Irma Stern

Acquired by the father of the present owner in Cape Town in the early 1950s

Executed on cream laid paper, not affixed to a mount. The edges are deckled. The extreme left edge has a dozen tiny nicks at even intervals, likely evidence of the sheet having originally been removed from a notebook. There are artist pinholes at all four corners. The sheet is time-stained, and the charcoal is rich and well preserved. There is some undulation to the sheet. This work is in good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

We are grateful to Christopher Peter, Curator of the Irma Stern Museum, Cape Town, for his assistance with the cataloguing of this work.

Irma Stern’s search for the Africa of her dreams, which had fuelled her imagination as a young woman in war torn Germany, was somewhat frustrated by Cape Town and its colonial English society of the period. Soon after her arrival in the early 1920s she began a quest for ‘her’ Africa. This led her to the east of the country: Pondoland, Zululand and Swaziland. In lonely rural areas she found her ideal material; indigenous people, and thereafter she wasted no time in depicting them. She worked tirelessly in situ and brought back to her Cape Town studio finished drawings, gouaches and sketches which in many cases were the basis for her oil paintings.

By the mid-1930s, these expeditions had become a well-established custom of Stern’s. The charcoal works of this period display a sculptural three dimensionality twinned with a mastery of line and shadow. Moreover, Stern delighted in the grace and elegance of her subjects, and this young Xhosa woman is a classic, with her great hoop earrings framing her face and her gaze averted, Stern is celebrating her natural grace.