There has been controversy and uproar in the Cape Town fine arts community around the sudden closure of the Irma Stern Museum, located at Stern’s old home called The Firs in Rosebank – including an online petition that has attracted thousands of signatories. The museum houses the Irma Stern Collection, comprising original works by the artist, as well as a considerable collection of objets d’art she herself acquired, mostly on various travels through Africa, especially from the Congo and Zanzibar.
Stern’s work is highly regarded, both locally and internationally. Born in SA but switching between here and her ancestral home of Germany where she was a student and young artist, she settled permanently in SA in the 1930s as National Socialism took hold. She holds the record for the most valuable single work by a South African artist (Arab Priest sold at auction in London in 2011 for the then equivalent of R34m) and her work at auction regularly fetches multimillion rand prices. She also presently has a successful solo exhibition in Berlin. Given her position as a popular and respected South African artist with a major presence in our national heritage and culture, what is behind the closure of her dedicated museum?
Stern’s will made no provision for establishing a museum and, having no heirs, left her entire collection and remaining assets in the hands of a trust when she died in 1966. The trust has permanent jurisdiction over her collection and is tasked with preserving and extending her artistic and cultural legacy. Today the Irma Stern Trust is administered by Nedbank. After Stern’s death an arrangement was made between the trust and UCT, who signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) in 1969. Under its terms, UCT would manage Stern’s home in Rosebank, and the trust would continue to manage and take care of the Irma Stern Collection. Shortly after this MoA was reached it was decided to establish The Firs as a dedicated single artist museum, designed to display Stern’s artwork and objects from her collection in the environment of her own home and garden.
The situation now is that UCT has decided they cannot continue to be the custodians of The Firs and so ownership of the property will revert solely to the Irma Stern Trust, which already manages the collection. Given that UCT was responsible for staffing and running the museum, it was decided to temporarily close the museum in order to strategise and implement a way forward that maintains and extends the integrity of the Stern Collection and expands the great artist’s legacy and influence, both locally and internationally.
The closure of the museum, while sudden, was precipitated by the danger posed by the building itself. While many art lovers, especially in Cape Town, have a sentimental attachment to the house as Irma’s museum, it was not built as or intended to be a museum housing and displaying fragile and valuable artworks. A professional architectural condition report, commissioned by the trust in 2023, advised that due to the deteriorating infrastructure of the house and the storage facilities that had been added on over the years, and the extent and deep-seated nature of the rising damp and mould in the roof and walls, that The Firs was not recommended as a space for the display and conservation of such an important art collection. As part of the decision to close the museum temporarily, the collection will move to a custom-built storage facility at the Clocktower in the V&A Waterfront, with archival racking and shelving, temperature controls and fire safety systems. This will safeguard the collection from further damage and enable restoration for artworks that require it.
The damage to The Firs building, especially the rising damp, requires extensive refurbishment and repair before it can be considered as a working museum. To do so will be costly and will require ongoing operational running costs. It is now not meeting anything close to its running costs from existing visitor numbers, keeping in mind that it is entirely privately funded. There are other options for The Firs, however, including being repurposed as an Irma Stern cultural centre, incorporating an international and local artist’s residency programme and temporary curated exhibitions drawing from Stern’s Collection and including other artists. The Irma Stern Trust has advised that they are planning for Irma’s work to be more seen and experienced more than ever by art lovers and the general public from next year. A programme of Stern events and exhibitions is in the planning stages and will be announced in due course, the trust has said.
Now that the decision between the trust and UCT has been made public, a series of engagements and consultations will be held with all stakeholders and Stern fans to allay any fears or uncertainties and address any questions. These engagements, undertaken by the Irma Stern Trust, will include provincial and national heritage authorities and professional arts businesses and organizations that may be affected by any changes in Stern’s position in SA’s cultural landscape. This process will go alongside a full and ongoing communications programme keeping everyone informed about the plans for Stern’s wonderful collection and The Firs, both of which are central to SA’s cultural legacy and heritage.
