennale. Highly decorated throughout her career, in 1961 she received the Guggenheim Award. Since her death, Stern has been the subject of many books and exhibitions. They include three new monographs in the 2020s alone, as well as exhibitions devoted to her nudes (Irma Stern Museum, 2021) and Zanzibar period (Norval Foundation, 2021). Her international stature has grown since the Qatar Museums Authority purchased Arab Priest (1945) in 2011. In 2024, her work appeared in the main exhibition at the Venice Biennale, and in 2025 the Brücke Museum is presenting the first museum survey of Stern’s work in Berlin, the city of her youth.

Irma Stern: A Modern Artist between Berlin and Cape Town


578 lots offered      87.20% sold      ZAR 724 077 159
 

  Including Premium and VAT Results include Buyer's Premium and VAT
Irma Stern; Meditation, Zanzibar
18 Mar 2019
Sold for ZAR 17 070 000
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Two Figures
18 Mar 2019
Sold for ZAR 591 760
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Arab
18 Mar 2019
Sold for ZAR 20 484 000
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; The Mauve Sari
18 Mar 2019
Sold for ZAR 14 794 000
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Saint
4 Mar 2019
Sold for ZAR 19 933
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Seated Woman
4 Mar 2019
Sold for ZAR 15 243
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Seated Nude
4 Mar 2019
Sold for ZAR 25 795
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Head of a Woman
19 Nov 2018
Sold for ZAR 9 380
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Seated Woman
19 Nov 2018
Sold for ZAR 10 553
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Girl with Jug
19 Nov 2018
Sold for ZAR 9 380
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Two Figures
19 Nov 2018
Sold for ZAR 52 763
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
Irma Stern; Five Harvesters
12 Nov 2018
Sold for ZAR 125 180
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT