The sculpture of Irma Stern (1922-1955)
This thesis proposes an unprecedented critical study of the sculptural production of the South African-born, German-Jewish artist Irma Stern (1894-1966). It seeks to open new perspectives on the art, the career, and the historical significance of a figure who is commonly celebrated for her pioneering contribution to the development of modern South African painting. This thesis’ contribution is twofold. Firstly, it offers the first comprehensive catalogue of Stern’s sculptural œuvre, bringing into focus a corpus of roughly thirty to fifty works, produced between the years 1922 and 1955 in a variety of different media, which display a consistent focus on the African female subject. Secondly, it analyzes and interprets Stern’s complete sculptural oeuvre. Mapping the narrative of Stern’s sculptural production onto the plot of her life and work as a painter of African subjects, it seeks to offer a richer understanding of the desires, anxieties, and concerns that underpinned Stern’s thirty-year-long engagement with African subject matter as well as an account of the racial power dynamics that are at play in her oeuvre. Through dedicated studies of Stern’s production in clay (1922), cement (1936-1945), and wonderstone and verdite (1936-1945), guided by concepts drawn from postcolonial, phenomenological, and sculptural theory, it tracks the changes in Stern’s sculptural approach to her subject matter and analyzes them in terms of Stern’s changing relationship with her African models. These analyses ultimately offer new directions for approaching Stern and framing her position in the history of South African art.
Stern, Irma (1894-1964) South Africa - 20th century Sculpture - 20th century Women, black, in art Global modernisms Stern, Irma (1894-1964)