Provenance

Stephan Welz/Sotheby's, Johannesburg, 11 December 1991, lot 407.

Private sale, Johannesburg, 1 October 2001.

Literature

‘Stern’s exposure to post-war Europe redirected her creativity. She entered a period of pictorial and stylistic experimentation. During this time her work veered between an interest in controlled design, rhythmic, lightly painted oils and statements dominated by thick paint and expressionistic textures. The subjects of these last paintings are described by Stern as ‘field workers, grape harvesters, fishermen – people who occupy themselves with everlasting things, timeless’. The images seem to be escapist, but they need to be considered in relation to the artist’s life.’¹

1. Marion Arnold (1995) Irma Stern: A Feast for the Eye, Cape Town: Fernwood Press, pages 21 and 22.

‘Most of the paintings of [Irma Stern’s] last phase are spontaneously rendered, hedonistic sketches of nudes, idyllic fishing harbours and [workers] harvesting the fruitful earth – pictures which owe something to both Matisse and Raoul Dufy and which could indeed be summarised in the words of Matisse’s famous title – Lux, Calme et Volupté’.²
2. Esmé Berman (1983) Art and Artists of South Africa, Cape Town: AA Balkema, page 442.