The second South African art sale at Bonhams New Bond Street, 30 January, will be the most valuable auction of South African art ever held.

The major and lead lot in the sale is a hauntingly beautiful study by Irma Stern titled ‘Portrait of a Pondo Woman’. Lot No: 78. This work dates from 1929 and comes from a period in Stern’s work when she was exploring the differences in appearance and dress found in the African tribal women. Oils from this period are exceedingly rare and this example is the first of its type to have come on the market for fifteen years. The picture is estimated to sell for £300,000 to £500,000. Another wonderful Irma Stern titled Still Life of Marigolds is estimated to make £250,000 to £350,000.

Irma Stern received recognition throughout her career and when she died in 1966 she was indisputably the grand dame of South African art. Her enthusiasm for African subjects had waned in the 1950s and, having become disillusioned with the changes wrought by time and politics in Africa, she sought peasant communities in Europe in an attempt to locate her romantic ideas of idyllic existence in nature. She remained, however, committed to portraying the human form and it is upon this that her reputation was built – and upon which it has been sustained.

More details at www.bonhams.com

Posted: 01|3|08 at 4:16 pm. Filed under: UK News.