Notes

Irma Stern is known to have visited Madeira on several occasions, sometimes on extended stays of a few months and at other times probably for a day or two, as the Portuguese archipelago that lies about 500 kilometres west of Morocco was a frequent port of call for ships sailing between Africa and Europe.

Stern’s chosen subject of Câmara de Lobos, the traditional fishing village, depicts the view across the bay with the large hulls of fishing boats that were so central to the island’s prosperity looming large and dwarfing the adjacent buildings. The panoramic view includes sun-drenched houses with their characteristically tiled roofs jostling together across this natural amphitheatre that was once a caldera but whose volcanic activity ceased long ago. The lush vegetation and fertile soil in the foreground and middle distance evoke the ancient subtropical rainforest from which the island took its name, ‘madeira’ being the word for ‘wood’ in Portuguese.

The island’s vistas have attracted artists throughout the ages and Sir Winston Churchill was famously inspired to paint its lovely surroundings. It was clearly a favoured destination and subject for Stern as she returned to it on many occasions, inspired by its beauty and character. Stern’s mature style, using fluid calligraphic marks rendered with brushes loaded with lush thick impasto was ideal for capturing the impression that this captivating place made on her.

Literature

cf. Helene Smuts, At Home with Irma Stern, Committee of the UCT Irma Stern Museum and the Trustees of the Irma Stern Trust, Cape Town, 2007, page 32, where a similar example is illustrated. "Merle Freund remembers that on her death bed in hospital, Irma asked for two paintings to be brought to her - a harbour scene showing Madeira's Camara de Lobos and a still life with flowers."