Life Force: The Still Lifes of Irma Stern

Irma Stern, Dahlias. Estimate R8 000 000 – 12 000 000. From the Labia Family Trust To be sold at auction in Cape Town on 15 October 2018

Life Force: The Still Lifes of Irma Stern

As the annual RMB Turbine Art Fair approaches, there’s much to be excited about. An exhibition of still lifes by Irma Stern, however, is already getting people talking. Dave Mann spoke to Strauss & Co’s Dr Alastair Meredith, Susie Goodman, and Wilhelm van Rensburg to find out a bit more.

The exhibition, presented by Strauss & Co and titled Life Force: The Still Lifes of Irma Stern, will feature a host of works by the painter from a number of private collections. The exhibition also seeks to expand on the notion of the ideal collector and what can be achieved in a lifetime of collecting. But with many of the artist’s works sitting in corporate or private collections, Stern’s life and works aren’t widely known. So just who was the painter Irma Stern?

Born in 1894 at Schweizer-Reneke in the Transvaal to German-Jewish parents, Stern spent much of her younger years travelling with her family to Berlin and to small towns and rural communities in South Africa. She lived and studied in Germany, where she was heavily influenced by German Expressionism, before moving back to South Africa in 1920. From there, Stern travelled to destinations across Africa – including Zanzibar and the DRC. In 1926, Stern was married in Cape Town and acquired ‘The Firs’, the house that is now known as the Irma Stern Museum. She continued to travel and paint, and built up a strong relationship with her friend and muse, Frieda Feldman over the years, often staying in the Feldmans’ Johannesburg home. By the mid-1940s, Stern began to gain recognition as an established artist and her works were exhibited in shows across South Africa and abroad. Stern passed away in 1966 at the age of 71.

Just how much of Stern’s life and history can be gleaned from her still life paintings? According to Strauss & Co’s Dr Alastair Meredith, Susie Goodman, and Wilhelm van Rensburg – quite a lot.

Still Life of Delphiniums, Irma Stern, 1938. Oil on canvas laid down on board. Sold by Strauss & Co, March 2011

‘When she got her first house at The Firs in Cape Town, she immediately started gardening, planting trees and flowers,’ explains Van Rensburg. ‘They all flowered, and her garden was this profusion of colours, and so she would paint what she saw.’

‘And when she would stay at Frieda Feldman’s house,’ adds Goodman, ‘she used to take over the dining room. She literally painted the fireplace. She and Feldman used to throw these brilliant themed dinner parties, too, often based on colour.’

All of this and more can be found in her still lifes. To look at a still life by Stern is to be offered a brief vignette of the artist’s personal life. Objects and vessels such as bowls or vases appear frequently in her paintings, providing a glimpse into what would otherwise be a very intimate space – Stern’s private studio and home. Similarly, items such as African masks speak to Stern’s travels across the continent and her interest in various cultures and artefacts. These things, as well as Stern’s use of colour and composition when painting objects like flowers and vases, can give viewers some insight into the person she was – a lover of all things bright, vibrant, and adventurous.

‘This exhibition will serve as a refresher on her work, and on the various forms of still lifes and what they represent,’ says Meredith.

Ahead of the exhibition at this year’s Turbine Art Fair, Van Rensburg has been visiting various tertiary educational institutions to present lectures on Stern’s work and the works of other still life artists over the years.

‘For the Pierneef exhibition we held last year, we invited Artist Proof Studio students to make prints inspired by Pierneef,’ explains Van Rensburg. ‘They were exhibited, they were up for sale, and they sold like hotcakes. So now we thought “okay, let’s broaden it to painters and sculptors, and ceramic artists, too”. I’ve already addressed the UJ students, the University of Pretoria and Tshwane University of Technology. It’s primarily to introduce them to Stern, to still life, and putting that genre into context, globally.’

Art students from tertiary institutions across Gauteng have been invited to submit their works, with winning works being exhibited and up for sale alongside the Stern exhibition.

‘Supporting educational programmes is very important to us,’ concludes Goodman. ‘We do a lot of school visits, which are great fun because we’re not just showing them a slideshow of these works. We’re actually borrowing the works from collections and bringing them to the students to see, which I think is incredibly exciting.’

If, like many, you’ve always been curious about the story of Irma Stern then Life Force: The Still Lifes of Irma Stern is your chance to catch a first-hand glimpse into the treasured artist’s work and life. CF

This exhibition is proudly sponsored by Strauss & Co, ITOO Artinsure, The Forum and City Lodge.