University to put collection of Irma Stern artworks up for auction

A set of five private artworks by the late South African artist Irma Stern made its way into the collection of University of New England forebearer Westbrook College in 1976, when the school purchased them from New York author Rebecca Hourwich Reyher through a deal brokered by former Westbrook College faculty member Dorothy Healy.

The Flower Market, Cape Town, by Irma Stern (courtesy of UNE)

The paintings were the result of a meeting between Stern and Reyher in Cape Town in the early 1920s, and offered a glimpse into an encounter between two influential artists that would forever change both. Now, UNE is putting the valuable pieces up for auction through Christie’s in London in June, with the proceeds of the sales to benefit the school’s art acquisitions and conservation fund.

Here’s more on the paintings and the meeting that inspired them, as provided by UNE:

The pictures and drawing, all Cape and African subjects from the early 1920s, together with a portrait of the young Reyher, form a souvenir of the meeting. They were subsequently taken home by Reyher and hung in her New York apartment, where they remained, unseen by the wider world, amongst other keepsakes from her lifetime’s travels to the continent. Such a collection, never widely published, affords a precious glimpse of a moment in Stern’s career, when her work was yet to be understood, and reveals in Reyher a little-known but vociferous early supporter.

According to UNE, the works have been exhibited only twice — in 1978 and in 2009, both times in southern Maine — and will be viewed again by the public on Christie’s 20 Rockefeller Plaza facility in New York City from April 27 to May 1 before being moved to London for auction.

Seth Koenig

About Seth Koenig

Seth has nearly a decade of professional journalism experience and writes about the greater Portland region.