Irma Stern
Born in 1894 in the South African area of the Transvaal to a family of Jewish German emigrants, Irma Stern was one of the leading figures on the South African art scene of the last century. She studied in Germany at the Weimar Academy and was close to the circles of German Expressionism, exhibiting for the first time in Berlin in 1919. The following year Irma returned to her home town of Cape Town, where her artistic research was not appreciated. She had to wait until the 1940s to see her talent finally recognised at home. Her painting fully reflects her multicultural formation, split between Europe and Africa, influenced by the European avant-garde and inspired by the tradition of her land. Her research creates a bond between different worlds and cultures, allowing distant realities to interact and overlap.