Strauss & co - 30 June 2014, Johannesburg

156 217 Irma STERN south african 1894–1966 Still LifewithRedLiliesandAubergine signedanddated 1949 oil oncanvas 59,5by49,5 cm R3500000–5000000 © IrmaSternTrust | DALRO notes MarionArnoldhasnotedhowobjects in still life compositions are ‘assembledwith intent and arranged toconveyorder or informality’. 1 She describeshow, effectively, theartist first creates a sculpturewhich is then translated from its three-dimensional reality intoa two-dimensional impressiononaflat surfacewhere thepaint is arrangedeither tobe true to the form it describes or, theartist ‘[takes] licensewith the source to serve theneedsof theemerging image’. 2 IrmaSternwas not one formimicry. On thecontrary, during the processof translating the real object to thepictorial surface, rather than renderinga reflectionofwhat wasbeforeher, shewoulddistort andmanipulate toachieve theemotional effect shedesired. She hadnodesire to remove the signsof her creative process from thecanvas surface. Convincedby the languageofModernism, painting, toher, wasnot a ‘windowonto theworldbeyond’but a physical object comprisingpaint andcanvas that was intended togenerateaneffect or emotional response. Therewasnoattempt atmimesisor reproduced reality. A supremecolourist, Sternwasparticularly gifted in theconstructionof compositions and theapplicationof toneandcolour. In thepresent example, thedark vase in thecentre is set off against thebright,whiteclothwhicheffectively leads theviewer’s eye from three sides into the heart of thecomposition. This is further contrasted with the limebackgroundwhich, beingacool colour, recedes against thewarmthof the red surfaceuponwhich thevase, aubergineandwhite clothareplaced. Theblack vessel on the leftmargin completes thecontinuityof thecompositionas it brings theview from thedark, central forms which lead in from the right across the image to the leftmargin,which is thenhighlightedwith the splashesof bright redcolouring in the formof the lilies abovewhich serve tocounter balance the red surfaceof theextreme foreground. Still LifewithRed LiliesandAubergine is acompellingexampleof the artist’s compositional andcolouringmastery. 1  MarionArnold. (1995) IrmaStern: AFeast for theEye . Stellenbosch: Rembrandt vanRijnArt Foundation. Page 126. 2  Ibid.