Abstract
M.A. (Fine Arts)
The predominant artistic motif in the art of Irma Stern is the fecale
figure. Stern prefers certain "types" of females in her art - that of
young girls, of adolescents, of female workers, of nudes, of brides, of
mature women and of mothers. This dissertation aims to show that these
different motifs are not isolated, but rather interrelated to elicit a
holistic symbolic syntax in the art of Stern. The symbolic relevance is
extended with regard to her personalized world and with regard to the world
around her.
In Chapter 1 the female figure is analysed in terms of its forma7 qualities
and the types of motifs in the art of Stern are juxtaposed with the
characteristic types of motif preferred by the German Expressionists. It
is noted that the female figure in the art of Stern is closely associated
with the cultivation of the land - so much so that a cycle emerges which
includes such activities as planting, bearing fruit and harvestirg. Other
motifs such as young girls, adolescents and mature women indicate a cycle
in the physiological as well as psychic development of the female.
In Chapter 2 the symbolic meaning of the motifs is discussed in terms of
the cultivation cycle of the land and the cycle tracing the deveThpment of
the female. A corollary is also established between the female's role in
the cultivation of the land and the female's own development.
Chapter 3 examines the symbolic relevance of the art of Stern in terms of
her ontogenetic development as human being in relation to society and in
terms of the phylogenetic development of society itself.
The relevance of the female principle in the art of Stern is evauated in
terms of the above approach in the final chapter.