Irma Stern

Irma Stern (2 October 1894 – 23 August 1966) was a South African artist who achieved national and international recognition in her lifetime. Stern was born in Schweizer-Reneke, a small town in the Transvaal, of German-Jewish parents. Her father was interned in a concentration camp by the British during the Second Boer War because of his pro-Boer leanings. Irma and her younger brother, Rudi, were thus taken to Cape Town by their mother. In 1901, the family returned to Germany and later would constantly travel between South Africa and Germany. This travel also influenced Irma's development as an artist. Quotes Searching, I roamed the world—to arrive at the origin—at beauty—at truth—away from the lies of everyday—and my longing was burning hot—then the darkness opened up and I stood at the source of the Beginning—Paradise. Shain, Milton; Pimstone, Miriam. "Irma Stern". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 27 March 2025. Verification of the art must still be done, but from a layman's view it appears to be the same pieces that were taken in Pretoria. "South Africa art stolen from Pretoria museum recovered", BBC News, United Kingdom, 2012, Retrieved 27 March 2025. Quotes About Her Her heavily-laden brush deposits swathes of colour and a tracery of mark that evokes at times the sweep and syncopation of Islamic calligraphy. The calligraphy that she encountered in the carved cartouches of the lintels of Zanzibari doors and the Islamic manuscripts which she collected, armed and liberated her mark-making. The boldness of her impasto brushwork results in a tangible embodiment of her sitters and their contexts, such that her decision to frame the works using fragments of Zanzibari doors feels completely in keeping. "The Zanzibari Years: Irma Stern | Norval Foundation". Retrieved 27 March 2025. Irma Stern travelled frequently between South Africa and Germany as a child and this pattern continued into her adult life. During the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s, she exhibited throughout Europe and was both known and respected there than in South Africa, where the reception of her work was overwhelmingly negative. NORVAL FOUNDATION, 3 November 2022."The Zanzibari Years: Irma Stern". Karel Nel, Retrieved 27 March 2025. External links Category:Painters from South Africa Category:Women from South Africa Category:Women artists Category:1894 births Category:1966 deaths Category:Women born in the 19th century