Notes

“Stern’s second etching of a nude, The Reclining Nude, is similarly Rembrandtesque and also conveys the sense of a naked figure being observed. The full body of the model is shown but she appears to be in the act of turning away from the viewer. The dark background reinforces the contemplative mood of the image and transforms it from a celebration of the woman’s body to an evocation of what it might feel like to be scrutinised in this situation. Stern’s etchings of nudes from 1951 are all entirely serious works even if their precise subject-matter can no longer be identified.”¹

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

Provenance

The Irma Stern Trust Collection, accession number 120/7.

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 8:6.