Archived: ‘Stern’s Arab Spring’ at Strauss & Co Continues

Irma Sterns studies of Arabs have caused so much of an uproar in the South African art market that they can be likened to an Arab Spring with Strauss & Co playing no small role in this. Irma Sterns Arab (R7 000 000 9 000 000), painted on the artists first visit to Zanzibar in 1939, is attracting considerable interest given Strauss & Cos record-breaking sale last year of Irma Sterns Two Arabs for R21 166 000, the highest price ever achieved for any painting at auction in South Africa.