Notes

“In Seated Nude, the trace of a second figure looking over her shoulder, and the turban of towelling around the nude’s head, might suggest the story of Bathsheba or Susannah and the Elders without illustrating it completely. Part of Stern’s search for spirituality at this time was to focus on her figures inner state rather than external description or narrative. The nude’s face and eyes are averted, avoiding contact with the viewer, while her torso is large and almost frontal in the format and hardly concealed by her arms crossed below her breasts.”¹

^1. Michael Godby (2021) Irma Stern Nudes, 1916-1965, Cape Town: Primavera Publishing, page 133.

Provenance

The Irma Stern Trust Collection, accession number 130/3.

Literature

Michael Godby (2021) Irma Stern Nudes, 1916-1965, Cape Town: Primavera Publishing, another example from the edition illustrated in colour on page 133, figure 8:5.