16 Facts About Irma Stern

Irma Stern was a South African artist who achieved national and international recognition in her lifetime.

Irma Stern's father was interned in a concentration camp by the British during the Second Boer War because of his pro-Boer leanings.

In 1913 Irma Stern studied art in Germany at the Grand-Ducal Saxon Art School, Weimar, in 1914 at the Levin-Funcke Studio and notably from 1917 with Max Pechstein, a founder of the Novembergruppe.

Irma Stern was associated with the German Expressionist painters of this period.

Irma Stern held her first exhibition in Berlin in 1919.

In 1920 Irma Stern returned to Cape Town with her family, where she was first derided and dismissed as an artist before later becoming an established artist by the 1940s.

In 1926 Irma Stern married Johannes Prinz, her former tutor, who subsequently became professor of German at the University of Cape Town.

Irma Stern travelled extensively in Europe and explored southern Africa, Zanzibar and the Congo region.

Irma Stern's intention was to travel extensively in her lifetime: in 1931 to Madeira, in 1937 and 1938 to Dakar, Senegal, 1939 and 1945 Zanzibar, the Congo region in 1942,1946 and 1955,1952 Madeira, 1952 Israel, 1955 Turkey, 1960 Spain and 1963 France.

Irma Stern travelled extensively in South Africa, for example in 1926 to Swaziland and Pondoland, in 1933 to Namaqualand, in 1936 generally, and in 1941 to the Eastern Cape.

Irma Stern refused to either travel or exhibit in Germany during the period of the Nazi regime from 1933 to 1945.

The Irma Stern Museum was established in 1971 and is the house the artist lived in for almost four decades.

Irma Stern moved into The Firs in Rondebosch in 1927 and lived there until her death.

Irma Stern's Gladioli was sold for an all-time high of R13.3 million in October 2010, but was then followed by the sale of Bahora Girl for R26.7 million later that month - both were records for sales of South African art at the time.

In June 2024, at an Aspire Art auction, another work by Irma Stern sold for R5.6 million, though the pre-sale estimate ranged from R6 million to R8 million.

On 11 November 2012, Irma Stern's painting Fishing Boats was stolen along with four other paintings from a museum in Pretoria.