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28 UCT IRMA STERN MUSEUM A Splendid Summer Send Off for Christopher Peter
A SPLENDID SUMMER SEND OFF…. Christopher Peter retires as director of UCT Irma Stern Museum
Above: One of Christopher Peter’s beautiful flower arrangements. Right: Christopher Peter, UCT Irma Stern Museum.
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My career at the Irma Stern Museum began on a rainy, wintery Wednesday on the 1 st
August 1979. The curator’s cottage awaited me, the wall to wall carpets and the en suite bathroom had been the major drawcard for applying for the job, having come from a cold water cottage in Andringa Street, Stellenbosch where I had been working at the Stellenbosch Museum. In those days Cape Town in winter was wonderfully cold and wet and atmospheric. “The Firs”, Cecil Road, Rosebank with its overhanging gum tress, lonely atmosphere, pitch dark nights with the wind and the rain rattling the zinc roof of the cottage, was like my favourite poem come true – The House Beautiful by Robert Louis Stevenson – “A Naked house, a naked moor, a shivering pool before the door”
These words could have been written for The Firs, Cecil Road, Irma’s home for 40 years just as it was to become mine: 34 years in residence, and 6 years independently, with my having acquired an apartment in Green Point in 2013. My old flat was turned into a useful new extension to the Museum in 2014.
In the beginning, I can describe my situation as being one of being governed by remote control, in a lonely province, from the capital city Michaelis! Prof. Neville Dubow, Director of the Michaelis School was also Director of the Irma Stern Museum. As a 25 year old, I was a child curator! And was fortunate to have an encouraging boss who believed in me. I must say it was all rather intimidating. I was carried along by the fact that I adored Irma’s work,
Irma Stern Museum: Christopher Peter in his old office
the house, her style, the story of her life, her extraordinary discipline, her passion and her emotional despair and romantic longing. She was a genius, suffered for it – driving herself in the face of ill health. To sum it all up in her own words she writes in her journal that she paints with “the blood of her heart”
Very early on Prof. Dubow encouraged me to do flowers – “no reason not to fill the rooms with flowers, Christopher!”. Say no more, this became my lifeline to the outside world, as it was initially a very lonely place for a relatively
young person who had, as his colleagues, 5 retired gentlemen of great dignity, who looked upon me as their boss and supervisor not to mention the fact that they were ten times more clued up on the collection.
The Museum in the 70’s was only 7 years old having opened in 1972. It became clear that it would need to be more than a carefully and aesthetically designed art museum, based on the home of a great artist and her collection. Temporary exhibitions and cultural events including music became a necessity.
Michael Pettit portrait on the cover of Living Magazine painted in the curator’s cottage in 1988. Sasol Art Collection
In the early 80’s a series of thematic Irma shows started the ball rolling. I recall hectic trips around town loading up important Irma’s and supporting them on foam strips on the back seat of my rusty red Fiat. Owners were delighted to participate in these exhibitions and with the aid of an in/out receipt book, insurance figures were quickly decided upon, and one drove home like a huntsman with a wondrous sack of game!
The exhibitions quickly spread to include contemporary artists in Cape Town and
Newspaper cutting: Christopher Peter and Elizabeth Powell
nationally. Practically all the great artists of the 20 th century in South Africa were to be seen here via various exhibitions, either solo, in a group, or on loan from a National Institution.
To date, hundreds and hundreds of exhibitions later we are still at, and it’s a life blood, through sales and commissions, and an extended visitor profile which brings in new interest.
The Museum too has changed, having become more colourful and possibly more opulent. Way back in the early 90’s,it was decided by
Irma Stern Museum Library (photographer: Sean Wilson) Opposite Page: Irma Stern Museum Entrance passage (photographer: Sean Wilson)
Prof. Dubow and myself that we would paint the rooms rich colours, as they had been painted white at the time of the Museum’s establishment in the early 70’s. Visitors adore the colours, some of which were original at some stage to the earlier house , as we must remember that the property dates back to the mid 1850’s. Traces of subtle Victorian colours are often detected by peeling paint. We have concentrated on what Irma would have lived with, having gleaned some of this information from her descriptions in her letters and journals. The various tones of yellow in her studio, together with the orange wall , are a direct reference to a letter written in the 20’s.
In a career spanning 40 years, there have surely been low days, high days and dramatic events. In relation to dramatic events I would say that the startling discovery of the immense value of “The Buli Stool” after its lengthy authentication process was completed by experts, was one, and of course the spectacular price achieved for “The Arab Priest” by Irma which had
been on loan to us since 1978 until the time of its extraordinary sale, in 2011, for nearly 40 million rand, to its new owners, the Qatar Orientalist Museum.
The Museum can also boast of extraordinary visitors, in 1997 on an official visit, the King and Queen of Sweden and more recently unofficially, a wonderful surprise visit from the Queen of Norway who took many many photographs, and proclaimed that she greatly admired the Museum.
A statement on the Irma Stern Museum would be to expound ! that it is a jewel in the cultural heritage of South Africa. Hopefully it will be celebrated and supported for always. It has the WOW factor.
Christopher Peter Director ISM Oct 2019
