Important South African & International Art, Decorative Arts & Jewellery

Live Auction, 10 October 2016

Important South African & International Art

Sold for

ZAR 3 183 040
Lot 570
  • Irma Stern; Lovers


Lot Estimate
ZAR 1 000 000 - 2 000 000
Selling Price
Incl. Buyer's Premium & VAT
ZAR 3 183 040

About this Item

South African 1894-1966
Lovers

signed and dated 1954

oil on wood panel
45,5 by 30cm excluding frame

Notes

The 1950s was a period of consolidation rather than innovation for Irma Stern. While the "spontaneity and impetuosity"1 of her brush strokes continued to divide critics, she was nonetheless accepted as a "pioneer"2 artist in official circles. Stern represented South Africa at the Venice
Biennale throughout the decade. In between solo shows in South Africa and abroad, she also managed to travel widely, notably to Madeira (1950) and Congo (1955), where she produced harbour scenes and portraits. Stern turned sixty in the year she painted Lovers. The linear form of her echoed figures eschews her usual "expressionist distortion"3 in favour of a schematic depiction that is reminiscent of Picasso, one of only a few contemporary artists Stern did not disregard. The two figures create a unified face. This is accentuated by what appears to be a white veil on the left figure that also covers the head of the second figure. In 1968, the art historian Heather Martienssen wrote a penetrating essay about Stern's late career work: "By 1954 she had reached the age of sixty, the time at which, with few exceptions, an artist begins to show a decline in vigour, though this is off set in the case of the more distinguished artists by other qualities resulting from experience: insight, elegance, sureness of touch, economy of technique, and integration of the visual theme (which may accompany increasing complexity of design)."4 All these indicators of merit are visible in this unusual painting by Stern.


1. FL Alexander. (1962) Art in South Africa, Cape Town: A. A. Balkema. Page 36
2. Walter Battiss. (1951) ‘Painting in the Union of South Africa’, South African Scene, Vol. 1. Page 19
3. Neville Dubow. (1974) Irma Stern, Cape Town: Struik. Page 16
4. Heather Martienssen. (1968) ‘The Art of Irma Stern’, Lantern, Vol. 18. Page 31

View all Irma Stern lots for sale in this auction


Other lots that might interest you
Pranas Domsaitis; Portrait of a Girl
Pranas Domsaitis
Portrait of a Girl
ZAR 30 000 - 40 000
Pranas Domsaitis; Figures in a Village
Pranas Domsaitis
Figures in a Village
ZAR 25 000 - 35 000
May Hillhouse; Spring Orchard
May Hillhouse
Spring Orchard
ZAR 30 000 - 50 000
Irma Stern; Still Life with Lilies
Irma Stern
Still Life with Lilies
ZAR 5 000 000 - 7 000 000
Johannes Meintjes; Self Portrait
Johannes Meintjes
Self Portrait
ZAR 80 000 - 120 000
Irma Stern; Still Life with Roses and Bromeliads in a Vase
Irma Stern
Still Life with Roses and Bromeliads in a Vase
ZAR 2 000 000 - 4 000 000