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Lot 19

Irma Stern
(South African, 1894-1966)
Malay Girl

2 May 2019, 14:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$312,575 inc. premium

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Irma Stern (South African, 1894-1966)

Malay Girl
signed and dated "Irma Stern 1946" (upper left)
oil on canvas
86 x 60.5cm (33 7/8 x 23 13/16in).

Footnotes

Provenance
Acquired from Die Kunskamer, Cape Town, 1974;
By descent to the current owner.

The 1940s are regarded as the epitome of Irma Stern's artistic career. This work preceded by her two trips to Zanzibar in 1939 and 1945 draws heavily on the remarkable works she painted whilst on this island.

Stern was fascinated by the Malays and through the sitter's strong confident gaze that engages the viewer the artist the has emphasized her strength and poise. The almond eyes framed by the arched eyebrows are similar to those in her masterpiece "Bahora Girl" painted only 12 months before. The simple green robe and white shawl contrast most beautifully with the sitters' warm skin tones.

The shield-shaped raffia mat that is featured behind the sitter would have one of those the artist brought back from Zanzibar and then subsequently displayed to augment her Zanzibar exhibitions at the Argus Gallery in Cape Town and the Gainsborough Gallery in Johannesburg.

As Marion Arnold stated in her monograph:

"Her vision is also the product of a woman's sensibility stimulated by extensive contact with many peoples and places ...(her) assertion of a woman's vision is also transgressive since it challenges stereotypical ideas on feminine style and social expectations about women's art".

Bibliography
Arnold, M., A Feast for the Eye, pub Fernwood Press, 1995.

Additional information

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