Black Lilies – Irma Stern

Painted after her first visit to Zanzibar (1939) and before her first Congo expedition (1942), Black Lilies is a fascinating work within Stern’s still life oevre.

The exotic black lilies have been captured in a rich palette of deep purples. Stern’s keen sense of colour having understood that black in this case was not black, but a range of the deepest shades of a moonlit lake. Arranged in a Chinese ceramic from her collection…