Irma Stern Nudes, 1916–1965, by Michael Godby

Abstract

Several publications have recently appeared on Irma Stern, who certainly keeps us challenged, more than fifty years after her death (see Berger 2020; Klopper 2017; O’Toole 2021). Godby offers a fresh approach to Stern’s working method and the broader range of her artistic experimentation, by tracing the evolution of her highly individual response to the traditional nude genre. In the studio, at the heart of her house, she would innovate with nude studies often not intended for public exhibition. These oils, gouaches, and drawings are challenging, both formally and iconographically, observes the author. They also constitute the single largest subject of Stern’s drawings and prints.